Chapter 14 Chapter 14
Maxwell
The moment my tires rolled onto the old quarry road, something inside me finally loosened. For weeks, the company had been pulling me in every direction, piling deadlines on my desk faster than I could breathe. I have missed the road, I have missed the noise of my bike more than I wanted to admit.
Kai’s voice reached me even before I shut off the engine. His laughter echoed across the rocks.
“Finally! Thank goodness your trillionaire duties didn’t chain you to your boardroom today.”
I tugged off my helmet, smirking at him. “Relax, if I didn’t want to be here, I would still be in that boardroom.”
He nudged my shoulder as the others rolled in. And just like that, the teasing faded because the second our engines fired again, everything else stopped existing.
We rode in a tight, clean formation, the four of us slipping through the wind like a single body.
The air hit my chest hard, burning, freeing. Every turn, every rush of speed felt like a piece of myself snapping back into place. By the time we reached the cliff, the sun was sinking across the horizon.
The guys dumped their helmets and dropped onto the scattered rocks, arguing about whose bike needed new parts, who cheated in last week’s race.
“Are you ready for the competition next month?” Jaxon asked, leaning back on his elbows. “It’s the biggest one we have had in a long time.”
Rafe snorted. “Please, I am taking all of you out.”
Kai laughed. “Bro, take Jenna out of your life first.”
We all cracked up, except Rafe. Jenna had been his girlfriend, and even though they broke up weeks ago, she still refused to move out. In her head, the relationship wasn’t over. In his head, well, Rafe wasn’t exactly helping the situation.
Jaxon shook his head, amused. “He’s still sleeping with her. That’s why she won’t leave. Once he stops, she will pack her bags herself.”
We all nodded because, honestly, Jaxon had a point.
Rafe rolled his eyes, then looked at me. “Anyway, are you coming for the competition, Max? Or will you be too busy building another billion-dollar empire?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but my phone buzzed in my pocket, I glanced at the screen, and my breath hitched. My PI, that wasn’t a casual call.
I stepped away from the guys, turning toward the fading sun. The warmth on my face did nothing to soften the chill spreading through my chest.
“Hello, Hayes,” I said.
“Boss, Amelia Davis is back in New York.” For a moment, everything inside me went still. “I understand,” I said quietly. “Thank you, Hayes.”
I ended the call and stared at the horizon, my jaw tight. Amelia Davis, back in New York after five long years. Five years since she blew my life apart, vanished like a ghost and thinking she could hide long enough for my anger to fade.
She really doesn’t know me well, People like me don’t forget, and we definitely don’t forgive.
I will take my revenge, clean and so no one ever makes the same mistake twice.
My reputation was almost destroyed, my parents had never doubted me a single day in my life, but the night those pictures went viral, I heard things from them I never imagined I would hear.
Social media dragged my name through the mud. Overnight, everything I built became a joke to people who didn’t even know me.
And then the brands Rhea and I worked with as a couple, as their perfect polished image, dropped me without hesitation. It wasn’t about the money, I didn’t need theirs. It was the sting of being tossed aside like I was nothing.
Rhea and I divorced right after that, my stocks crashed, my confidence almost went with them.
But I refused to break, I forced myself to stay standing, to work twice as hard, to drag my company back up to the place it belonged. Piece by piece, I rebuilt everything she tried to destroy.
And now? For every emotion I swallowed, every sleepless night, every ounce of shame, stress, and betrayal I carried because of her, she will pay.
I was just turning to head back to the guys when my phone buzzed again. It was Alvin, my secretary.
I sighed and answered. “Yes, Alvin.”
“Sir, I am sorry. I know you said not to disturb you today, but your brother is throwing tantrums because he was told you are not around.”
Even through the phone, I could hear Declan shouting in the background, loud enough to shake walls.
My jaw tightened. “I will be there in thirty.”I ended the call.
I walked back toward the guys, helmet in hand. “Duty calls, I have got to go.”
Kai groaned. “Seriously? The one day you finally make time to breathe, and someone drags you back? What’s the point of having a PA and a secretary if none of them can handle anything? Are they just decorations?”
“It’s my brother,” I said, already irritated. “He is at my office wrecking the place.”
Jaxon snorted. “Then go remind him whose name is on that building. Beat some sense into him if you have to. Let him understand, again that he has no place in your company.”
I didn’t respond, I just slipped my helmet back on. Because Jaxon was right, Declan wanted a war.
My friends understood exactly why Declan set me on edge. They have watched him be selfish for years, and they knew how wrong it was for him to suddenly show up after disappearing for so long.
The truth was simple, the responsibility of the company was supposed to fall on both of us, my older brother and me. But Declan walked away, he chose his fashion dream, chose the spotlight, chose a life that had nothing to do with the Sinclair family legacy.
Someone had to step up, So I did. I became CEO far earlier than anyone expected, carrying the weight of the company on my shoulders while he chased a dream he never truly committed to.
And now, after eight years of turning his back on everything, after failing to make his brand take off, he wanted to slide back into the family like nothing happened.
I knew exactly what he was after. He wanted access to the company again so he could funnel money into his dying fashion dream same tactic he used the last time before disappearing.
Thank God my parents finally saw through him too. They weren’t fooled anymore.
And I wasn’t about to let him wreck what I spent years rebuilding.
I left my friends behind and rode my bike straight to the office. The moment I stepped into the lobby, I saw Declan, my older brother, shouting at Alvin like the world owed him obedience.
“This is an office,” I barked, my voice echoing across the marble floor. “You don’t get to come in here and cause a nuisance.”
Both of them spun around. Declan’s smirk was infuriating.
“Well, well, who do we have here? The big bad biker and CEO,” he drawled, taking a slow, mocking step toward me.
I waved Alvin and the others out of the lobby. Alone with Declan, I slipped my hands into my pockets and asked, calm but sharp, “What do you actually want, Declan?”
He tilted his head, feigning concern. “To ease your burden,” he said. “Look at you. Can’t even enjoy what you love because this company consumes every second of your life. I am here now to help.”
I sized him up from head to toe. He looked older, rougher, unkempt, like the years had been tougher on him than he let on. Funny, after eight years chasing a pipe dream, he hadn’t come close to making it, yet he somehow thought he could run a billion-dollar company.
“You couldn’t even make a breakthrough in your fashion career,” I said, voice steady but dripping with disbelief, “and you think you can handle this? Talk to Mom and Dad, not me.”
I knew them. They would sooner donate everything they owned to charity than hand him a single dime. He had walked away when the company was at its lowest, leaving me to pick up the pieces. And now? He had the audacity to waltz back in as if nothing had happened.
Declan smirked, tilting his head. “Fine,” he said. “I am actually here for something else, something very important.”
I didn’t move, didn’t blink. I already knew his version of important was probably trouble.
Author's note: Maxwell😭😭, forgive us😭, leave Amelia alone, come and face the readers excluding me😂.
But on a serious note, are you enjoying the book, I need your comments on this😍😍