Chapter 58 Chapter 58
Amelia
“What did that son of a bitch come to say this time?” Adele asked.
We sat across from each other in a quiet restaurant near my office. It was my lunch break, and I had asked her to meet me because I needed to talk to someone before my head exploded.
“He wants me to wire him ten million,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“What the actual fuck?” Adele shouted, her eyes widening. A few people around us turned to stare.
She quickly waved a hand. “Sorry,” she muttered to them before turning back to me.
“What the actual fuck, Amelia? That’s insane. Why would he ask for that kind of money? Has he completely lost his mind?”
I sighed and rubbed my temples. I honestly didn’t know which was worse. dealing with a constantly angry Maxwell or a paranoid Declan. Lately, both of them had been on edge, and it was exhausting. Declan had shown up at the office out of nowhere and demanded ten million from me, threatening to tell Maxwell everything if I didn’t comply.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But something is definitely going on, and I don’t want to be caught in the middle of it.”
Adele leaned back in her chair, studying me. “Caught in the middle of what exactly?” she asked carefully.
I shook my head. “That’s the problem. I don’t even know.”
“At this point, I really think you should tell Maxwell about the girls yourself,” Adele said gently. “You can’t keep hiding them forever. He’s going to find out one way or another, and if he hears it from someone else, it’ll be much worse.”
I shook my head immediately. “I can’t tell him,” I said. “The moment I do, I lose all access to my kids. Look at what he did with my company—he took over everything, and I am not even allowed to step foot in the building anymore.”
I took a deep breath. “If you had seen the Maxwell I’ve been dealing with lately, you wouldn’t be giving me this advice.”
Adele frowned. “What’s wrong with him? Is he having those temper issues again? I thought he was seeing a therapist.”
“So did I,” I said quietly.
The past week had been worse than anything I’d seen before. He snapped at the smallest things. The maids complained about how he broke objects and destroyed things in his study when he got angry. He barely raised his voice at Camilla before, but now even she had learned to avoid him.
He disappeared from work for three days, ignored every call, and when he finally showed up, he ended up throwing punches with his own brother.
I wrapped my arms around myself, my chest tightening. I can’t do it,I can’t bring myself to tell him that I have his children and that I have been hiding them for over five years. I don’t want to imagine what he is going to do when he finds out.
“Are you even listening to me?” Adele asked, snapping her fingers in front of my face. “What are we going to do about Declan? Are you planning to give him the money or not?”
I let out a tired breath. “Where exactly am I supposed to get that kind of money?” I said. “I can’t even afford to give him a hundred thousand, let alone ten million.”
Adele shook her head in disbelief. “Even if you somehow give Declan that money, he’ll come back for more,” she said firmly. “Men like him never stop. We need a permanent solution, something that gets him off your back for good.”
I ran my hands over my face, frustration weighing heavily on me. I wished there was something I could use against him, something to threaten him with in return but there was nothing. And killing him was not an option. I didn’t want blood on my hands.
“He’s getting more desperate by the day,” I said quietly. My phone suddenly rang. I picked it up and glanced at the screen, my stomach tightening.
“Speak of the devil,” I muttered.
It was Declan again, I knew exactly why he was calling. He wanted to know when I was going to send the money. I didn’t know if he was in debt to some loan shark or if something bigger was going on, something that was pushing both him and Maxwell to the edge but the pressure was unbearable.
“Tell him to give you more time,” Adele said angrily. “Let him know you don’t have control over your company anymore. His brother does.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “He thinks I’m sleeping with his brother,” I said. “So he believes I can get the money from him.”
That was exactly what Declan had told me, that I should find a way to get the money from Maxwell, and in return he would leave me alone and never bring up the kids again.
I stared into space, my mind racing. “I’ll find a way,” I said quietly—though I had no idea how.
That evening, after work, my car broke down on the way home. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried calling Adele, but she didn’t pick up. I called again , nothing. With a tired sigh, I scrolled through my contacts and stopped on Adrian’s name. I wasn’t in the mood to see him, but I didn’t have much of a choice.
He came to pick me up not long after. We talked a little on the drive. Nothing serious, just small talk, but he kept glancing at me like he could tell something was wrong. Eventually, he asked if I was okay. I brushed it off, but he didn’t push.
Instead, he suggested we go out for a bit to clear my head, to lighten my mood. I hesitated, then gave in. He took me to the beach.
I sat quietly, watching the waves roll in and out. The sound of the water helped calm me, at least a little. For a moment, everything else faded, the constant pressure. After a while, I asked him to drop me off at home.
As soon as I stepped inside the house, my calm shattered. Maxwell was standing at the doorway, his face hard and unreadable. Before I could even speak, he walked up to me and threw something against my chest. Small boxes hit me and fell to the floor.
“Instead of fucking around,” he said coldly, brushing past me, “start taking those pills. We are on the journey of making babies.”
He didn’t wait for a response. He just walked away, anger trailing behind him. I stood there, frozen.