Chapter 2: Mutual Trust

Scarlet’s Point of View

I followed him out of the room. He was drinking whiskey in the living room. He did that— on occasions, although I preferred for him to drink wine. But of course, he didn’t listen to me or maybe this was his way of showing that he would do whatever I told him not to, if he got angry.

“Max,” I said slowly and his gaze shifted toward me. “You’re drinking again?”

“No. You’re drunk and you’re hallucinating,” He put the bottle on the table and got up. I shook my head and looked away.

“You told me you will not drink that shit, Max.”

“I guess we both don’t mean the things we say anymore, Scar,” He came to me and looked into my eyes. “At least I don’t lie about things that matter.”

“Stop saying that I’m lying. I am here, I have Drew with you here, if I didn’t—If I didn’t love you, why would I be here?”

“That’s the only thing I don’t know.”

He walked past me but stopped after a minute. “Don’t throw that bottle away. It is not your property.”

I stood in my place as he left again and closed my eyes. I was so confused and lost. I knew what I had to do if I wanted to continue having hopes for the next one and a half years— and it was nothing in comparison to my feelings.

____________

“With Mr. Raymond Park as the acting CEO of Valencian Corporation in absence of Mr. Xavier Valencian, the company has risen its sales by 7% across the globe. With the perfect endeavors and explicitly timed investments, a new Board of Directors was formed for the said company and new hopes have come to light. However, Mr. Valencian is yet to return and explain his sudden leave and we’re all desperately waiting to get any information on the topic.”

I sighed as I watched the news on my phone. Yeah, we were indeed waiting for him to return— especially me, right?

That day, he had just simply disappeared. No press, no official reason, just a document stating Mr. Raymond as the Acting CEO for whatever time he would be gone.

He had done immaculate work, no doubt— but my world was falling apart without Xavier. All the Police departments were having at least one unit searching for him, but it was of no use.

“Hey, Scar,” I heard Max and I looked towards the door. I was laying in my bed as it was early morning and he had slept separately the night before.

“Max,” I kept the phone down and put up a smile.

“I am going to the company,” He looked sideways before sighing. “Do you want to come along?”

I knew that if I declined, it would only make things worse so I got up and nodded. “Sure. I will be down in ten minutes.”

He smiled. “I will wait.”

He left the room and I took a deep breath. Drew was already in the school— I barely woke up before he left every day. The maids took care of his lunch so he didn’t need me to wake up anyway.

I went to take a shower.

…

I stepped down the stairs and Max looked at me. He was waiting for me and a smile spread across his lips— I wondered if it was fake.

“You look beautiful,” He took my hand and kissed it. I smiled slowly. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

He grinned before leading me to his car. Usually, I would’ve fallen head over heels for a man who would treat me like he did— but I couldn’t deny the fact that I watched the proof with my own eyes.

The driver took us to Slither Textiles.

“I never came here before,” I said to him as the driver dropped us at the massive building.

“I must apologize I never invited you here,” He extended his hand again. “Shall we?”

I took a deep breath before taking his hand. “Are you going to like—intr—introduce me?”

He looked at me. “If you wish to.”

“I mean I— I have no problem but I think with everything going on, it is not the best time.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he shook his head. “A few months ago you were Xavier’s girlfriend and you are the mother to his child.”

I exhaled. “Yeah. The public is not going to take this well. You might get hate for this, for no reason, but people can be scary.”

“We’ll find another time.”

I nodded and smiled. He then took me inside the office and introduced me as a friend to all his associates.

“Have you been in contact with Xavier lately?” He asked me as we walked into his cabin.

“What? No.”

He nodded, “okay.”

“Why?”

“He’s just been missing, right?” He looked at me. “Right after I left you with him in Mexico.”

“I am pretty sure he came back to New York because he left the document of the Acting CEO on Mr. Raymond’s table.” I chuckled. “You’re thinking too much. I am not even sure what’s on your mind.”

He sighed. “And so did you. You came back faster than I imagined,” He continued, “Just the day before the news spread.”

“It was a coincidence. We didn’t even talk after you left. I just stayed there for two more days to clear my head.”

He nodded.

I had stayed there to think about a lot of things. I was preparing myself for two years of pretend, I was preparing myself to face the reality but I knew I had to return and so I did.

“Although,” I said, “I really wanted to explore Mexico. I couldn’t, you know, because of things. Do you want to go there with me?”

He looked at me with squinted eyebrows. “With me?”

“Of course.”

He smiled. “Sure. When do you wanna go?”

“Tomorrow?”

He smiled again. “Sure. I will make the arrangements. This is gonna be amazing, Scar.”

“I know.”

He placed a kiss on my forehead before he walked out of the office, leaving me alone. I took a deep breath. I needed to visit that cabin again and I needed to listen to what Xavier said. It had been way too long.