Chapter 9: The Confrontation

Xavier’s Point of View

I quickly grabbed my car and decided to go back to New York. It was an almost 15 hr drive from Halifax, Canada to NYC, NY; so I decided to leave my car behind and go by airplane—an option I didn’t consider last time so as to avoid letting people know my escape plan.

But this time, I had to hurry.

“Make the record confidential if possible. You know, anything can be made possible with the help of money,” I said on the call to one of my people.

“Yes, boss. Please rest assured as everything will be taken care of. About the trainees, do you have any announcements for them?”

I sighed and thought for a minute before replying: “Yes. Please let them know that they should brace themselves and I will bring the fight to the land.”

“Will do, boss. Please be safe.”

“Right back to you.”

I ended the call and exhaled. So it was happening—it was finally taking place. Everything I had been working day and night for, the only thing keeping me away from Scarlet and my son—it was finally here.

And I was ready to face it head on.

I soon reached the airport and boarded a private plane, finally taking off.

…

The plane landed in time. I hurried out of the landing port and my men were waiting for me—making sure that my news of return doesn't spread like wildfire. I couldn't afford the distraction or the attention.

"Take me to Wilson Street, 8th Apartment," I said to the driver before he left for the location—where Max was currently residing.

According to my sources he had came back from Mexico just before I was leaving for it—thus leaving me with no choice but to return.

I guess he returned here so that I could have less chances of hiding my identity. It was kinda hard to stay invisible in the city of people gunning for you.

I exhaled. I was a little nervous—there was a lot at stake if I lost. My life with her. A good life for her. A good life for my son. I just couldn't lose, no matter what.

I looked out of the window and soon we stopped in front of the apartment. He originally lived in a penthouse but changed his location when he returned—maybe this was his secret base or something. Anyway, my men had given me information about him so it was definitely correct.

I got out of the car and rang his doorbell.

As soon as the gate opened, Max was shocked to see me. I took a deep breath.

“Hello, Max.”

“Mr. Xavier?” He raised both of his eyebrows. “What brings you here?”

“Why don’t we drop this whole act and get to the main part?” I insisted and said in a domineering way.

He looked at me for a moment before laughing. “Thought you’d never ask.”

I scoffed.

“I think you might wanna come in.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” I said in a spiteful tone and walked in.

He closed the door and I took a deep breath once again—I could feel the weight of the happiness of two most important people in my life, on my shoulder.

“So what about this sudden change and where have you been, Mr. Xavier?” He asked me as he took a seat on the couch.

“You think I came all the way back here to tell you my secrets?” I chuckled. “Let’s talk about yours first, shall we?”

“Oh, go right ahead.”

“I know what you did, Max,” I leaned down on the table in front of the couch and said in an aggressive tone. “I know that you were the one who planned everything in her life. You were the one who asked your brother to kidnap and torture her and I know you don’t love her!”

He clapped his hands together and stood up. “You finally figured it out. Consider me impressed, Mr. Xavier.”

“That brings me back to the question,” I said, “What do you want?”

“I thought it was the obvious part,” He sighed. “I want you out of the way. You were the one she cheated on me with—and everything was going perfect in my and her life until you decided to show up and ruin it!”

I laughed.

“Well, too bad that she knows all your dirty secrets now.”

“You think I’m scared she’ll leave me?” He smirked. “She can’t leave me, Xavier. I will make sure of that. And if you know this much about me, you should be well aware that you can’t defeat me. So why bother yourself?”

“Don’t take yourself so seriously, Max.” I said. “You can’t predict who will win if you don’t even know your opponent.”

He nodded. “Well, I’m eager.”

“I want you to get your team and have combat.” I finally said it.

He looked at me for a second with confused expression before chuckling. “Oh, we’re not there yet. There are a few things you’re not aware of.”

“Like?”

“Like…” He looked toward one of the rooms in his house. “Andrew is studying in that room. The same device that was placed in Scarlet is planted in his system too. Do you want me to detonate it?”

I looked at him shocked and scoffed. “Woa—what? He’s a child!”

“He’s big enough to be your biggest weakness, Xavier!” He shouted and took a step toward me. “Big enough to be the reason you’ll lose.”

“I can’t believe you’re such a—despicable human, Max.” I turned around and rana my hand through my hair. I didn’t expect him to use Drew as leverage.

“Yeah, you’re finally getting to know me.” He exhaled. “You should know you can never win in this situation, Xavier.”

“Why are you doing this?” I turned toward him again. “Why—why ruin Scarlet’s life? Why threaten a kid who doesn’t even know anything?”

“You see, it is a long story.”

“Well I’ve got time.”

He looked at me and chuckled. “We were in the same school.”

“Same school? You and Scarlet?”

“I was her senior,” He sighed. “But she kept rejecting me. Once, twice. I was fed up. Then my father gave me golden advice.”

“And years later you kidnapped her?”

“Uh-uh!” He shook his head. “Had my brother kidnap her, yes.”

I scoffed.

“You see, one can only be a hero when faced with adversities…” He exhaled. “So I had to create some. Only then could I come up as a hero and save the day.”

“You’re pathetic.”

“Thank you. Moving forward, everything was going perfect…” He looked at me with malice-filled eyes. “Till she suddenly cheated on me, with you.”

“You’re so sick, Max.”

“Too bad that you’re still going to be the one who loses everything.”

I was about to throw a punch when he took out his phone and turned its screen toward me. It was a button—maybe the one to activate the device in Drew.

“One step…” He said, “... and I don’t think a six-year-old can recover from brain damage.”