| Chapter 18 "First, water rushed into my nose. It burned like fire." Maxine's voice was soft, like she was telling someone else's story. "Then my lungs started to spasm. I wanted to breathe, but I could only suck in more water. The scariest part was..." She looked up. "You could feel your life slipping away, but there was nothing you could do.' William noticed that her left ring finger twisted unnaturally, which was an unavoidable deformity left after a bone fracture wasn't treated in time. "I dreamed..." Maxine suddenly stood up, walked to the desk, took a brown envelope from the bottom drawer, "You should take a look at this." William took the file bag. It was heavy. What came out was a stack of photos, medical records, and... A copy of a marriage certificate that was soaked and ruined by coffee. "So this was your original name..." William was about to say, but the words disappeared. Everything in front of him shocked him. Maxine lay in a pool of blood, with a nasty wound on her forehead. The carpet under her was stained dark red. The medical report said "three broken ribs, a shattered right index finger, fluid in the lungs..." "This was..." "Reid's masterpiece." Maxine's voice was surprisingly calm, "He was my ex-husband..." Maxine paused for a moment, then her eyes moved to the marriage certificate. "No, we actually had nothing to do with each other." She gave a self-mocking smile, "He thought the person in the sack was some thug who bullied his wife, but the person inside... was actually me." William turned to the next page and saw a photo. A tall man was pushing someone with a sack over their head off a high diving platform again and again. Next to him stood a pretty young woman with a smile on her lips. "Kelsey." Maxine pointed at the woman, "his legal wife. And me... just a joke." William finally understood where her obsession with the Merrow Group came from. This wasn't just normal business competition, it was a deep-seated hatred. "So you wanted to ruin him." This wasn't a question. 0.0% • 06:34 ་ ་་་་ ་་་ 288 Vouchers Maxine walked to the window, and the moonlight made her shadow really long. "I wanted to make him taste what it was like to have nothing." Her fingers gently brushed the window glass, "lose his company, lose his reputation, lose..." Her voice suddenly stopped. William walked up behind her, didn't touch her, just quietly stayed there. He said softly, "Revenge wouldn't bring real peace." "What could, then?" Maxine spun around suddenly, a dark fire in her eyes, "Forgive? Forget?" She pulled open her pajama collar, showing a nasty scar below her collarbone: "He did this himself with an iron rod! Ninety-nine times, he counted every single one!" William looked at the scar and suddenly pulled her into his arms. Maxine froze for a moment, then col- lapsed against his chest like all her strength had left her. "I'm not trying to stop you.". William rested his chin on the top of her head, "I just didn't want to see you get swallowed up by hate." He gently held her deformed fingers: "These scars... they shouldn't define your life." Maxine didn't answer, but William felt the fabric on his chest getting wet. Outside the window, the sky in the east started to get light. William looked at Maxine, who had finally calmed down in his arms, and made a decision. "Show me your plan," he said, "all the details." Maxine looked up, a flash of surprise in her swollen, red eyes. "If this could really help you let go and start over." William wiped the tears from her face, "I'll help you." When the first ray of sunlight came through the curtains, Maxine was pointing at the Merrow Group's ownership chart, explaining her acquisition strategy to William. Her voice was still hoarse, but her eyes were clear again. The sunlight fell on the scattered papers and lit up that soaked marriage certificate. Maxine looked at it for a while, then tossed it into the trash can. 52.0 %. 06:34 Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!