Chapter 23 But Maxine's revenge didn't stop there. At the all-hands meeting, Maxine sat at the head of the table, tapping her fingers lightly on the desk. "There was a special segment today." She started slowly, smiling at the audience. "Let's welcome Mr. Merrow to read a... business sample for everyone." Reid stood in the corner, his face pale. He held that stack of yellowed papers in his hand-that was the love letters he wrote to Maxine when he was eighteen, and every page was soaked with the most sincere promises of his youth. "Read it." Maxine urged softly, "Let everyone learn from Mr. Merrow's writing." The whole place was silent. - Reid's fingertips trembled a little, but he still turned to the first page. "Max, today I saw you wearing a white dress, my heart was beating so fast I thought I was gonna die..." His voice was dry. When he got to the third page, his Adam's apple moved a lot. "When I turned twenty-two, let's get married, okay? I'll love you my whole life, only love you..." His voice was so hoarse it was barely recognizable, but he still read out all twenty pages, word by word. When he read the last sentence, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop in the room, and a few female employees already had tears in their eyes. Maxine kept smiling the whole time, and even clapped at the end. "Great performance," she commented, "too bad it was all lies." Reid suddenly looked up, and something in his eyes completely broke. William pushed the door open and slammed a stack of files onto the desk. The papers spread out, showing the top medical record. "Reid, severe depression, with symptoms of gastric bleeding..." "Look at this." William's voice was as cold as ice. "If this keeps up, he'll die." 0.0 % 06:35 Maxine glanced down, her fingertips curling unconsciously for a second, but she quickly calmed down. She picked up her coffee and took a sip, her tone indifferent: "So what?" William stared at her and suddenly laughed, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "So? Maxine, when did you become like this?" He stepped closer, his long fingers tapping on the medical record with a dull sound: "Wasn't it enough to make him lose everything? Wasn't it enough to make him report to you like a dog every day? Now you won't be satisfied until you see him in the ICU?" Maxine's eyelashes fluttered, and the coffee cup felt a little hot in her hand. "I didn't force him." She looked up, her eyes cold. "He deserved it." "Really?" William suddenly leaned over, putting his hands on the arms of her chair, trapping her in that small space. "Then why didn't "Then why didn't you dare look at me?" Maxine's breath caught. William's voice got lower, with some kind of unclear meaning: "Maxine, did you... never really get over him?" The office went dead silent. The raindrops outside hit the glass, like some kind of countdown. Maxine put down her coffee cup, and the bottom hit the table with a soft sound. "I didn't." She finally spoke. Her voice was soft, but it sounded like she used all her strength just to say those three words. William didn't move, still kept that intimidating posture, his eyes slicing across her face like a knife: "Then why didn't you dare admit you went too far?" Maxine suddenly stood up, almost nose to nose with him: "William! You knew what I went through! You knew he..." "I know." William cut her off, his voice suddenly softening, "But how are you any different from Reid back then?" That sentence was like a slap in the face, hitting Maxine hard. She staggered back a step, her chest heaving. Yeah... when did she become like this? 37.0 %. 06:35 288 VOUchers To get back at him, she could just watch Reid wither away day by day, could measure every bit of his pain, and even... enjoy his breakdown. Wasn't this exactly what Reid did to her back then? "I..." Her voice choked. ... William sighed and reached out to touch her cheek. "If you let hate burn too long, it'll turn you to ashes too." Maxine closed her eyes, and a tear slid down silently. "Bang!" The office door was thrown open, and the secretary rushed in, flustered: "Ms. Valemont! The old team from the Merrow Group teamed up with three private equity firms and was trying to take over our com- pany's outstanding shares!" Maxine snapped awake: "When did that happen?" "Just half an hour ago! They already took 12% of the shares and were still buying!" The secretary hand- ed over the tablet. "This is the leader." On the screen, the former CFO of the Merrow Group was being interviewed, with a cold smile: "M&V Enterprises' acquisition methods were always controversial, we were just setting things right, taking back what was ours..." Maxine clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms. Phillip. 76.2%. 06:35 Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!