Master of his heart (Brielle and Max)

Martha had never been a fan of Brielle, but she'd never before stooped to hurling insults in broad daylight with such filthy abandon.

In that instant, Brielle's mind went blank. She hadn't expected someone of Martha's stature to sling mud like a fishwife, with every barb seeming designed to provoke.

Lost in thought over this, Brielle didn't notice until it was too late that James had already kicked out the chair Martha was sitting on.

With the staircase being so high, even if Brielle had thrown her body beneath Martha, it would've been too late. She couldn't match the speed of the fall.

All this wasn't apparent in the video. Slow was slow, and the video couldn't be scrubbed clean.

Max stopped the video with a cold detachment, feeling a restlessness spread through his chest.

Patrick stood by his side, had also seen the video, and recognized the problem: Ms. Brielle had really landed herself in hot water.

First, she was entangled with the Kingston family, and now, she was linked with Ms. Martha's injury.

For years, Max had gone out of his way to find doctors for Martha, sending her to a foreign sanatorium after his Wall Street stint.

Martha mattered to Max. She had given him life.

"Sir, Ms. Brielle has returned to the Premier Palace and asked to be kept informed of Ms. Martha's condition."

"Mm."

his gaze was lost in the

badly and shattered quite a few mugs

even uttered that Max should never return to the Dorsey family homestead, indicating his rage. It was the fiercest Michael had ever been, especially regarding Max. Max rubbed his temples, the skin under his

outside, his thoughts unreadable. Minutes later, a chill

Sunflower Children's Home, and while you're at

the orphanage, so he'd surely have the clearest

Brielle sent Mark away, but we've located him.

but perhaps Mark retained some memory.

Max space to rest-more

morning, Martha sent a message. She wanted to

eyes able to move. Doctors had tried to move her fingers the previous

words, but Martha just stared at him with a mix of weakness and

a needle had pricked his heart. He reached out, taking Martha's hand.

response, instead

opened his mouth to speak, looking to

continually monitoring the data. "Max, your mother's condition is grave. We've examined her, and there's no sensation in her limbs. Even if she survives this critical period, she'll be in

eyes, saying nothing. She hadn't summoned him for last words but to burden Max with a psychological weight. Having been injected with a drug the night before, Martha's mind was clear, temporarily free of pain,