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."

noncommittal, and his gaze was lost

badly and shattered quite a few mugs

rage. It was the fiercest Michael

stare outside, his thoughts unreadable. Minutes later, a chill flashed

into Sunflower Children's Home, and while you're at it, bring

so he'd surely have the clearest

sent Mark away, but we've located him. I'll have someone fetch

lost, but perhaps Mark retained some memory. Only with his return could the

Max finished instructing, Patrick left, giving Max space to

to speak with Max. Max hastily

Martha lay motionless, only her eyes able to move. Doctors had tried to move her fingers the previous night but to

words, but Martha just stared at him with

if a needle had

no response,

his mouth 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

but to burden Max with a psychological weight. Having been injected with a drug the