♜
"MAX," MARCUS CALLS OUT, but Max doesn't respond to it.
The room was completely silent after Denzel's sudden announcement, yet Max felt like he could hear loud noises in his ear that were almost impossible to bear. His body couldn't move, yet his hands trembled. He was speechless, yet a thousand words were itching their way out of his mouth.
"Max..." his uncle Janus calls out this time.
Janus was as surprised as everyone else by the announcement, but the first thing that he thought of was Max because he knew that this will affect him more than anyone else in this room.
"What the hell were you thinking Denzel?" Janus mumbles to himself before finally standing from his seat to head to where Max is. He grabs Max's arm, and Max flinches before looking at him, his face almost blank and lifeless.
"This...this can't be happening. This can't be happening uncle," Max suddenly says, grabbing both of Janus's arms with his trembling hands.
Janus looks around and sees everyone staring at Max with pity, while some looked like they were moments away from laughing at him. But when Janus looked back at Max, he saw the tears that were already forming in Max's eyes, and Janus couldn't help but grab and hug his nephew tightly.
As he hugs him, he looks at Denzel and angrily asks, "Have you no shame? To announce such a thing without even telling your children first...without telling Max about this first...do you not know what that woman did to his mother?!"
Janus's voice was so loud that the people who were near him even flinched. Janus was always seen as this carefree man that ignoring him at reunions and parties wouldn't be a big deal. But this moment made them realize that Janus was also a powerful Sinclaire.
"Brother, you might not have loved Luna, but at least show an ounce of respect to her son," Janus says.
Denzel gets ready to explain his side, but Max suddenly pushes Janus off of him and runs away.
"Max!" Marcus shouts. He was about to follow his little brother, but Denzel lets go of Edith's hand and follows him instead.
Denzel walks out of the dining room and heads to the hallway where he spots Étienne guarding a room. He walks towards him and stands in front of him. He was expecting Étienne to move for him, but Étienne doesn't budge. So Denzel takes a deep breath and looks straight at Étienne's eyes and says, "I would like to speak to my son."
"Master Leigh would like to be alone," Étienne quickly answers with no hint of hesitation.
Denzel continues to stare at him with irritation. He knew that nothing he'd say will make Étienne move except for one thing. "I demand you to move out of the way or this will be the last time you'll ever have the chance to guard your master again," Denzel threatens this time.
Étienne stares at Denzel straight in the eyes. He wasn't afraid of him; he never was, but the one thing that he's afraid of is Denzel taking Max away from him. So Étienne takes a deep breath and moves away from the door so Denzel could enter the room.
Denzel doesn't say anything and grabs the doorknob. But before he could open the door, Étienne tells him, "I respect your personal affairs and try not to stick my nose into them, but I hope you know that I am only a mere butler, and Leigh is your son who has every right to be included in such important decisions."
The atmosphere becomes tense between them, but Denzel doesn't say a word and enters the room instead. Inside was an empty space that was filled with paintings and blank canvases. It was an old painting room, which is why the smell of paint instantly welcomed Denzel when he entered.
Denzel barely sees Max because there weren't any light bulbs in the room. The only thing that lightened the room up was from the single window in the middle.
Sunlight illuminates the room as the curtains at the side sways with the wind. Max, who was standing in front of the said window, doesn't even look back at his father as he says, "I want to be alone."
"You know well that we have to talk," Denzel replies instead, and Max instantly laughs.
"Oh, so now you want to talk? Didn't you think of that before you proposed to that woman?" Max asks, finally looking back at Denzel.
Denzel doesn't say a word, so Max takes a step closer and tells him, "I never said anything. I never demanded you anything and I never complained. But this...this is out of the line. Out of all the woman that you want to marry, you decide to marry your mistress."
"Do not call her that," Denzel suddenly defends, angering Max even more.
"Why? Is she not a mistress? Did you not embrace her while my mother waited for you at home? Is she not the woman you spent your Christmas with while mom and I waited in the cold for your return? Is she not the mother of the four-year-old child that you brought in our house; the child you demanded your wife to take care of?!" Max now shouts, and Denzel finally looks away from his son.
"Do you want me to suffer like how mother did? Do you want me to wake up every single day and see the woman you cared about more than your own family?!" Max continues to say.
"Then what do you want me to do, huh Maximilian? Your mother is dead. Do you want me to just wait for my own death so we could be together again?! Is that what you want?!" Denzel asks back, and Max was inches away from slapping him.
"Why do you not understand?!" Max continues to shout, moving closer to his father so he could now be just inches away from him.
"My mother loved you with the little love she had left in her. Out of everything that is cruel, she gave all of her kindness to you yet you throw it all away for another woman," Max tells him.
And as the two continue their heated conversation, Marcus suddenly arrives at the scene. He ignores Étienne and grabs the doorknob, slightly opening the door, but when he heard Max's voice, he immediately stops.
"Mom is dead, and I have known about that fact for years now. I have nothing left of her memory except for one thing, and that is the company," Max finally reveals, and that alone made Marcus let go of the doorknob. He wanted to walk away, but his feet wouldn't let him. So instead, he takes a deep breath and leans beside the door so he could hear their conversation from outside the room.
"The rightful heir to the company is the son of both the legal mother and father. If you marry Edith before I turn eighteen, do you know what will happen to me?" Max asks, and Marcus - who is eavesdropping outside - covers his mouth from shock and realization.
"Marcus will officially be recognized as the eldest, and he will have all the rights to take the entire shares that you have in the company. So what's left of me? Even if I take what the Lemieux's have, it won't be enough, do you know that?" Max continues to ask, but Denzel remains painfully silent.
Max stares at his father until he finally realizes something.
"You do know...don't you?" He asks.
Max stops for a second until the silent room is engulfed with his laughter.
Max laughs and laughs and laughs, but as he was laughing, tears start streaming down from his eyes until the waves of laughter turned into loud sobs. He grabs his father's coat and starts hitting his chest as more tears stream down from his eyes.
For the first time ever, Max was crying in front of his father.
Max has always been portrayed as this powerful heir. He was this unstoppable boy who had great ambition and a bright future inside his school and outside his personal life. But Max is only just a boy; a boy who was given responsibilities and expectations that's meant for a man.
"How could you do this to me father? How could you do this to me?!" Max asks, his trembling voice echoing inside the room.
Marcus, who's still outside, grips on his fist as tears stream out of his eyes too. Étienne was also there to listen to their conversation, but all he could do was fight down the tears and look away even though he was desperately trying his best not to run to his master to comfort him.
"How could you do this to me?! How could you take the last thing that I have of my mother?! It's the last thing that my mother left for me and you want to take it away from me too?!" Max continues to ask.
"Please...I have nothing left to lose but that company. Don't take it away from me. Please don't take it away from me," Max begs, falling down on his knees as he grabs hold of his father's hand.
"I'll give you everything I have father...all the riches that are under my name...just not the company my mother died for."
Max's hand slowly slips away from his father's hand. He looks at the ground as his tears fall to the cold floor.
The silent room becomes filled with Max's painful cry. The wind blows the curtains, making it dance and sway as Max clenches on his chest and tries to gasp for air; he felt like he would faint then and there.
But despite all that, despite how his son looked in front of him, Denzel decides to look away and remain silent.
- END OF VOLUME II -