Chapter 577

Max’s gaze rested on her with a calm that bordered on indifference as if devoid of any emotion. “Mom, is it because I’m the heir to the Dorsey family?” he asked quietly.

Martha’s lips tightened into a thin line, and she let out a derisive snort. “Of course it is. What’s the difference between Brielle and a beggar on the street? Are you with her to play the savior now?”

“I could always renounce my inheritance. Antonio’s been back in Beaconsfield for a while, hasn’t he?

He could take over.”

Antonio was William’s son.

Martha was suddenly at a loss for words, struggling to believe what she was hearing. He had been declared the successor at just ten years old. He had navigated through tumultuous trials and had some close shaves just to get this prestigious position, and now he was ready to give it all up? It was sheer madness.

In an instant, Martha felt as if her world was crumbling, a seething rage threatening to destroy everything in the room! But she could not act on it. Max’s few words held her life’s work in the balance.

Her fingertips trembled, and her lips were so tightly pressed together that they began to bleed, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth.

Brielle must not stay! She had to make that call now!

Outside the door, not too far away, Brielle caught Martha’s glance–a look venomous as a viper’s hiss, filled with loathsome poison, wishing her dead where she stood.

Brielle couldn’t hear what Max was saying, but it was clearly nothing to please Martha. As she stepped back, footsteps approached from behind. Turning, she saw Alivia.

Noticing Brielle had not entered, Alivia’s lips curled in scorn. “Well, well, Brielle, showing some sense for once. You know Martha might have a fit seeing you. Hiding out here is probably for the best. After all, your ‘relationship‘ with Max is the kind that’s best kept in the dark: Even if Max has defended you before, in Martha’s eyes, you’re just a plaything for her son, disposable as yesterday’s newspaper.”

Alivia couldn’t hide her smugness. She was alone with Brielle, so why should she?

“I can walk right in and chat with Martha while you can only silently watch through the window. That’s the difference between you and me. And this is just the beginning, darling. You’re in for a rough ride.”

“Are you done, Ms. Alivia?” Brielle interjected with a frosty glare. “If you don’t go in to attend to her, you might miss your chance to see Max. Isn’t that why you’re here? To sneak a few more seconds with him? It’s quite touching, that you care so much about my boyfriend.”

Alivia’s face flushed with anger and disgust. “Do you actually believe you and Max will last 12:06 forever?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

Alivia let out a cold laugh. Her lips twisted into a smirk as she stepped closer, her voice a whisper. “You know, on one birthday, it was just me, my brother, and Max. We got drunk, and Max and I almost… He kissed me, from my cheek all the way down to my collarbone, confessing he liked me. That was the first time I saw him like that. But I didn’t give in to him. You know how persuasive he can be when he wants a woman to fall for him, especially when he’s drunk and says he likes you. So very charming.”

She was deliberately using the story to nauseate Brielle. Alivia even pulled at her blouse, revealing an old bite mark on her shoulder–a testament to the intensity of that long–ago moment.