Chapter 98

Hearing that, Victoria visibly relaxed, her lips instinctively arching upwards, but she quickly checked

herself, holding back the expression.

Maxwell was still looking out for her. She knew it. He had been giving her the cold shoulder lately

because he was still peeved about her ditching him to go abroad all those years ago.

Rosemary's fingers clenched tightly together, her chin lifted defiantly as she looked down on him

from her high horse, like a cock ready to rumble, "Dream on. I'm not about to apologize to Victoria."

Maxwell's face was a storm of anger, like a tempest ready to sweep Rosemary up and tear her to

shreds, "I'm not asking you to apologize to Victoria; I'm telling you to apologize to the kid."

Victoria, who was all set to come out looking like a peacekeeper and the picture of grace, was left

speechless.

Rosemary sneered dismissively, "Didn't see that coming. You're actually a decent dad."

Maxwell ignored her sarcasm, stood up, and his towering presence instantly overshadowed

Rosemary's defiance. He grabbed her wrist, tugged a bit harder than necessary, and yanked her

across his desk into his embrace, "Apologize."

There were still coffee stains on his face, and as Rosemary was pulled towards him, a few drops fell

from his jawline onto the top of her head.

This jerk just had to drag her down with him.

"If you're that superstitious, afraid my words will come true, then just don't have the kid. You and

Victoria, the douchebag and the slut, can play the crappy couple and live happily ever after until

you're both old and gray. Wouldn't that be sweet?"

Victoria uttered, "Rosemary, the beef between us is at best just some petty vanity and jealousy of

young girls. Apart from a few snarky comments in college, I've never done anything extreme, and I

haven't even been in touch with you for years. Don’t you think calling me ‘slut’ is a bit much?"

Victoria wasn't entirely wrong, but also not entirely right.

To outsiders, it was just some petty squabble where the fans of two campus beauties tried to one-up

each other, though it did get ugly. But the main players never actually got their hands dirty.

Yet, Rosemary knew the reason why those people held fierce animosity towards her was that

Victoria had been pulling strings behind the scenes.

Till now, she still didn't get why Victoria despised her so much. Was it because of that silly popularity

ranking posted on the forum? They were from different departments and both top students in their

fields. Unable to compete academically, some bored folks started stirring up drama based on looks,

figure, and family background.

Rosemary gestured with her eyes to a painting on the desk, "This painting, Maxwell buys it for a

high price, and the next thing I know, you're all over campus hyping it up. Then Crystal exposes me

for staging the whole thing. Digging such a deep trap just to frame me, make me isolated, and

endure the relentless verbal abuse from everyone - just to crush an insignificant me. You guys sure

went out of your way."

Victoria panicked, reflexively looking up at Maxwell, only to see him looking unnervingly calm,

though his eyes were frosty.

He said, "You were bullied?"

Rosemary pushed him away in disgust, "When you set up this whole thing, didn't you plan out my

dire straits? Now coming here acting all concerned, it's nauseating."

Victoria took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, "Rosemary, I don’t know where you're getting

these rumors, but I had no idea Maxwell was the one who bought the painting. I only found out

when I overheard the teachers discussing it and promoted it for the school's recruitment. I

discussed it with the school administration. If you don't believe me, you can go ask."

Years ago, she had seen Maxwell getting the painting framed and found out he was the high bidder

for Rosemary’s work.

She was blindsided by jealousy and someone else's manipulation and orchestrated the whole

scheme through Crystal. After all these years, she never expected it to come back and bite her in

such a way, catching her off guard.

"Rosemary, if you're slinging mud at me because you're jealous, that's really not necessary. I'm here

today just to connect our leader with some contacts. How the talks go, and whether they succeed or

not, has nothing to do with me."

Victoria tried to change the subject, but things didn't go her way.

Rosemary's lips curled into a smirk, "If it wasn't you, maybe someone else was just bitching around,

dying to brown-nose you."

"Rosemary." Maxwell's tone was icy, clearly not pleased, "I bought the painting, but I didn’t know

about the rest, and I didn't conspire with anyone."

Victoria looked at him in surprise. Knowing Maxwell as she did, even if he doted on a woman, he

would never let anyone walk all over him like this.

Nearly slapped, doused in coffee, and ridiculed as a douchebag, yet he remained unfazed

throughout, except when Rosemary cursed his child.

This wasn’t the ruthless and fearsome CEO of the Templeton Group at all; he was acting like a total

pushover.

Rosemary gave Maxwell a look that screamed “you think I'd believe that?”, "Then tell me, what

about this painting caught your eye? Do you find it beautiful, or do you see its collector's value? Or

does looking at it make you happy?"

Even though every painting was a piece of the artist's soul, Rosemary didn’t like this one bit - it was

filled with her painful past.

Maxwell was silent for a few seconds, and then sidestepped the question, "I'll have someone look

into this."

"No need, I’ll check it out myself. I’d be grateful if you didn’t meddle." Rosemary glanced at her

watch, noticing it was nearly quitting time, "We’ll go through with the divorce tomorrow morning. If I

don't see your people at City Hall, my lawyer will file a lawsuit."

If Maxwell found excuses to drag his feet on the divorce, after two years of separation, the court

would grant it by default.

Rosemary turned to leave, but Maxwell grabbed her hand, not allowing her to move an inch,

"Victoria, leave us. We'll discuss the thing another time."

Victoria's face went pale as she instinctively looked at the man next to her. But Maxwell wasn't

looking at her; his gaze was locked on Rosemary's face.

Victoria closed her eyes for a moment, her cheek now swollen from the slap Rosemary had given

her, "Maxwell, she's being totally unreasonable, throwing a tantrum and hitting me, and you're still

taking her side?"

"Victoria, get out." Maxwell said, his voice now icy cold, "Whatever the investment amount is, have

your boss give me a number."

Victoria glanced at him, her eyes filled with both disappointment and sadness, before turning around

and walking out.

The office door closed behind her. A second later, Maxwell grabbed Rosemary by the chin, pulling

her in closer, "You really have to bring up divorce?"

"It's not about bringing it up; we're actually getting a divorce." Rosemary risked self-harm as she

struggled fiercely to break free from his grip, "Stay away from me. Because of you, I now hate all

male creatures; even the sight of a random male dog on the street makes me want to slap it."