Chapter Three

Max pushed Fred out of the way as he was blocking the door and spared him only a cold look before she opened the door, walking out of it. She wasn't interested in the filth that spewed from his mouth or any of their mouths.

Fred stared at the door as it closed in his face. He couldn't describe the feeling he felt, but in his heart, he felt something break. There was something going on with this whole situation that felt off. He noticed her speech pattern sometimes seemed like she was talking about someone else instead of herself, which got him thinking: what if she wasn't his sister, Maxina? He looked at their father and saw the doubt mirrored in his eyes as well. It seemed like no one else had noticed it yet.

Once Max was outside, she took a big breath, inhaling the fresh air and freedom. She pulled out her phone and hit the pause button on the recording before she saved it to her phone and the cloud. She'll upload it to her laptop when she gets back to her home.

Her departure left everyone uneasy, especially Bonnie and Karen, because she knew things about them that no one knew except for 'him' and them. Karen wanted to get rid of Max, but now, all she wanted to do was get her back into the house so that she could watch her. Max was too dangerous to leave outside the house.

"She actually left..." Fred said, almost with a hint of sadness in his voice. Jakob frowned as he looked at the door. A real daughter or not, he brought her into their home and stayed away from her. Neglected her. Ignored her, all because he couldn't stand the monsters that were his wife and children.

Despite being the one to claim that Max was her daughter, Bonnie hated her the moment they found her because that put Karen's identity in jeopardy. No one knew that Karen was actually her daughter, with an affair that had been going on for a while. Jakob barely touched her anymore, and she needed companionship. "She's really something! Leaving like that. She better not come back." Really, what Bonnie wanted was for her to come back or for her to die; then her secrets would never come out.

Jonah, the eldest brother, chuckled darkly as he looked towards the door. "Maxina thinks she's so capable; let's see how capable she is when she's blacklisted. Without this family, she's nothing." Hate and excitement bubbled in his dark heart at the thought of breaking Max, making her beg for her place back, and watching her apologize to Karen on her knees. It was what she deserved for daring to throw this family away like trash.

Theodore, whose chuckle matched Jonah's as they were a team in more ways than one, spoke as his gaze was locked on Jonah. "I'll contact the people in the circle and let them know that we are blacklisting Maxina. No one would dare sign her." Max was going to learn that being stubborn had consequences.

Karen was excited on the inside because she was still dear in her brothers' hearts, but she needed to keep up her act of being apologetic. "Maybe I should go find her and apologize. Maybe she'll come back afterwards." Yes, she needed Max to come back. Jonah scoffed, "You don't need to apologize. She needs to learn a lesson from this reckless behavior of hers. It'll be good for her to face some setbacks."

Jakob sat there, listening to Jonah, Theodore, and Karen as he kept thinking about Max. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out. "What if she isn't our Maxina? Have you ever noticed the differences in our appearance and hers? We never did a DNA test because Bonnie was so sure that it was our daughter. After all, the names were the same, but they could just share names."

Everyone looked at each other as they hadn't noticed anything different about her. They just hated her because she was a threat to Karen. Jonah ran upstairs to her room, looking for a strand of hair or her toothbrush, anything with her DNA on it, but her room was spotless. Did she have OCD or something? "It's like she never was here." He said out loud as the family followed him. They had never seen a room this clean before. This was insane. She was a mystery to everyone.

They walked back to the living room and sat down as they completely ignored what Jakob just said and went back to plotting against Max. Jakob sighed as he could see the hatred was too strong in them to even see reason or listen to logic.

What they didn't know was that Max never trusted them, so she planted little mics around the house, and they were picking up every word loud and clear. They were being recorded, and the recordings were being sent to Max's laptop in a location they didn't know about. They were just giving her more ammunition than she already had. If the family messed with her, she would release each piece of evidence, one by one, day by day, until they were utterly destroyed. The same went for him. Zac.

Upon leaving the McDonald's household, she went to McDonald's, the fast food joint, and got her normal order. Two Big Macs, a large fry, and an M&M McFlurry. She got it to go because she didn't know if anyone was out searching for her, and she didn't want to find out. When her order was ready, she grabbed it and went to the penthouse she owned before the McDonald's took her in. It was under a different name. Classik Horror, as she was an avid horror fan. That was her hacker name as well.

The penthouse was bought with money that she earned through streaming and taking jobs on the dark web. When the McDonald family took her in, she stepped away from the dark web because she was scared something would happen to them if someone found out who she was. This was where she came when she was too heartbroken and needed a place to cry freely.

Before she ate, she gave the place a simple cleaning, as she was a bit OCD. She sat at her little plastic table and pulled her food out of the bag, placing it neatly on the table. She set her phone face-down on the table as she ate her food, thinking about what her next move would be. Maybe she could execute the idea that she started to form a plan for, because if she knew Theodore and Jonah, they were going to blacklist her.

As she was eating her McFlurry, her phone notification went off. Why did she set 'Rope It' as her notification ringtone? Oh, right. Because it was catchy and she liked the beat. She grabbed her phone after she wiped her fingers on a napkin to get the moisture off. Her friend from the entertainment circle messaged her.

"Girl, what did you do to offend the McDonald family company?! They have posted that they terminated their contract with you. You know that other companies won't sign you now because they don't want to offend them. It seems like they want to push you out of the industry. Do you have a plan?" Her friend, Spicy, was the only person who believed that Max was innocent despite all the negative PR towards her.

They sure worked fast. The McDonald family company was one of the top three companies in the states, and once they blacklisted someone, that person was pretty much done in the industry because no one would dare try. She knew she was going to be okay because she planned to start her own studio. Max messages back, "I chose not to follow their rules anymore. Don't worry, Spicy. I have my own plan." She set her phone back down and cleaned up her mess as she grabbed her laptop from her bedroom. She set it up on the table, powering it on.

As soon as it was powered up and connected to the Wi-Fi, notifications started popping up. It was the recordings from the mics that were in the house. She ignored them as she double-clicked on the folder labeled 'Heart Studio', pulling up her business plan.

She came out with this plan when she was tired of being heartbroken over and over again. Before she could make it a reality and leave the McDonald family company, she was kidnapped and killed. Being reborn gave her the perfect chance to register it, but she was changing the original name to 'Second Chance Studio' as a way to let people know they could have one.

And because she felt like being a bitch, she was going to register it under her alias, Classik Horror. It was a risky move, but she didn't want Jonah and Theodore to figure out it was her studio because they would try to cause problems for her. They might still try, but she was ready for their games. She hoped they were ready.

The thing about owning her own studio was that she could handle her own paperwork and sign and promote others. As the artists she signs gain popularity, her lifespan would be extended. She called Mr. Hot, a lawyer that her master knew before he died, and he decided to stick by her side. She asked for a consultation.

He told her that they could have the studio created and registered in a week, but she hadn't settled on a location yet, so she decided to wait until after the show. She also needed to find decent staff. With everything else on her mind, she completely forgot to call the director to see if she still had her spot. So, she dialed right away.

"Don't worry, Ms. Heart. No one could take that spot away from you, nor can anyone change it." Max sincerely thanked him with relief in her tone. Her mind was at ease when she hung up. She continued looking over the plan, adding to it when her phone went off with 'Closer To You'. Fucking Zac. She guessed it was his turn now.

Zac was her childhood friend turned boyfriend, who was 6 years older than her. He was on his way to becoming an A-ranked actor with high popularity, but she knew him before that. She knew him from when he stayed with his grandfather, Mr. King, who lived next to her master. He was there when her master adopted her after she was rescued.

She closed herself off from the world because she remembered everything she did when she was with the traffickers. She had helped them kidnap children just so she wouldn't get beaten. She was just trying to survive. When she was too afraid to step out of the house in fear that someone had found out what she did, Zac was the one who took her hand, leading her towards the light. He became her light that dispelled the darkness from her heart. Because of that, she clung to him, following his footsteps wherever he led her. Whenever she was with him, she was happy.

She was sad when his parents came and took him away, but she was determined to get back to him. She studied hard as she skipped grades to get back to him. She entered the best college, and when he joined the entertainment industry, she joined as well. At first, it was for him, but soon she realized she enjoyed it.

When she entered the McDonald's household, she finally gained the courage to confess to him. She was happy when he didn't laugh at her or reject her. He accepted her as she was. Rich or not. She believed that their places in each other's hearts were unreachable for the outside world. She believed them to be soulmates, but it was he who hurt her the most.

He was there when it was the choice between Karen and her. When her life was on the line, he didn't hesitate to leave her behind. It was then that the illusion of light was shattered, revealing the darkness that was always underneath.

Max let the phone ring a few more times before she answered. She placed it on speaker as she started recording the call. "What, Zac? Are you calling about the variety show slot too?" Her tone was cold enough to make him shiver through the phone.

On the other end of the line, Zac frowned as he found Max colder than normal. Normally, she talked to him with warmth in her voice and actually sounded happy to hear his voice, but today, she was all cold and sounded annoyed to hear from him. It was like when they first met all over again before he became her light. He didn't know what happened to her, but this wasn't his Maxina. "Theodore told me that you were still participating in the variety show."

Theodore and Zac were classmates from school who had a good relationship, so they still talked. They were as close as brothers. "Is that a problem, Zac?" Max asked as she knew where this was going, but found it didn't hurt. She knew the truth. She knew he cared about Karen. She just wished he had told her, rather than for her to find out as she had in her previous life.

Zac didn't want the world to see the real her. The brilliant, smart, talented, and beautiful her. He wanted to lock her in a cage, never letting her be free. Performing only for him. "The variety show isn't suitable for you, as it's a live broadcast. Trust me, baby, and give it up." Trust him? Ha! Not in this life.