Semua Bab Bared To You : Bab 81 - Bab 86

Edwina The news about the attack on Max earlier this morning spread like wildfire, each telling more dramatic than the last. Some whispered that he had been gravely injured defending himself against intruders, while others claimed he was on his deathbed. Deathbed. The word alone made my stomach twist. But I knew Max better than most. Even his little finger could inflict enough pain to make someone regret ever crossing him. The man wasn’t just strong—he was relentless, and that terrified people as much as it fascinated me.I thought back to the first time he’d been robbed, on his very first day in Havindelle. He’d been weakened by illness then, too sick to deal with those men the way he normally would have. That had been the only reason they’d gotten away. If by some slim chance these attackers were the same set of people, I knew Max wouldn’t have let them go scot-free this time. Not Max. He wasn’t the type to forgive and forget—not when betrayal or violence was involved.I asked Mo

Maximillian Two weeks later“Wake up, Max.”I jerked awake, my body thrashing as though escaping from unseen hands dragging me down. The dream slipped away like smoke, but the echo of it clung to me. Before I could even take a full breath, pain tore through my chest—white-hot, searing, like someone had lodged a knife straight into my heart.I doubled over, clutching my chest with both hands, a guttural groan ripping out of me. Not again. Please, not again. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, hoping movement would dull the pain, but every second felt like I was splintering apart.Then, as suddenly as it came, the pain began to ebb. I dragged in a shaky breath, relief mixing with dread. This wasn’t random—this had meaning. It always had meaning. The last time I felt something like this, I’d been fourteen, certain death was coming for me, only to find out later it had been Georgina in danger. That memory haunted me—because it wasn’t just pain. It was a warning.I sat there, chest

Maximillian For a second, everything around me stilled. My hand froze midair, and the sound of the pool’s soft bubbling suddenly felt distant, almost muted.My great-grandmother. Jean Anne. Gone.I couldn’t process it. The woman was nearly a hundred years old — just six years shy of that milestone birthday we’d all planned to celebrate. I’d imagined her there, smiling in her usual quiet way, the same way she did whenever she scolded me for missing church. And now… she is gone. Just like Great Grandmother Bianca before her.The weight in my chest settled like a stone.“How’s Grandmother doing?” I asked quietly, afraid to hear the answer.“She’s devastated,” Dad sighed. “She lost her father two years ago, and now her mother… I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to my parents.”There was something raw in his voice — something that made me feel small again, like a boy who didn’t know how to comfort his father. I swallowed hard.“I’m sorry, Dad,” I murmured. “For not being t