The Ugly Wife’s Stunning Comeback (Felicia and Max) novel Chapter 481

“Yes, sir.” The voice on the other end of the call was polite, almost formal. Max pulled up in front of Trey’s villa to pick up Anne. When Trey came out to meet him, it felt like two parents just making small talk. “Anne really does look like you, Mr. Hawthorne.”

At a glance, Anne was definitely Max’s daughter. She shared his features, though there was something in her eyes and the curve of her smile that reminded Max of Felicia. He reached out, taking Anne’s tiny hand in his, and looked at Trey. “Of course she looks like me. She’s my girl.”

Yara looked a lot like Trey too. Max had noticed it immediately the first time he met her. He knew Trey was divorced and that his daughter lived with her mom.

“Anne, say goodbye to Mr. McCoy and Yara.”

Anne nodded politely. “Goodbye, Mr. McCoy. Goodbye, Yara.”

Heather had left already, knowing Felicia wouldn’t be coming to pick Anne up herself. Max took the gift Trey had gotten for Anne, tucking it away for her.

Once they were in the car, Anne’s voice piped up from the back seat. “Daddy, why didn’t Mommy come with you today?”

“Mommy’s been really busy at work lately,” Max explained. “She’ll come pick you up this weekend, okay?”

Anne let out a soft “oh,” thinking it over. “Mommy works so hard. You have to work hard too, Daddy, so she doesn’t get so tired.”

Max reached back and gently ruffled her hair, his tone warm and full of affection. “Alright, Anne. I’ll do just what you say.”

The next day, CoreTech’s team had set up a dinner meeting. Felicia, Savannah, and Mason were the first to arrive in the private dining room. CoreTech’s team wasn’t there yet, so they just waited. A waiter brought in tea and water.

Twenty minutes crawled by. The CoreTech team still hadn’t shown up.

Savannah was getting restless. “What’s taking them so long?”

Felicia glanced at her watch, her brow pulling together in concern. “Let’s give it ten more minutes.”

A few minutes later, Felicia’s phone buzzed. She picked it up. “Jeremy?”

Jeremy’s voice was tense. “The CoreTech acquisition just got handed over to BlueMarble Investments.”

Felicia froze. “What?” Her mind spun with questions. So now it was in Max’s hands? What was he up to?

“You—” Before she could even scream, a hand clamped over her mouth.

Ten minutes earlier, across the street in another hotel’s private room, the CoreTech team was waiting. They had planned to meet with Felicia, hoping to smooth things over with Roen Capital. Getting on Roen Capital’s bad side would do them no favors. But no one showed up. They had just learned that the acquisition had been transferred to BlueMarble Investments. They didn’t know what was going on, but working with BlueMarble was still a good move.

After waiting and making a few unanswered calls, the CoreTech team stood to leave. Just then, someone walked in.

Mr. Torres recognized the man right away and hurried over. “Mr. Hawthorne, what brings you here?”

Max looked around the room, his expression unreadable. “Roen Capital isn’t here?”

Mr. Torres shook his head, confused. “We’re not sure what happened. We tried calling, but no one answered.”

Max’s brow furrowed. Mr. Torres saw the shift in his expression and his stomach tightened with dread.

Without another word, Max turned and strode out. He pulled out his phone and called Felicia. The call went straight to voicemail. Max’s face darkened instantly.