Tangled Temptations novel Chapter 25

Max didn't leave right away. He was outside when Harvey was kissing Eloise on the hospital bed. He'd seen how Eloise looked when they kissed, all soft and tender. Anger had him wound up tight, his fists were clenched.

And when Eloise let out a sound, frail but pleasurable, Max couldn't help but slam his fist into the wall.

Blood was everywhere. Max's hand was drenched in blood. But it was like he didn't feel the pain, his fist still balled up and his face even darker.

For a moment, Max wanted to storm into the room, to snatch Eloise away from Harvey. But Max knew better, the minute he stepped in there, his engagement to Orlena would be down the drain. Everything he'd worked for, all the money and power he'd acquired, would vanish in a blink!

Max chose to leave, driving to a neighborhood that was neither new nor old. He'd lived there for two years, the security guys in the area still remembered him. Seeing his car roll in, they greeted him cheerfully, "Mr. Velona, you're back!"

Max just nodded, poker-faced. He climbed the stairs and opened a door. An small apartment, filled with his and Eloise's memories.

When the Velona Corporation was on the brink of bankruptcy, the Velona family had to squeeze into this old house. Scraping by, they even had to hit the market for cheap discounted vegetables.

Times were tough then. Eloise, to save his pride, often came over to cook for him, helped him when he needed it.

What a silly woman! She thought Max loved her, but all along he was just using her.

Eloise never did figure out that part.

Even now, Eloise thought her father Angus was in trouble because of her. She never knew that years ago Angus was his scapegoat, and she was just a tool to gain Angus' trust. This tool was just too naïve that in the end even Max found it hard to let go.

Ha! Even if he succeeded, where could he find such a pure and naive woman who loved him?