Chapter 6 - The Desperate Plea
Six months later.
The annual Valerius Global Foundation Gala in Geneva was the event of the decade. The world's elite—heads of state, tech moguls, European nobility—gathered in the gilded ballrooms of the Grand Hotel to pledge billions toward global healthcare and poverty relief.
Maximus stood on the grand balcony overlooking Lake Geneva. She wore an emerald-green silk gown that draped flawlessly over her restored, elegant frame, a modest diamond choker glittering around her neck. She looked like a queen ruling over her domain.
Inside the crowded ballroom, a man dressed in a threadbare, rented tuxedo tried frantically to dodge security.
It was Liam.
He had spent his last savings, sold his car, and lied to three different event coordinators just to get a server’s pass into the gala. He was gaunt, his face hollowed by months of stress and hard labor, his hands calloused and raw.
He saw her through the glass doors.
Maximus.
She looked more beautiful, more radiant, and more completely out of reach than she ever had during their three years of marriage.
Driven by absolute desperation, Liam sprinted past a waiter and threw himself through the balcony doors.
"Maxi!" he cried out, collapsing onto his knees before the guards could tackle him. "Maxi, please! Just hear me out!"
imperial security guards instantly pulled their sidearms, but Maximus raised a single hand, halting them.
"Stand down," she said calmly.
Liam looked up from the cold stone floor, tears streaming down his hollow cheeks. "Maxi... please. I begged for a ticket... I had to see you."
"You shouldn't be here, Liam," Maximus said, her voice smooth, devoid of anger or affection.
"I made a mistake!" Liam sobbed, clutching his worn hands together. "A terrible, unforgivable mistake! My mother lied to me! Jessica manipulated me! I was weak, Maxi! I was so foolish! I think about you every single day! I dream about our son!"
May you like
"Our son?" Maximus raised an eyebrow, stepping closer, her heels clicking softly against the marble. "The son you claimed wasn't yours? The child you were going to take from me to give to your mistress?"
"I didn't mean it!" Liam wept, reaching out, though he didn't dare touch the hem of her gown. "I was blind! Please, Maxi... give me a second chance. Let me be a father to him. I don't care about the money! I'll work for your brothers, I'll clean your houses, I'll do anything! Just let me see my boy!"
