Max barely had time to loosen his tie before the door to the side corridor slammed open with a bang that echoed like a gunshot.
He didn't flinch.
"Maximilan!" his father's voice thundered, filling the corridor like it had weight.
Max turned slowly, already unbuttoning the top of his collar. "Afraid of a headline with too few zeroes?"
His father's face was raged. "You've humiliated this family in front of hundreds. In front of the board. In front of the world."
"Depends who you ask," Max said. "The press is eating it up. I'm sure your investors love the drama."
His father lunged forward and swung— Slap.
It was hard. Harder than he'd expected. His head jerked sideways, cheek stinging, the echo bouncing off the expensive walls.
Another step, another hand raised—
"No,"his mother snapped.
She moved between them, slender fingers gripping her husband's wrist before he could swing again.
"That's enough," she said. Her voice was low, but cold enough to freeze bone. "You got one."
"You're not in love with her. You don't even know what love is. You barely know her."
"I know her better than anyone here has ever bothered to," he said sharply. "I know how many people tried to silence her. I know how many times she's smiled when she wanted to scream. I know how many times you paraded her like a pawn."
"That wasn't your place to interfere," his father growled. "It was an alliance, Max. A strategic one."
"She's not a transaction," Max said, stepping forward. "And I'm not a puppet."
"You are our son," his father snapped, stepping forward too. "And you will fix this."
Max's mouth twitched. Not with a smile, but something colder. "Fix what?"
"The mess you've made."
"I married her," Max said. "Legally. Publicly. Gloriously, if I may add. What exactly would you like me to undo?"
His father's voice dropped into a hiss. "You married her to humiliate Adrian."
Max's jaw clenched. "No. I married her because you were all going to use her and toss her aside like she didn't matter. And she does."
His father shoved past his wife, hands fisted. "You are a Velasco. You are my son—"
"And that's your biggest disappointment, isn't it?" Max snapped, quieter but stronger. "That I turned out nothing like you."
His father stepped forward this time. "You think this is love?" he shouted. "This is an affair, Max! A scandal! A child's tantrum with headlines!"
Max raised an eyebrow. "And yet the ratings are through the roof, I'm sure."
His father shoved him against the wall behind.
Adrian rushed in through the side door, suit slightly askew, panic etched into his face. "Dad, stop!" he said, placing a hand on their father's arm. "You're making it worse!"
"Worse?!" his father spat. "He's wrecked this family in a single afternoon!"
"You wrecked it years ago," Max said, voice steady, eyes burning. "You just hid it better."
His father lunged again, but Adrian held him back.
"Dad!" Adrian's voice cracked. "Please! Everyone can hear—"
"Let them!" their father barked. "Let them hear how my son destroyed his brother's wedding, made a circus of our legacy!"
Max laughed then. Bitter. Hollow. "Legacy? Is that what you call arranged marriages now?"
"Max." Alaya stepped through the open door, cutting through the tension like a thread of silver. Her heels didn't click. Her voice didn't rise. But the room shifted around her presence.
She walked up to Max and took his arm and backed him gently. "You've said enough."
Max's jaw tightened. "Alaya—" She squeezed his arm. "They don't hear you when you scream. They only use the volume against you."
He went still. Alaya looked up at him, her eyes unreadable. "Don't give them another excuse to use." Slowly, Max stepped back.
His father stilled. Breathing hard. Jaw clenched.
"I will have this marriage annulled by morning," he hissed. "A girl like her is not part of this family after all this scandal. She never will be."
"You don't get to decide that," Max said.
"I decide everything in this family," his father roared.
A quiet voice cut in.
"Not anymore."
All heads turned. Max's mother had stepped forward, her voice barely louder than a whisper, but it landed like a thunder.
"What did you say?" her husband asked, eyes narrowing.
She stood straighter. "You will not annul this marriage. Not behind his back. Not over his head. Not like you did everything else."
Her husband gaped at her. "You're siding with him?"
She looked at Max, then at Adrian. "I'm not picking sides. I'm doing what none of us ever did; listening."
"You're weak."
She turned to him then, something ancient and cold in her eyes. "And you are a coward. You're afraid of anything you can't control."
The silence that followed was unbearable. Max swallowed hard.
His mother turned to him. "I'm angry," she said. "I'm humiliated. I wish you had told me. But for once... you looked like yourself out there. Not the version we rehearsed."
He blinked.
Then Max turned, his voice calm, final. "Althea's name doesn't leave your mouths again. Not unless it's with respect."
"You really think she's innocent in all this?" His father said.
Max took a step forward, but Alaya held him again, this time more firmly. "Don't," she whispered. "He wants a show. Don't give it."
Max exhaled slowly and looked at Alaya. "She tried to leave quietly. You made her a spectacle. I just made sure she wasn't alone in it." Alaya looked down. "I'm ashamed."
"You'll regret this marriage," his father said. "Both of you."
"I might," Max admitted. Then he looked at Adrian. "But at least it was mine."
Adrian met his gaze; hurt, tired, but not angry. Not anymore. Their father turned away, muttering under his breath. "This family is finished."
Max walked out. He didn't slam the door behind him. He didn't need to.
Because for the first time in his life, Maximilian Velasco had walked out of a room his parents could not follow him into.
And he was okay with that.
End of Chapter 23.