MAXIM
"In the case of Maxim Holloway vs. the State, the court finds Maxim Holloway NOT guilty on the charges of money laundering."
Half a second after Judge Trevor Williams said those words, silence fell over the courtroom.
Then it erupted so loudly that the whole place almost shook.
"How can you do that? He's clearly guilty!"
"This judge is clearly paid off!" another outraged voice shouted.
The judge struck his gavel sharply, barely cutting through the angry recriminations.
"Order! Order in the court!" He yelled.
It didn't seem to have any effect as the media immediately got up and started shouting questions at the judge.
As the judge attempted to restore order, the cause of the current pandemonium, Maxim Holloway, didn't even react to the verdict in his case.
He was focused on something else entirely.
Or, more accurately...
Someone else.
He couldn't stop trying to catch a glimpse of the woman sitting in the corner of the courtroom. Max had noticed her as soon as the court bailiff had escorted him inside.
She was covered from head to toe in a black hoodie, jeans, and boots. A pair of dark sunglasses hid her eyes beneath the hood, helping to conceal almost every feature of her face.
He pursed his lips, wondering what the woman was was trying to accomplish by concealing herself and, more importantly, wondering who the hell she was.
Wondered because she seemed kind of...
Familiar.
And the fact that she was trying to hide only made Max notice her even more.
He wasn't noticing her right now, though.
The stupid media people had moved to sit directly in front of her, blocking his view.
Thoroughly irritated, Max turned back to the front, having no choice but to listen to his own trial.
Not that he didn't already know how it would end.
"If everyone in here does not quiet down, I will clear this courtroom except for the defendant and the lawyers," Judge Williams warned, immediately bringing the chatter down.
Everyone started behaving because none of them wanted to miss a moment of the day's proceedings.
The trial of Maxim Holloway, heir to the revered Holloway family, millionaires who practically ruled the city of Havari, was still in session.
Maxim was glad when the noise subsided, raking a hand through his long blonde hair.
He felt another headache was coming.
And a bad one at that.
Maxim placed the blame squarely on himself for this.
He hadn't had the medication he took for his migraines during the three days he'd spent locked up. It wasn't really that anyone had denied it to him—no one would dare. Everyone in the city feared Maxim Holloway, even the authorities.
He simply hadn't asked for his medicine, refusing to broadcast his weakness to the world.
A weakness he had been dealing with for five years now, ever since the car accident that had wiped away most of his memories.
"Due to insufficient evidence, the defendant is acquitted and is hereby released. Court adjourned," Judge Williams declared, his voice rising above the remaining murmurs.
The gavel struck again.
The noise surged as soon as he did.
Maxim tried to tune it out as he impatiently waited for someone to free him from the cuffs on his wrists. Afterward, he put on his sunglasses and rose from his seat, grateful to finally have the chance to get away from the chaos.
Instinctively, he glanced toward where the mysterious woman had been sitting, finally wanting to identify her.
She was gone.
For a moment, Maxim froze in surprise. She'd been there a moment ago, hadn't she? he asked himself, his jaw clenching.
Damn it. Now he would never know, he thought.
He couldn't say why it felt so important to identify the woman, only that it did. It was instinct, and Maxim was a person who relied on instinct.
If his mood had been foul before, it was now thoroughly ruined by having missed his chance to find out who that woman was.
Sighing, Maxim started to make his way out of the courtroom.
Maybe the woman wasn't important? he told himself, even if everything in him screamed otherwise.
As Maxim walked out, every eye followed his movements, careful to give him his space. Even the media were hesitant to shove cameras in his face.
The man in front of them exuded power, wealth, and, above all else...
Annoyance.
They were scared that if they simply brushed against him, it would be enough reason for him to end them.
At that moment, some people immediately understood that this trial had never been destined to end any other way.
And they were right.
Maxim had personally explained to Judge Williams, inside his chambers, that if he didn't do what he wanted, he would make his extramarital affairs known to his wife, kids, and colleagues...
Before finally taking his life.
As Maxim approached, the crowd fell silent and parted before him like the Red Sea, avoiding even the slightest eye contact.
Even though they were all against him, there wasn't a single person there brave enough to insult him to his face.
Cowards, Maxim couldn't help thinking with contempt.
As he finally stepped out into the hallway, a familiar voice called after him.
"Max!"
His stepsister stood in front of him, a huge smile lighting up Clara Holloway's face despite the chaos around them.
"Congratulations," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "I knew all along that you would be—"
"I would be what, Clara? Innocent?" he asked with a raised brow.
She smiled.
"Definitely not. Released is what I was going to say."
Looking at her smiling face, Maxim continued wearing his serious expression, even though he didn't want to scare this particular person.
"You know you shouldn't be here, Clara," he told her. "You should be in one of your college classes."
Clara finally let go of him, her smile fading into a small frown, clearly hurt by his words.
Maxim cursed himself internally.
He normally didn't care how people were affected by his actions, but not his only sibling, who was genuinely sweet—so sweet that people often had a hard time believing they were related.
If Maxim was darkness, Clara was the light.
But as pleasant as she was, Max couldn't help but scold her for coming to his trial.
The reason for this was because he didn't want her involved in any of their family's criminal activities because, unlike the rest of them, she was a good person.
And very innocent.
Only occasionally rebellious.
"I wanted to be here," she said softly. "I thought you should have someone supporting you, especially since Dad and Carly weren't coming."
Max resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
How very like Clara to believe he cared whether their parents attended his trial.
She insisted on maintaining the illusion that his relationship with their parents was anything other than transactional.
"Did you skip class just to do this, Clara?" Max said through gritted teeth. "What about security? You evaded them too, right?"
Clara looked down guiltily.
"I thought you'd be glad to see me, Max," she said in a small, pained voice.
The sight instantly softened Maxim's anger, a flash of sympathy passing through him.
He tried not to, but Clara looked so... hurt.
It was difficult not to sympathize with her and stay angry.
"I am happy to see you," he admitted quietly. "It's just that you're being so irresponsible, and I'm worried about you. You know how many people have it out for our family."
Clara rolled her eyes dismissively.
"I do know that, Max. I also know that as much as everyone hates us, they're scared of us," Clara stated simply, even though it was something she despised.
After this, she shook her head and looked back at him.
"Anyway... before I forget to tell you, Dad is really mad at you. You should probably go see him afterward. He'll want to have a word with you."
Max sighed.
Clara was right. Of course his father wanted to see him.
Not because he broke the law.
No.
Because he'd gotten caught.
But Max had absolutely no interest in hearing that lecture.
"I don't think so, Clara. If he wants to talk to me, he can come find me. I have some sleeping to catch up on."
As he spoke, he noticed one of his father's men approaching.
Clara's bodyguard.
Max guessed that Clara had managed to give him the slip.
He beckoned the idiot over before addressing his sister again.
"Go back to school, Clara. And don't evade your bodyguards again. You know how dangerous it is."
Clara frowned at him, but by then Maxim had turned his attention to her assigned bodyguard, who had almost reached them.
The man was large and muscular, as suited the job.
Well, mostly suited to the job, since he wasn't particularly bright.
Max fixed him with a glare that made the bodyguard stop in his tracks.
"Take my sister where she needs to be, and do not let her out of your sight this time."
He knew he didn't need to make a threat. Even the bodyguard couldn't be so dense as not to hear the silent implication in his words.
"N-No, sir. It won't happen again," the guy said promptly.
Max gave him one last icy look before walking past both him and Clara, who had now folded her arms across her chest moodily.
Maxim made for the exit, eager to get out of the courthouse. As an extremely introverted person, the crowd of people, the chatter, the cameras... it was an unbearable experience for him.
As soon as Maxim got into the corridor, his heart skipped a beat as he saw the mysterious woman again. She was standing in the middle of the corridor, looking at her phone.
He froze.