MAX’S POV
I reclined on the bed in one of the reputable hospitals, surrounded by the sterile beeps and antiseptic smells. My supposed injury was nothing more than a clever prop in my drama, a calculated move in a grand strategy of public manipulation.
I had expected the headline news to elicit waves of garnered sympathy to bolster my tarnished public image and stem the bleeding of my company’s stock price but instead, the market’s response was merciless — our shares plunged even deeper, plummeting quickly into the abyss like stone cast into the depths of the vast ocean.
The furrow on my brow deepened as I contemplated my plaguing predicament. "How did it come to this?" I muttered to myself, my mind racing with relentlessness.
"I was the master of my universe, the king of my castle. Now
