“You’re really leaving in the middle of this chaos? I can’t…” she halts and breathes out shakingly. “I can’t handle this without you, Max,” she spoke, her voice trembling.
Max smiled through the fury and misery he felt, and held her hands. He massaged her knuckles with his thumbs as he observed her face. Unhappy lines etched up deeply on her face. She ducked her head and bite down on her lower lip to stop herself from crying.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he assured her as he used his index finger to raise her head to his face. “You’re better and stronger than this. You’ve fought before when I wasn’t here. And I believe you can do that again and you’d win. You’re not a loser, Emerson. You’re not weak—you are the most dominant girl I’ve ever known. Don’t let them break you, don’t let them get
