Chapter 11: Identity reveal
1154 Words
Max didn’t leave the boardroom immediately after the meeting ended.
While the shareholders lingered—some whispering, others watching him with quiet calculation—his thoughts had already moved ahead.
There was only one move that could guarantee his victory.
And it wasn’t internal.
It was unthinkable.
That evening, Max stood in his office, staring out at the city skyline. Lights flickered below like a living network—unpredictable, shifting… just like everything else now.
“It’s time I meet the Carlton’s,” he murmured.
More specifically—
Terra Carlton.
The one person who could either destroy his plan…
Or make it unstoppable.
The next morning, security at Shelton headquarters buzzed with confusion.
A Carlton executive had arrived.
Unannounced.
Terra walked into the conference room with her usual calm authority, her expression unreadable as she found Max already waiting.
She didn’t sit.
“I hope this is important,” she said coolly. “Because if this is some kind of stunt—”
“It’s not,” Max cut in.
That alone made her pause.
Max stood, meeting her gaze directly.
“I want a collaboration.”
The words hung in the air like a challenge.
Terra’s expression hardened immediately.
“That’s not just unrealistic,” she said. “It’s dangerous. Shelton and Carlton have been at war for decades. You don’t erase that with a meeting.”
“I’m not trying to erase it,” Max replied. “I’m trying to end it.”
“That’s worse.”
For a moment, silence stretched between them.
Then Terra crossed her arms.
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t walk out right now.”
Max didn’t rush his answer.
When he spoke, his voice was steady—but sharper than before.
“Because your company still believes in treatment.”
Terra’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“And mine,” Max continued, “is turning it into something else.”
That caught her attention.
But she said nothing.
So Max stepped closer.
“My aunt and uncle aren’t trying to stabilize Alphas, Omegas, or Enigmas,” he said. “They’re trying to control them.”
Terra’s gaze flickered.
“They’ve already started testing limits—pushing reactions, forcing responses. What you call research…”
His jaw tightened.
“…is becoming torture.”
The room went still.
For the first time since she walked in, Terra’s composure shifted.
Slightly.
“Those are serious claims,” she said quietly.
“I know.”
“And you expect me to believe you?”
Max held her gaze.
“No,” he said. “I expect you to verify it.”
Terra studied him carefully now.
Not as an enemy.
But as a variable.
“And this ‘collaboration’…” she said slowly. “What exactly does it do?”
Max didn’t hesitate this time.
“It changes everything.”
He gestured slightly, as if outlining something bigger than both of them.
“Carlton brings ethical research. Shelton brings reach, infrastructure, influence.”
He paused.
“Together, we control the narrative before anyone else does.”
“You want me to help you take control of Shelton,” Terra said.
“Yes.”
“And start an alliance that will shake the entire pharmaceutical world.”
“Yes.”
Terra turned away for a moment, walking slowly toward the glass wall, her reflection staring back at her.
Carlton and Shelton.
War… turned into partnership.
Power… rebalanced.
Risk… unimaginable.
A pause.
Then—
Terra extended her hand.
“Then, it would be my pleasure doing business with you”
The campus had never felt this loud.
Students clustered in tight circles, their voices rising and falling like waves—whispers, gasps, theories. Phones were out, screens glowing with the same headline over and over again:
“Shelton Heir Revealed — Max Shelton Returns.”
James walked through it all like a ghost.
He heard his name once. Twice. Then more.
But he didn’t stop.
Didn’t react.
Didn’t care.
At least, that’s what it looked like.
“James!”
He paused.
There it was—the voice he had been expecting.
Elena.
She approached him quickly, heels clicking sharply against the tiled path, her expression tight, controlled—but her eyes betrayed something deeper. Not just urgency.
Something closer to desperation.
“You’ve seen it, haven’t you?” she asked, holding up her phone like evidence.
James glanced at the screen. Max’s face stared back at him—clear, undeniable, no longer hidden behind shadows and mystery.
“…Yeah,” James said simply.
Elena frowned.
That was it?
No shock. No confusion. No anger.
Just yeah?
“You don’t understand,” she pressed, stepping closer. “That’s not just some guy you met at a party. That’s Max Shelton. The Shelton family. The same family that—”
“I know who they are,” James cut in calmly.
His voice wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t defensive.
Just… steady.
Too steady.
Elena’s brows furrowed. “Then why are you acting like this doesn’t matter?”
James slipped his hands into his pockets, gaze drifting past her—to the crowd, to the noise, to everything except her.
Because if he looked at her, she might see it.
That flicker of something he was carefully holding down.
“I’m acting like it’s information,” he said. “Not a disaster.”
“A disaster?” Elena let out a short, almost incredulous laugh. “James, your family and his family have been at odds for years. This isn’t just some coincidence. This is the worst possible scenario.”
She stepped closer again, lowering her voice.
“And you were with him.”
That landed.
Not visibly—but it landed.
“I saw you at the ball,” she continued. “You left together. Don’t deny it.”
James didn’t.
Instead, he tilted his head slightly, as if considering her words instead of reacting to them.
“And?” he asked.
Elena blinked.
“And? That’s all you have to say?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“That you’ll stay away from him!” she snapped, her composure finally cracking. “That you understand how dangerous this is. That you won’t get involved with someone like him.”
James finally looked at her.
Really looked at her.
There was anger in her expression—but underneath it, something else.
Fear.
Not for him.
For herself.
“For someone like him,” James repeated quietly. “What does that mean?”
“It means—” Elena stopped, biting back her words, then tried again. “It means people like Max don’t live normal lives. They don’t love normally. Everything around them becomes… complicated. Controlled. Calculated.”
Her voice softened, just slightly.
“Doesn’t that mean him agreeing to date you is too normal” he smiled knowing he used her words against him.
Then she walked away shyly from embarrassment.
- Writer
