Against All Odds

CHAPTER 4

Note: Before reading, I just wanted to let you know that words inside quotation marks ("sample") mean they are being said verbally. While italicized words inside quotation marks ("sample") are being said in their minds or thoughts. This will apply to the entirety of the book. Happy reading!

Trigger Warning! Guns and Shooting are mentioned in this chapter.

Maximillian Perceval Blaise

Maximillian was having his dinner when he heard a scream not too far away. "That sounded like Astrid. What is happening?"

He rushed downstairs and hurriedly ran to where the noise came from, but it was too late that he only saw a mannequin. "What even is this? Where is Astrid? I swear I heard her." He thought as he checked the mannequin.

"A gunshot? On a mannequin? In my backyard? What is this?" He whispered as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

Max tried to make his senses heightened by closing his eyes, and maybe, just maybe, he could hear some type of noise or feel any kind of presence near him. For a few seconds, it was complete darkness and silence, not until he heard the rustling of fallen tree leaves. He quietly approached the source and saw a laser light from a gun. He ran to see who's gun it was, and was surprised to see Antoni and a mouth restrained Astrid.

"I'm gonna kill you Antoni." He said as he pulled his gun out of his ankle holster. He pointed it at Antoni without any doubt, and before he had the chance to shoot, Antoni also had his gun pointed at Maximillian. Now, it was best friends having a war.

Max aimed at Antoni's head, which caught Antoni by surprise, so Maximillian took the chance to hit him and make him collapse. He took this chance to turn their positions around, and now his back was facing Astrid. When Antoni pulled himself together, he stood up and shot at Astrid, but fortunately missed. So Max didn't waste a single second, and shot Antoni in both of his legs so he couldn't stand nor walk for awhile.

Max untied Astrid's mouth restraint and quickly pulled her up. "Diana, please go inside and keep yourself safe. Look for wounds and treat them as fast as you can. If you need a doctor, use my phone. It is by the bedside table."

For the first time in a long time, he felt fear.

He put his attention to Antoni and looked at him in disgust and disbelief because he couldn't make a sense of what was happening. "Putain de merde, Antoni? Que pensez-vous faire ? Vous pensez que c'est drôle ? Tu as intérêt à répondre à toutes mes questions, sinon je te tue de mes propres mains." (f*****g s**t, Antoni? What do you think you're doing? You think this is funny? You better answer all my damn questions, or else I will f*****g kill you with my own hands.)

Max dragged Antoni all the way into his car and drove off to one of his father's hotels. Not many people knew about it, but Blaise hotels always have a secret underground room. Luckily, the interrogation room was available.

He forced Antoni to sit while his men restrained Antoni's hand. He sat in front of Antoni while he calmed himself down before he started questioning him.

"Antoni, if you think I'm gonna go easy on you because of our closeness, you're wrong. C'est complètement fou.(This is f*****g crazy.) Because of what you did, I want you to know that I've thrown all of that away." He stood up and punched Antoni several times.

"Tu vas vraiment laisser notre lien être ruiné juste à cause d'une putain de fille?" (You're really going to let our bond get ruined just because of some f*****g girl?) Antoni spat the blood on his mouth that was almost drowning him.

"If you're so tough, tell me, Antoni. Were you the one who shot me?" He laughed in disbelief.

Antoni laughed and didn't answer a single question from Maximillian. He wasn't going to make this fight easy, he thought.

Max knew he wasn't going to get any answer from Antoni anytime soon, so he let his men take care of Antoni.

He faced his men and told them to beat him up, but not kill him. He thought Antoni was still going to be useful for his future use. He stopped just by the door, "You know what to do." He said in a serious tone, referring to his men interrogating his best friend, or who he was once.

Maximillian drove off to his home to check up on Astrid, because even if his mind was messed up because of Antoni, he wasn't going to let it get to his head.

He saw Astrid lost in her thoughts, and approached her. Tensions were running high as Max sat next to Astrid, injured by no less a person than his best mate, Antoni. The betrayal cut deep. He couldn't understand how things had escalated to this point. But now he had to prioritise her well-being above all else.

Astrid lied on his bed, her face etched with disappointment and pain. Maximillian's heart ached at the sight, a mixture of guilt and protectiveness washing over him. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that his focus had to be on helping her to heal, both physically and emotionally.

Gently, Max lay beside Astrid. He spoke, his voice filled with a mixture of remorse and determination to fix things. "Diana, I am so sorry that this has happened. I can't believe what he had done. But I'm here for you now. I'll do whatever it takes to make things right and help you heal."

She faced him and told him about her little plan to find out who shot him the other day. She didn't expect things to escalate the wrong way and for timing to be bullshit.

"You did that for me?" Max smiled.

As he looked at her wounded face once again, he couldn't help but wonder how they had come to this unfortunate point. Antoni had been his closest friend since they were kids, someone he trusted implicitly and made him his right hand. But now, Max had doubts about the authenticity of their friendship, and was unsure if it could ever be repaired.

Through it all, Maximillian was wrestling with his own conflicting emotions. With his friendship with Antoni already hanging by a thread, he struggled with his own sense of betrayal. But whenever doubt arose, he remembered how he awfully betrayed him, and it was all Antoni's fault.

As they were in a deep conversation, Max received a call from his men interrogating Antoni. Max was surprised to hear that he had already surrendered the lead and the source of all the current commotion. He also admitted shooting Max.

Max felt anger arise and told Astrid to get some rest. While he returned to the hotel, his former right-hand man was in.

He may have the softest heart when it comes to Astrid, but he was still known to be the heartless man of all empires in Aildenmore, Monaco. He drove past the speed limit and didn't give a single s**t about it because he had to do what he needed to do. He couldn't let his empire get shitted on because of Antoni. So as soon as he arrived, he didn't waste a split second, and shot Antoni several times. He also appointed someone to dispose of his body and clear all his records, basically wiping away any trace of Antoni's existence in this world.

When Antoni agreed to join the Blase empire, he also had to accept that he never existed whilst he still lived. Anyone under any empire knew the rule of existence. A ghost killing another, a non-existent person living under the mafia.

Maximillian left the room and never looked back. He had to deal with who was leading the operation to kill him. So, before news arose that Antoni was dead, he was already in the system of whoever was the prime manager.

He drove off to his home once again so he could work and look after Astrid at the same time. He ran all the information retrieved from Antoni and hired someone to hack into the system of their new rival. He also arranged for an army of men to be spies when he was certain of all the suspects. He made sure to prepare everything even before the initiation of revenge.

It was 2:47 am and Astrid was fast asleep when he also felt tired. He sat by her and stared at her in full awe. He knew that if he let his guard down again, there was a risk of losing Astrid, all because of his incompetence.

He cleaned himself and decided to sleep on the couch because he didn't want to bother the girl. Soon enough, they were both in a deep sleep.