Chasing The Vengeful Villainous Heiress-Chapter 59: You two have great chemistry

They were able to make it out of there without getting caught and got to where Max parked his car.

All the while, Tiana did not let go of Valerie’s hands as she was anxious. It had been over seven years since she stepped foot in the outside world so she was sure a lot of things had changed.

Yet, when she viewed the outside world, what she felt was nothing more than nostalgia.

"Are you okay?" Valerie asked her and she looked up, nodding with a smile. She wasn’t acting in the way that Valerie was familiar with and it made her feel that her mind was greatly disturbed.

Well, for one, she was still feeling guilty for her actions even if Max had forgiven her, and two, to the world, she was already dead. So how would the world react once she suddenly showed herself?

"I already have people investigating that filthy place and they’re throwing in reports to the government as we speak." Max said as he kept his eyes on the road, gripping the steering tight. "They should be aware Valerie is gone by now, but they won’t be able to focus on that since their establishment is falling before their eyes."

"Thank you, Max." Valerie said and caressed her wrapped-up arm. "If you hadn’t shown up..."

"Valerie, when did you become such a melodramatic person?" Max asked, causing her to flinch and she blinked twice. He caught her gaze in the rear-view mirror, gazing sharply at her and she returned that gaze.

They were nothing short of two vipers having a staring contest while hissing poisonously with their fangs bare.

"Max, you saw my weak side today." Valerie said, folded her arms, and crossed her legs. "But it won’t be easy to see me like that from now on."

"I guess I’ll have to put in more effort, my dear wife." He grinned.

"Looking forward to it, dear husband."

Tiana looked at Valerie. She had a different aura all of a sudden. The confidence and sharpness in her attitude were so precise that one at a lower level could not even dare to cross gaze with her.

And that shape gaze in her red eyes was directed at one person. And that was her husband, Tiana’s own son.

’Geez, I see you married a woman of equal character.’ Tiana thought. ’I guess that’s how their marriage is. They’ll have a happy life together.’

Max silently shifted his gaze from the rearview mirror to the road. The lights had turned Green, giving him a signal to move and so he did.

"Are you sure?" He suddenly asked, "I mean, the whole point of this is..." He paused, glancing over at the mirror again but this time, shifted it with one hand and kept his other hand on the steering, to look at his mother. "...my idea."

Valerie went silent, shut her eyes, and felt Tiana’s questioning gaze on her. She knew Tiana must be curious about what was going on between the both of them but if Max wasn’t going to say anything, she wouldn’t say anything either.

’Even after all I went through, in the end, he couldn’t let go of his resentment for me.’ Valerie thought, gently tapping her finger on her arm. ’But he still has feelings for me and desires to possess me completely, and because of that, he would never let anyone else lay their hands on me.’

She stopped tapping and opened her eyes.

’Good enough.’

She completed her observation and turned to smile at Tiana.

"Did you want to say something?" She asked and Tiana stared.

There were so many things she wanted to ask. She looked at the smile on Valerie’s lips and wondered why she had a fake smile on, if she was not satisfied with her but gave up the thought and instead wondered what kind of life she had been living for her to flash a fake smile so effortlessly.

It was insanely sickening that a bunch of bastards had pushed this little child into what she had to become.

She also had other questions concerning her son, how they came to be, how their marriage looked like (she assumed it was big since it was a marriage from both families), and how he ended up in the asylum to save her... So many questions in her head but in the meantime, she decided to just watch from the side and said,

"You two have great chemistry." Valerie was surprised and she looked forward to Max who had this look of satisfaction and confidence.

Ah, this sort of thing only made him feel big-headed. She couldn’t tell him that though.

"I’m glad to hear that."

Along the way, Valerie felt sleepy. Though she looked normal all along, she was still under the influence of the shit she had taken earlier in the day.

"Don’t worry, darling. Sleep." Tiana said to her. "I can tell there’s still a long way to go. Sleep, since you’re out of there, no one will harm you."

Valerie nodded and rested her head, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Once she was asleep, Tiana turned her attention to the rearview mirror to meet eyes with her son.

"No matter how I look at it, you grew up to be a fine and responsible man." She said, "I’m glad that my actions did not affect you in any way."

"I have your actions to thank for me being alive today, Mom." He said, focusing his attention on the road. "After you were confirmed dead, coupled with another tragic event in my life, I locked myself in my room and refused to eat or drink for over a week." He explained, causing her to feel mixed feelings of guilt and pain. "And then, at the end of the week, a maid came up to me with a bowl of soup, claiming she was worried."

He took a turn on the roads and resumed the straight lane, all the while glancing over at the side mirror to make sure he wasn’t being followed.

"I hadn’t eaten for weeks and thought it would be good to take at least one spoon. Just that one spoon was enough to end my life as it was laced with potent poison." He said, and Tiana clenched her fists tighter.

She bit her bottom lip. This world was dangerous. Everyone was trying to get at each other’s throats, get the higher position, and become the one on top, and because of that... Because of that... Her eyes widened. She remembered.

Because of the fear she had of the world, she fed her son, who seemed to be a threat in the eyes of so many carnivores, with little amounts of poison from the moment he could talk.

At first, it gave him fevers but they soon subsided and so she continued her actions, hoping one day, his system would be able to fight against whatever poison put in his food.

She covered her face. It was a safe method and he was okay. As long as no one knew what she was doing, it was okay. That was what she told herself but when her father found out, she confirmed that her actions were not okay at all. And she had put her son’s life in danger, just as any carnivore would do.

"Thanks to the poison already existing in my system," Max continued after observing her carefully. "...the worst that happened was my nose bleeding. The poison was strong enough to kill a bull in a split second but I was alright, and it was all thanks to you."

Tiana released her clenched fists and sighed. She was glad.

"So you see, it worked out for the better." He said, "The love you have for me, though extreme, saved me, even in your absence. How can I not forgive you?"

"Oh, stop it. You trying to make me cry?" Tiana asked in a lively tone. "I’ll admit that the poison made your system immune but I’m sure it wrecked something in you as well." She said and glanced outside the window. "In this world, there is always a price to pay. And it bugs me knowing that one part of you had been sacrificed for the price of being immune to poison. I don’t see anything wrong now but I’m sure of it."

Max was silent. An exchange, huh? He shifted the mirror to glance at Valerie. Haha, he had a hunch of what went wrong in his whole being as a result of an equivalent exchange. His lips curled up as he figured it out.

That price to pay... Haha... Now he understood why his feelings were so complex.

"Maxie," Tiana called and he brought his thoughts back.

"Yes, mom."

"What other tragedy were you talking about?" She asked him.

"Hm?"

"When you said you locked yourself in your room, you said it was as a result of my death and another tragic event." She said, her eyes glazing and itching to know who else made her son feel miserable, only to hear something unexpected.

"Well, you see," he casually looked out the window and laughed. "I got dumped."

"Eh?" She did not expect to hear that at all.

"And it was done by the very person sleeping next to you." He said, and Tiana turned to look at Valerie, surprised. Does that mean they knew each other long before this?

There was so much she didn’t know.