Shackled To The Enemy King-Chapter 120: Since Eighteen

Maximilian’s smile deepened reading that text.

Finally. She had broken.

He leaned casually against the counter and typed.

[Hilton Hotels. Stonehaven. You know where. Meet me tomorrow, 4 P.M.]

The message was barely sent before the reply arrived. She must have been staring at the screen, waiting for his reply.

[My shop is already in ruins. I can’t travel down south.]

Maximilian read it. Then locked his phone without sending a reply. He didn’t need to respond. Silence was enough.

Because she already knew what would happen if she didn’t come.

-----

Miles away, Charlotte O’Hara stared at her phone screen, waiting, her heart pounding. Her fingers trembled slightly.

But no message came.

Her stomach dropped. She knew what that meant.

When the first wave of problems hit her bakery, she didn’t panic. It was just a few food safety complaints and some suspiciously coordinated negative reviews. It happened to businesses sometimes. Her bakery had millions of followers online; loyal customers who loved her brand.

She believed it would pass, but her belief lasted only one day.

By the second day, just when things seemed to stabilize, officials from the Food Safety Department arrived.

Not quietly.

They inspected the kitchen in front of customers, pulling products from the shelves while cameras recorded everything.

The video exploded online within hours.

By nightfall, her ingredient suppliers cancelled their contracts.

By morning, her landlord wanted her out.

Five years.

Five exhausting years of culinary school, sleepless nights, early mornings, burned fingers, ruined recipes... builing her social media account...

All the effort she poured into building her bakery from nothing... Now it was crumbling under invisible pressure she couldn’t fight.

And she knew exactly why this was all happening all at once. There was only one person who could attack from all ends, leaving the enemy unable to even gain their footing.

That man who walked into her bakery that day.

Maximilian.

As if destroying her life once wasn’t enough, now he had returned to finish what he started.

He kept his word.

Charlotte closed her eyes briefly.

Three years ago, she nearly died in a car accident. Her heart had stopped on the operating table. When she woke up, the memories came with her.

At first, she thought they were dreams; fragments of a strange past life that made no sense. But the memories never faded.

And then she saw him.

Maximilian, standing in her bakery, with Katerina beside him.

That was when she knew. None of it was a dream. He had returned, to claim the promise he once made.

To destroy her.

Charlotte’s fingers tightened around her phone. After everything she had done for him in that life...

He had forgotten it all.

For her.

Katerina.

Charlotte had looked into the woman afterward. And what she learned terrified her.

In their previous life, Charlotte had still held influence. Still had leverage.

But this time... Katerina was the beloved heiress of a powerful conglomerate. And he was from a family tied to politics, wealth, and old influence.

Both were untouchable... while she... she was a mere middle-class woman whose whole world was collapsing around her by forces she couldn’t ever stand up against.

Charlotte felt her hands shake just imagining standing in front of them again. But she had no choice.

If she wanted even a chance to salvage what remained of her life, she would have to go.

To Stonehaven.

-----

Catherine stepped out of the bathroom, steam trailing behind her.

She had taken a long bath, one of those baths where you just sink into the water and let the day dissolve. The bathtub in her bathroom was her favorite place in the entire house.

And after the chaos of the hospital, she needed it.

Her father was stable now. Out of danger. Alexander had insisted on staying the night with him.

So Catherine and Maximilian had returned to her house inside the Preston compound. After showing him the guest room, she had disappeared into the bathroom without another word.

Now she walked out in soft cotton pajamas, her hair still dripping. She hadn’t even bothered drying it. The damp strands clung to her neck and shoulders, and the water had soaked into the collar of her pajama shirt, the fabric sticking lightly to her skin.

Maximilian was standing at the kitchen counter, leaning against it casually. The moment he saw her, he flipped his phone face down on the counter.

Which, naturally...made Catherine curious. Very curious.

She padded across the floor toward him. Seeing her approach, Maximilian smiled faintly.

"There’s a lot of meat in the freezer," he said. "I’m thawing some."

Catherine hummed in response.

She had noticed him all day at the hospital, quietly eating whatever Alexander was eating. And Alexander, like her, could happily survive on meat alone.

Maximilian had once claimed he had been vegan for five years because his mother had turned vegan.

At the time, Catherine hadn’t realized that apparently, he was that much of a mama’s boy.

Without asking, she picked up his phone. "Who were you talking to?" she asked.

She expected him to stop her, or maybe snatch the phone away.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Maximilian stepped closer. Right behind her.

Before she could react, his body pressed lightly against her back, pinning her gently against the counter. His arm slid around her waist. His hand slipped under the hem of her pajama shirt and rested against the warm skin of her bare abdomen.

Catherine’s shoulders scrunched instantly. A wave of warmth rushed through her body. Her breath caught.

Before she could even process what was happening... his lips brushed her earlobe, and his cheek rested briefly against her damp hair.

"Your hair is still wet," he murmured.

And just like that... He stepped away, and walking out of the kitchen as if he hadn’t just nearly stopped her heart.

Catherine stood frozen.

"What the hell does this guy do to me?" she muttered.

Her hand moved to her chest. Her heart was still racing.

A moment later, Maximilian returned, with a towel. Catherine was still holding his phone, staring at the screen without actually seeing it, the warmth of his hand lingering on her stomach.

"My password is your birthday," he whispered near her ear.

That snapped her out of it instantly.

"Wh—what?"

She turned toward him.

But he had already started gently towel-drying her hair.

She hesitated for a moment, then tried unlocking the phone. Out of habit, she entered the birthday from her previous life, since that would be a safer option.

The phone stayed locked. She tried again, using her birthday in this life.

The screen opened immediately.

Catherine blinked.

She hadn’t even really intended to check his phone. She certainly hadn’t expected him to hand over access so easily.

And the password...It was her birthday. From this life.

He didn’t talk much about wanting a new life. But small things like this made it obvious.

He truly meant it. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The towel moved slowly through her hair as Maximilian dried it with surprising gentleness.

"How long have you been using my birthday as your password?" she asked, mostly to distract herself from the way her pulse kept jumping.

"Since I was eighteen," he answered calmly.

Catherine snorted softly.

"That’s not stalker-ish at all."

She said it automatically. Out of habit. But strangely... It didn’t feel creepy. If anything, it made her feel oddly safe, as if someone had been quietly watching over her for years without her ever noticing.

Maximilian leaned down and kissed her cheek. He didn’t comment. He simply continued drying her hair.

After a moment, he spoke again. "All my passwords are in the third book from the right on the fourth shelf of my home library."

Catherine froze.

Her heart skipped.

So he had found her when he was eighteen. Started using her birthday. Then stayed away for almost twelve years.

And now that he had appeared in her life again... He clung to her like glue, acting as her bodyguard, maid, cook, and shadow. He became her support.

And she had thought about it. Back then, she was shocked by the tone he used with his mother, how cold he appeared toher when his mother voiced a slightest disappointment toward her... And that too was his attempt to make sure what happened in their previous life didn’t repeat this time. It was for the same reason he professed his love without wasting time, and lets everyone know that he loved her.

And now he was casually telling her where to find every password he had.

Catherine stared down at the phone in her hand. Her mind flashed to the will he had written earlier.

This man...

Her heart pounded harder.

Catherine turned to face him.

For a moment, she just looked at him.

The towel was still in his hands, draped loosely over her damp hair. His expression was calm as ever, but there was something warm in his eyes now... something that made her chest tighten.

She didn’t think about it anymore.

She leaned forward and kissed him.

At first, it was meant to be simple. Just a small kiss, a quiet thank you for the strange comfort he had given her tonight.

But it didn’t stop there.

Maximilian’s hand slid around her waist again, slipping beneath the hem of her shirt until his palm rested against her warm skin.

Catherine felt the heat of his touch and instinctively moved closer.

Her fingers reached up, tangling in the hair at the back of his head as the kiss deepened. She pressed against him, and this time she didn’t pull away.

His response was immediate.

With one smooth motion, Maximilian lifted her up.

Catherine let out a small breath of surprise as her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist to steady herself.

His phone slipped from her hand onto the counter beside them. Neither of them paid it any attention.

Their breaths grew heavier between kisses, neither willing to be the first to break away.

For a moment, the world outside that kitchen simply... disappeared. The long day, the hospital... the questions still swirling in Catherine’s mind.

All of it faded.

Until...

Knock. Knock.

The sound cut through the quiet house.

Both of them froze.