Althea emerged from her room dressed in a top and skirt. Her hair in a loose ponytail. She wandered into the kitchen looking for tea and found Max sitting at the island counter, flipping through some business files, lips pursed in concentration.
"I'm ordering Thai," she said. "Any objections?"
"I'll take a green curry. Extra rice."
"Look at you. Responsible adult."
He grunted. "Only because the family card no longer works."
She pulled out a carton of milk and poured it into a glass with the urgency of someone solving a personal crisis. Then she reached for the container of strawberries, already half-empty. She took a bite, chewed thoughtfully, and sat across from him.
Max didn't look up immediately. When he finally did, it was just in time to see her chewing with the slightly aggressive energy of a woman trying not to feel anything at all.
"You know," he said, gesturing vaguely toward her snack, "Maybe reconsider the farm idea."
Althea raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"A strawberry farm. You seem emotionally dependent on them."
She stared at him. "Max."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what's more emotionally dependable than strawberries?"
"Cats with abandonment issues?"
"Direct answers," she deadpanned.
Max snorted. "Alright, fine. But a farm would be good for Lilith. She could terrorize birds in peace."
"She already terrorizes me."
"It's how she shows affection."
Althea chuckled but then looked down. "So... this is your real life now?"
Max looked up. "What do you mean?"
"No safety net. No shield. Just you, your job, and... me."
There it was again. That hesitant note in her voice. Like she didn't quite believe she belonged in the picture. Max nodded slowly. "Yeah. Guess it is."
"Don't worry though. Still have that black card." Max smirked. She didn't say anything, just placed the order and stood there, awkward, like she wanted to say more but didn't know how to phrase it.
He closed the file. "You okay?"
"Define okay."
"Still breathing?"
"Barely."
"Still married?"
She narrowed her eyes.
Max grinned. "Just checking."
The doorbell rang. Food had arrived.
Late that night, after everything had quieted down and Lilith had claimed an entire chair for herself, Max stood by the window staring out at the skyline.
Althea joined him silently, holding her tea, the distance between them still there, but smaller. He didn't touch her. Didn't try. She didn't lean in. Didn't speak.
Max blinked out of his thoughts and looked at Althea beside him. The city lights reflected in her eyes, softening the sharp edges of her face. She didn't seem to notice he was watching her. Or maybe she did; and pretended not to.
The silence between them had changed flavors since the wedding. It used to be strained, awkward, tiptoeing. Now it was something else. Not quite intimacy. But not indifference either.
"You think your dad will leave it at this?" Althea asked quietly, still staring at the skyline.
"No," Max said honestly. "He'll escalate."
She sipped her tea. "Great."
"But he'll escalate in a way that looks good on paper. He's not going to burn his empire down just to teach me a lesson. He likes public control, not public collapse."
"You're really his son," Althea said dryly.
"I know," he muttered. "Terrible news."
Althea let out a soft chuckle. "I've spent my whole life trying to keep the Serrano name clean. My mother trained me like I was a show dog. Sit straight. Speak smart. Marry rich. Don't cry too much, makes you look cheap."
Max looked at her, surprised. "She said that?"
"She said worse," Althea replied, her voice steady. "And the worst part is, I thought that was normal. I thought if I just did everything right, if I obeyed every rule, I'd be enough."
He watched her, silent.
"I wasn't," she said, taking the last sip of her tea. "Not for them."
Max's fingers tightened slightly on the window frame. "You're not supposed to be 'enough' for people who treat you like a pawn."
"Tell that to my wedding photos," she muttered. A beat. Then he said, "They did you a favor. Not loving you the right way. It let you leave."
She turned her face slightly toward him. "You think this is freedom?"
He smiled faintly. "You're in a penthouse eating overpriced strawberries and plotting revenge. That's basically liberation."
Althea huffed a laugh. "How are you always joking?"
"I try."
She stared at him for a moment, like she was trying to read something behind his face. That earned him a slow smile. But then she stepped back from the window, her warmth retreating with her.
"I'm going to bed," she said again, voice quieter this time. "Thanks for the strawberries. And the sarcasm."
"Anytime."
She turned to walk away but paused. "If your dad keeps pushing—"
"I can handle it."
"Alone?"
He shrugged. "I've done worse."
She didn't respond to that. Just nodded and walked off into the hallway, this time slower. But like before, she didn't look back.
Max let out a breath, pressing his forehead briefly to the cool windowpane. His reflection stared back at him, tired, thoughtful, twenty-six and married to the girl who wanted his brother.
God, what a mess.
He didn't want to push her. But some part of him ached every time she drifted away. She wasn't just a placeholder bride anymore. Not to him. Maybe she never had been.
Lilith jumped onto the armrest of a nearby chair, looked at him with the disdain of an immortal goddess, and promptly knocked over his empty mug with a single paw swipe.
"Same," Max muttered, and went to clean it up.
Meanwhile, in her room, Althea stood at her window, sipping water and trying not to think too hard.
The quiet kindness. The snide remarks. The way he looked at her sometimes when he thought she wouldn't notice. She didn't trust it. Didn't trust herself.
And yet, she'd found herself laughing more in this penthouse than she had in months. She didn't have to ask permission to breathe. No one tracked her footsteps or edited her tone. Lilith might have judged her every move, but Max never did.
He gave her space. He gave her room to just… be. She had to be careful. Because the last time someone made her feel safe, they'd dropped her the moment she said no. Still, when she went to bed that night, she did something she hadn't done in days.
She slept without checking her phone.
End of Chapter 30.