Chapter68:

Chapter 68 Max’s Point of View The whiskey burned as it slid down my throat, a familiar sting I’d grown used to over the years. Tonight, though, it didn’t bring the solace I was searching for. It never did anymore. The bar was dimly lit, the low hum of murmured conversations and clinking glasses blending into a monotonous white noise around me. I leaned back in my booth, letting the leather cushion press against my shoulders, but I couldn’t relax. My head was pounding not from the alcohol, but from the mess Samuel had dragged me into. Three months. That’s all the board had given me to clean up this disaster. To prove I could hold the reins of a company I had bled for. Three months to push back against the man who, for all his calm arrogance, had just thrown my world into chaos. I rubbed a hand over my face, exhaling heavily. The shadows of the bar couldn’t hide the fury bubbling under my skin. Samuel Graves. My uncle. The name itself churned my stomach. When he waltzed back into the bo