CHAPTER 285: EVERYONE’S A TARGET

The answers Chad had given so far only confirmed what Max already suspected.

But even so, hearing it out loud, hearing the words from Chad’s own mouth, hearing the bitterness, the desperation behind them, it felt different.

This time, the truth wasn’t just something Max had guessed. This time, it was real.

He couldn’t help but wonder, if Chad’s plan had gone the way he wanted... would it have even worked?

Because the Max he was trying to trick? The Max he’d seen in that video? That Max had already made a choice. He had chosen to fight back. To stand on his own two feet.

To not let Chad, or anyone else, control him.

In the end, Chad’s scheme was doomed from the start. And honestly, Chad had never been the sharpest mind to begin with. If he were, he wouldn’t have lost all his money, not just to the Black Hounds, but to the fake friends and vultures that had circled him the second he started spending.

But now, Chad was all Max had left.

The only remaining link to what had happened that day, at Lake Cure.

The place where two lives had been lost. Or at least, that’s what the world thought. The day Maximus Darn, leader of the White Tiger Gang, and Max Stern had both "drowned."

The same day that had led to... this.

Max clenched his fists. Someone had tried to take his life. He knew it deep in his bones. And while he didn’t believe it was Chad who orchestrated it, Chad might still have been connected, willingly or not.

"I have no idea," Chad replied, shaking his head quickly. "It came as a shock to me too when I heard you’d left the city. Dipter said you’d gone somewhere, vanished from his sight.

"I don’t know what happened to you that day. I don’t know why, and I don’t know who. All I know is... you disappeared. You didn’t come back to school for a few days after."

Max’s eyes narrowed.

That disappearance had been covered up, on purpose. Aron had kept things quiet. Just in case. Just in case another family member slipped up, revealed something, made a move that would expose the truth. The real reason someone might have wanted Max gone.

"Are you telling the truth?" Max asked coldly, stepping forward. Without hesitation, he grabbed Chad by the hair again, yanking his head up.

"I told you to give me everything. Every little thing you know. I don’t care how small it seems, it could be a clue!"

"Stop, stop!" Chad screamed, the pain sharp in his voice. "I’m telling the truth! I swear!"

He struggled to speak, to get the words out fast enough before Max’s anger exploded.

"Listen to me!" Chad cried. "We both know the truth here. We both know it’s obvious, the only people who could’ve done something like this to you, and would have a reason to do it... is someone from the Stern family."

The air went still.

"But it’s not me!" Chad shouted. "I would never try to get rid of you. That would defeat everything I was working for! Think about it, for me, it was always about the money.

"If you were dead, I’d never have access to it. You know that, Max. We all know that. Every Stern knows that."

Max froze.

He raised an eyebrow, slowly letting go of Chad’s hair. His mind was racing. The way Chad had phrased that, so casual, so certain, it almost sounded like something everyone in the family already understood.

Like it was common knowledge.

Like the old Max Stern would’ve already known.

"He’s talking about your mother and father," Aron interrupted, his voice steady but serious. "They were part of the succession race too. It was the first of its kind, but when your parents passed away, none of their wealth went to you.

"Not to me either," he added. "Instead, everything was funneled back to Dennis. Some of the other family members thought that maybe the inheritance would be redistributed... that everyone’s share might increase. But that didn’t happen."

Hearing this, Max felt a cold realization crawl over his skin.

There were now two clear reasons why someone might’ve killed his parents.

Either to gain more wealth... or to remove them from the succession race entirely.

"I know Dennis would never pick me as the successor to the Stern Family," Chad added with a dry laugh. "I’d never win something like that, not in a million years. So I had no reason to get rid of you, Max."

He looked up, and for once, there was no arrogance left in his voice. Just brutal honesty.

"So it’s obvious. Someone else in the family wanted you gone."

Max nodded slowly. "Right. Either my parents were doing too well, so they became targets. And after they were gone, they came for me... the one who looked like the easiest to erase."

His eyes narrowed as another thought slipped in.

"I guess no one knows about your situation, huh?" Max said, turning back toward Chad. "If they did... you might’ve ended up next."

Chad swallowed hard, his throat visibly bobbing. That idea hadn’t really hit him until now. He’d kept his financial ruin hidden, kept up appearances, pretended to still be living the high life, because he didn’t want anyone to know.

But now... now he was wondering if that had been a stroke of luck.

If the sharks in the family ever caught a whiff of his weakness, would they circle him next?

That was it, though. Max knew he wouldn’t get any more useful information out of Chad, not today. But he had figured something out.

He took a step forward, looming over the kneeling figure of his disgraced brother.

"Chad, believe me when I say this, there’s nothing I want more than to bury your body ten feet under. No... even deeper than that. Deeper than Sam, because the two of you don’t even deserve to be on the same level."

Chad’s face paled, but Max didn’t stop.

"But instead," Max continued, his voice sharp like a blade, "I’m going to use you."

Chad blinked, confused and terrified all at once.

"You’re going to stay under the watchful eye of the Pit," Max said coldly. "From now on, everything you have, everything you use, will come from me."

He listed it off like a sentence.

"Your phone. Your clothes. Your access to the internet. Even who you’re allowed to speak to. All of it, controlled by me."

Max took one final step forward.

"You’ll be my tool. The bait I use to lure out whoever’s targeting me in the Stern Family. And don’t get it twisted, I’m not asking you. I’m telling you."

He turned away.

"Sandra," Max said with a growl, "take him away. The sight of him is making me sick... and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to control myself."

Without a word, Sandra stepped forward and grabbed Chad by the arm, dragging him to his feet. His head hung low, barely able to hold itself up, the full weight of what was coming pressing down on him.

He had no idea what fate truly awaited him... but Max did.

Exhausted, Max turned away from it all. His body felt heavier than usual, and the ache in his limbs was starting to build. He needed rest, badly. So he started heading toward his room, wanting nothing more than to collapse into his bed.

But just as he reached the door, something tugged at the edge of his focus.

A shadow. A presence.

Max paused, turning his head slightly.

"Wolf..." he said, narrowing his eyes. "What’s with all those injuries? What happened to you?"