CHAPTER 101: CHAPTER 101 LOVE OR OBSESSION??

Meanwhile, in the golden palace cell, Maxine staggered from the vile liquid touching her face, in the process hitting the cold, hard wall behind her. Her stomach churned at the horrible sight around her.

In her whole life of pretty privilege, this was the first time she had landed in such a disgusting situation, and she hated herself for getting caught. What did she do wrong? Nobody was watching her, and she had sneaked in well to deliver the needed instructions to end Daniel.

But now it had backfired, and she was in this... eww...

While speaking, she heard a squishing sound that made her nearly vomit.

"Who is there???" Maxine looked around fearfully, praying that nothing like snakes or dangerous insects were in the dungeon, or she was done for.

Again the sound came. She launched to her feet, eyes scanning like a wild cat, as if that would reveal whatever was making the noise. But in reality, the cell was dark and gloomy; only a few mosses growing near stagnant, oozing water could be seen. Aside from this, she was as blind as a bat.

"I won’t repeat myself. Come out or I will attack," Maxine declared, standing there trembling and holding her gown, which had soaked up so much water it could resemble a rag anytime soon. Her Chanel outfit, a once-in-a-lifetime design—see where it had landed because of both Daniel and Xylander.

Those useless faggots. And her brother? Oh, he would pay.

Finally moving around, she decided to give herself a tour. She was starving, and so far the food came only in the evening. The sight of that vomit-like substance called food was beyond her. To feed humans that... it was so horrible.

"I’m his sister, and this is how he treats his family? Because of a man? A man with an ass, not a pussy. What’s the deal?" Maxine was still recovering from the shock of being bundled into a cell like this. But say what you will, Xylander’s fortune wouldn’t last long.

Based on what Nicole and Matteo had planned, he would either go bankrupt or become a homeless beggar soon. It was just a matter of time, and nobody could handle it better than Nicole Shelton.

Still turning around like a frightened cow, Maxine finally gave up. It was all pointless. For the past two days, she hadn’t eaten. Refusing to take the dung given to the prisoners here, she had ended up starving herself, leading to her stomach’s growling.

"Haaaaa, Daniel. Just the thought of you makes me want to drive you into a grinding machine. Why don’t you want to die?" Maxine gritted her teeth in rage.

"Bitch, can you shut the fuck up and let me hear properly?" a voice snapped at her. It was masculine, bass, and authoritative, like a force to be reckoned with.

"Excuse me...?" Maxine stated, not expecting to have another companion in the same room. How come he hadn’t spoken since she’d been walking around?

"Still a cunt and a bitchy one. Just keep shut and let me concentrate," the voice thundered, growing huskier, as if at any moment he could stand up and stab her to death.

Maxine held her throat protectively, looking around apprehensively. The voice seemed to come from her left, so she kept glancing there, hoping to see who it was. And she did.

A silhouette of a figure stood in the corner like a mannequin. It stood there unblinking, and for some eerie reason, she could make him out in the dark. Even though he seemed to blend with the shadows, she could still see him, and the danger oozing from him was palpable.

"Am I even looking at a human? Why hasn’t he blinked or moved?" Maxine wondered, doubtful for a fleeting second that it was human, until the head turned.

"I can feel your gaze, and it’s disturbing. Unless you want your eyeballs gouged out," he dished out a cold, eerie warning that made a lump form in her throat.

What the fuck...

Was she in the same room with a psychopathic murderer or what? This felt so much like an insane killer. The fact that she could see him wasn’t helping; he was standing right at the only source of light, where the moss was. The detailed snake tattoo highlighting his neck straight to his back made him more terrifying.

And if terrifying was a thing, talk about his backside. He was shirtless, and the heavy tattoos marking him were an eyesore—all of them snakes, making her stomach churn.

Better turn before he sees you, she thought, because it felt like he had a third eye. How did he know she was looking? But it was too late. Before she could turn, the man immediately spun around, landing his dead-looking eyes on her.

His pheromones were still there, Alpha-like. She couldn’t get a distinct smell, except that it was pulling her in, forcing her to submit, which she didn’t like.

"Aren’t you an annoying pest? First, I told you to keep quiet. You disobeyed my order," the man’s voice grew more unsettling.

Then he took a stride—one that made Maxine begin to panic. Was he coming closer?

"Keep away from me...!" Maxine warned, but the man just took another step, and again, and again.

"You don’t disobey Adrian Valez and go scot-free. It’s an abomination that needs to be treated." The name rang like poison in her ears.

Adrian Valez. Why did it sound familiar? Where had she heard that from?

Then it occurred to her. Just as Xylander Wolfe, her brother, was popular, this monstrous being was also infamous—a man popularly known as Night Poison. And she had been unlucky enough to get trapped under the same roof with him. He could end her any moment now in an unflinching way, and no one would bat an eye.

"Adrian Valez? The wanted criminal?" Maxine, who was moving backwards, asked it as a question. Adrian’s face twisted into a malicious smile.

"The one and only. And you’re going to be my victim here, because damn, it’s been long since I killed someone." And before Maxine could run, he lunged at her with terrifying speed.

Maxine ran, screaming her lungs out.

"Help! Someone help me! He has gone mad!" Maxine called, but she should have known where she was. No one listened, and all she could do was run around. Just when she saw a pole and wanted to climb to escape this madman, she slipped, landing in what seemed to be poop water—face first.

Heavens, her mouth wasn’t spared. Right there, she let out a deafening scream upon realizing it was poop.

"Yuck! Yuck! Ewww! Disgusting!" She tried getting up, but the stench followed her, and Adrian caught up with her in the dark. Right now, she was seeing again, and a firm hand gripped her throat tightly, squeezing it like a ball.

With each breath slipping away, unable to breathe, Maxine struggled as she was raised above the ground, her feet dangling.

"I hate meddling humans. You females know your place is in the kitchen, not asking questions. Especially for an Omega, you’re a bold one," Adrian declared, his eyes darkening as he applied more pressure to her neck. But a voice scolded him harshly from behind.

"Adrian Valez, enough already! That is Xylander Wolfe’s sister. Her being here could help us with a lot of things." The voice sounded reasonable, one that clicked some form of sense into the barbaric-looking man who could contest for the best wild-looking man—like those Stone Age men before civilization.

Releasing his grip little by little, he threw her off, making her land once more in the poop water as she grimaced loudly.

"Start talking, miss. I don’t have much patience. What did you do?" Adrian demanded. Behind him, the owner of the voice that saved her was Jake. Someone who previously couldn’t talk back to him, but it seemed the two had bonded well in the cell.

Why wouldn’t they? If Adrian had listened to him once, they wouldn’t have landed there, and Daniel would have been gone.

Maxine shivered under the murderous gazes the two men fixed on her. Before they could say another word, she began rambling.

She told them how she, Nicole, and with the help of Matteo Valez, tried killing Daniel but failed miserably. Either way, she didn’t know the reason.

Adrian chuckled. It appeared not only he had a grudge against Daniel, except that he didn’t want him dead—only turned into his personal slave and bitch.

"Tell me your latest plan, because I know you have one," Adrian commanded. Maxine gulped.

This was how it all came out.

"Daniel Morretti isn’t a Morretti but a Lancaster—the top 20 richest family in New York City. He was in disguise. I figured it out, and the fact that he was an Omega and in disguise, not to mention pregnant." Maxine spelled it out, and Adrian’s face turned crestfallen.

All this, and he didn’t know how?

So if she was saying this, he could tell she was planning on exposing his identity to the world. Daniel was already famous, and that would be a whopping scandal and a disaster. Omegas were despised; if it was females, it could be tolerated, but a male? Well, he would die... Daniel Lancaster was going to either get burnt to death or butchered by angry fans.

"Well done, girl. You’re deadlier than I imagined," Adrian deadpanned. Maxine, who thought she had gained the psychotic man’s favor, got slapped really hard on the face. Her forehead split as she smashed her head on a nearby pillar, passing out instantly. Her skull smashed with a sickening crack.

It opened up as brain matter and blood gushed out fast.

"That’s for trying to harm Daniel. And if anything happens to him, or the world kills him for his rank secret, I will kill Matteo myself, and this time he will surely stay dead," Adrian hissed.

Jake stared at the cracked head and neck and shook his head. Adrian was still not over Daniel, even after everything.

Could it be love or obsession? Because at this point, he didn’t understand anymore.