Crashing into an Old Flame

Once they reached the penthouse, Maxim overturned every single flower vase in the vicinity to search for the specific goodbye note.

’’If she knows your pin code, she might have left it inside your place too,’’ Ryle added, ’’You know... just in case it disappears.’’

Maxim stopped his search and frowned. But in the end, he walked back to the door.

Just as his fingers reached to punch the pin, there was a soft ’click’.

Maxim’s hand stiffened.

The door opened from inside and darkness greeted his vision.

Maxim could not see anything except for the person who took a small step out of the penthouse and looked at him with a wide smile on her face, ’’Happy Birthday.’’

Diana bit her bottom lips when he remained unmoving and unresponsive. Why did he not seem to be happy on his birthday?

Ryle jabbed Maxim’s back, unable to take the stressful silence. As much as he wanted to curse Diana for putting him through this torture, he could not bring himself to ruin his best friend’s day.

As it turned out, Diana had planned a surprise for him and Ryle was pulled into it through nefarious means and emotional blackmailing. He was assigned the task of bringing Maxim back on time.

When Maxim stood in his spot quietly and looked at Diana’s face, Ryle felt like someone stuffed him with an unwanted dose of dog food.