AVA
Maxim slowly lowered his hands from Ava's face, looking both confused and upset.
"I-I don't understand," he said. "If you believe me... then why can't you be with me?"
Ava pressed her lips together for a moment, tears gathering in her eyes.
"Because we've both become different people than we were five years ago, Max," she said sadly. "We're just... not compatible anymore. And don't forget that even before the accident, there was the problem of both our families hating our relationship—and each other."
Ava closed her eyes before continuing.
"I mean, let's face it, Maxim—our relationship is cursed. And there's no way it's ever going to work between us again."
Maxim became quietly devastated by Ava's words.
Every word she spoke broke Ava's own heart too, but she knew they had to be said.
For both their sakes.
There was no point trying to breathe life back into a relationship that was practically dead.
To be sure, this wasn't the first time Ava had thought about the possibility of getting back together with Maxim. She had obsessed over it for all these years, despite all the evidence telling her it would never happen.
And every single time, she had reached the same painful conclusion.
It was over, and it was over for good.
Rumors about Maxim Holloway's growing criminal empire had only cemented that belief.
"That's not true, Ava," Maxim said, his voice almost pleading. "Our families' feelings shouldn't get to determine whether we should be together or not. And maybe I lost my memories... and myself for a while. But I'm back now."
Ava slowly shook her head.
"No, you're not," she argued. She then looked at him pointedly. "Let me give you a small example. The Max I knew would never have broken into my apartment."
Maxim rolled his eyes at her words.
"What was I supposed to do, Ava?" he asked, lifting his shoulders. "It's not like you would've let me in willingly."
Ava exhaled deeply, staring at him in disbelief.
The fact that Maxim genuinely thought he was giving a reasonable excuse only convinced Ava further that she was right.
She sighed before looking back at him.
"And what about your... business, Max?" she asked, watching him go still. "And please don't insult my intelligence by pretending it's all legitimate. I'm not naïve."
"I won't lie to you," Maxim said with a stoic expression. "It's exactly what you think it is."
Ava acknowledged this tidbit of terrifying information with a small nod before making herself hold Maxim's gaze again.
"Good. But now that you've got your memories back, do you really think you can just walk away from the Holloway criminal empire and become the person you were before?"
---
MAXIM
He blinked, considering Ava's question with a serious expression.
To be honest, Maxim had given it some thought the previous night while processing the return of his memories.
But he'd pushed the question to the back of his mind, focusing instead on finding Ava—which had seemed much easier than trying to figure out what he was supposed to do about everything else.
After all, he had spent the past five years immersed in the Holloway family's criminal empire, pouring everything he had into it.
Even though it wasn't the life he'd originally wanted, it had become the reason he got out of bed every morning.
It had never been Maxim's dream to launder money through nightclubs and casinos, order the deaths of employees who reported them to the police, or broker illegal arms deals with terrorists before eliminating the ones who tried to double-cross him—which, honestly, happened with surprising frequency.
But this was his reality now.
And he was too deeply entangled in it to simply walk away.
Jonathan would never allow him to leave without consequence, and even without the complication of his stepfather, the Holloway organization wasn't the kind of business a person simply resigned from.
The family had too many enemies ready to tear apart everything they cared about at the first sign of weakness among them.
Standing in front of Ava, a decision settled heavily in Maxim's chest.
He couldn't leave.
Not even for Ava.
It was practically impossible, he thought.
But, then again, that didn't mean he had to lose Ava to continue being who he was.
He could simply have both.
"Well?" Ava asked from in front of him, folding her arms across her chest. "Answer me. Now that you've got your memories back... are you going to become my boyfriend again?"
Maxim drew in a slow breath before lifting his eyes to meet hers.
---
AVA
She waited nervously for Maxim's answer.
Part of her hoped he'd agree to leave his criminal life behind.
Not that it would make her entertain the idea of getting back together with him.
But maybe...
Maybe they could still be in each other's lives somehow.
As friends.
Or even just casual acquaintances.
Surely, anything would be better than being the girlfriend of a man like Maxim Holloway. Or having him completely out of her life again, she thought selfishly.
Her heart sank when Maxim slowly shook his head.
"I can't do that, Ava," he said quietly. "It's not as easy to walk away from the path I'm on as you're making it sound."
Ava remained silent for a long moment, feeling the small amount of hope she'd allowed herself to have disappear.
"That's exactly what I thought," she finally replied in a hard tone.
She turned away from him, not wanting Maxim to see the disappointment on her face.
"You are who you are now," Ava said quietly. "And I can't be with you."
She forced the next words out.
"I can't be with... a criminal."
Maxim visibly flinched at that.
He didn't look surprised, though.
He lowered his gaze to the floor and nodded slowly, his expression turning solemn.
Ava waited nervously for his response.
"You're right," he said at last, catching her off guard. "At least about me."
He let out a slow breath.
"I'm not the person I used to be anymore. I've done things I can never take back... terrible things."
There was a tortured look in his blue eyes that Ava had never seen before.
"I can imagine," Ava said quietly, even though she couldn't even begin to do so.
And honestly...
She didn't want to.
Maxim continued.
"But one thing hasn't changed about me."
His gaze met hers.
"I still... have feelings for you."
He took another step toward her.
"And I know you still have feelings for me too."
Ava remained silent.
"We have always had a powerful connection," Maxim said. "And as long as we still have that, we can be together."
Ava shook her head, even though a foolish part of her was nodding along to every word he said.
"You're wrong, Maxim," she forced herself to say. "You're wrong about our relationship... and you're wrong about me."
She swallowed before saying the hardest part.
"I don't have feelings for you anymore."
The lie tasted bitter in Ava's mouth.
Determined not to give herself away, she forced herself to meet his gaze.
She couldn't let him see that despite everything...
Despite all the hurt...
Some part of her was still hopelessly attached to him.
Rejecting Maxim wasn't easy. But Ava had learned the hard way that he wasn't good for her.
To her surprise, instead of looking devastated, Maxim let out a quiet snort of amusement.
A slow grin spread across his face.
Ava frowned in confusion.
She had expected the man to be heartbroken by her words.
Angry, even.
Not fighting back a smile.
"Nice try, sweetheart," he said, shaking his head. "But I think we both know that's not true."
"Yes, it is, Maxim," Ava insisted through gritted teeth. "I am very much over you."
"Really?" Maxim asked skeptically.
He tilted his head.
"Then why did you come to my trial, Ava?"
Ava's held her breath at the question, disturbed that Maxim had seen her at the courthouse.
Damn it.
But of course he'd seen her.
She had stuck out like a sore thumb, she thought, remembering Jackson's words.
Ava cleared her throat.
"I-I was in the area," she said with a shrug. "So I thought I'd watch the proceedings."
Maxim raised an eyebrow.
"Alright. I'll bite, Ava," he says, folding his arms.
He fixes her with an intense gaze.
"What were you doing at the courthouse if you weren't there for me?"
"Visiting a friend," Ava answered quickly.
"Which friend?"
"You don't know her," Ava snapped. "And it doesn't fucking matter."
The more defensive Ava became, the more doubtful Maxim looked.
But eventually, he simply nodded.
"Right. If you say so,Ava," Maxim said, raising his arms in mock surrender.
He was giving in to her, but Ava found that she couldn't trust this at all.
She waited for the bomb to drop, and, as predicted, a faint smirk started to appear on Maxim's face.
"I suppose you also have an explanation for why there was a pile of keepsakes from our relationship, including my love letters to you, lying on top of your bed."