No More Picking Up His Pieces Chapter 05

No More Picking Up His Pieces Chapter 05 Not His to Erase
The workshop was silent. Maxwell stood in the doorway, the cold from outside still clinging to his coat.

After slapping the restoration authorization form down in front of him, Arabella fell silent.

Maxwell looked down at the form. Alma’s signature was on it, along with a line stating that the bridal jewelry set had never been meant for public display. The more he read, the darker his expression became.

Arabella watched him for a moment, then smiled. “Go on. Isn’t taking control what you do best, Mr. Kingston?”

Maxwell looked up at her, his voice low and tight. “Put these away for now.”

Arabella looked as if she’d heard a joke. “Put them away?”

“Yes.” He stepped closer, his gaze moving over the restoration logs, photos, hard drive, and authorization form on the table. “This isn’t the time to put all of this on display.”

“Then when is?” Arabella folded her arms and looked at him. “After Kingston Group pushes that treasure loan exhibition story until everyone treats it as fact?”

Maxwell’s brows drew tight. “Arabella.”

“Don’t.” Arabella cut him off, her tone still light. “The way you say my name now only reminds me how easily you said it had been borrowed.”

Maxwell’s jaw tightened, the irritation in his eyes barely held in check.

Brooke stood off to the side, barely daring to breathe. For the first time, Arabella and Maxwell didn’t look like a couple to her. They looked like opponents locked in a standoff.

Maxwell stared at Arabella for several seconds before he finally flattened his voice. “I’ll have Kingston Group revise the statement.”

Arabella didn’t even blink. “Revise it how?”

“We’ll add your restoration credit.”

Arabella let out a laugh at the word. “Add it back now? Maxwell, do you really think you can fix everything after the damage is already done?”

His expression darkened. “Arabella, I’m trying to solve the problem.”

“No.” Arabella met his eyes. “You’re trying to keep the damage under control.”

She took a step forward and tapped the hard drive. “The Kingston family used my work to save face. Now you want to slip my name back in and pretend that fixes it.

“So if that woman is all over the internet tomorrow wearing my wedding band, are you going to give me a replacement and expect me to smile?”

Maxwell stared at her, his eyes turning colder. “Do you have to talk like this?”

Arabella nodded. “If I don’t, will you listen?”

Maxwell fell silent for a moment, forcing down the anger that had been building all night.

Arabella had pushed him again and again, at the Kingston mansion, at the gate, downstairs, and over the phone. Now, here in her own workshop, every word hit harder.

He stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly raised a hand and pressed the authorization form back onto the table. “What exactly do you want?”

That was the question Arabella had been waiting for.

A faint smile touched her lips. “What I want is simple. First, Kingston Group withdraws that treasure loan exhibition line immediately.

“Second, whoever wore the bridal jewelry set tonight needs to come forward and explain herself. Third…”

Arabella lifted her eyes to Maxwell. Her voice softened slightly, but it cut even deeper. “Maxwell, I want an apology from you. In person.”

The room went still. Brooke didn’t even dare blink.

Maxwell looked at Arabella as if she had said something absurd. “Apologize?”

“Yes.” Arabella nodded. “Is the word new to you?”

Maxwell suddenly let out a cold laugh, faint enough to be quiet but sharp enough to chill the room. “Arabella, aren’t you giving yourself a little too much credit?”

Brooke’s heart sank. The words had barely left Maxwell’s mouth before she knew he had made things worse.

Arabella’s expression froze for only a second. Then she nodded, actually smiling. “Too much credit?”

She turned back to the restoration bench, picked up her phone, and unlocked it.

Maxwell’s eyes darkened. “What are you doing?”

“Letting you see exactly what my name is worth.” As soon as she said it, she tapped a contact and made the call.

The call was answered quickly. A mature woman’s tired voice came through. “Ms. Wayne?”

Maxwell’s face changed at once. It was Laura Hayes, the chief planner for that night’s charity gala.

Arabella leaned against the restoration bench, her voice softening until she almost sounded like someone else. “Ms. Hayes, I hope I’m not catching you too late.”

Laura laughed lightly. “Now you remember me? You skipped the gala tonight and still handed me a trending headache.”

Arabella smiled too. “That’s exactly why I’m calling.”

Maxwell crossed the distance in two strides and reached for her phone.

Arabella was quicker. She turned sideways to avoid his hand, her eyes locked on him as she kept speaking into the phone. “The Kingston bridal jewelry set tonight was not part of any Kingston Jewelry cultural loan.

“If anyone uses that line tomorrow, please help clarify it on your end so I don’t have to issue a statement myself.”

Laura was clearly stunned. “It wasn’t a loan exhibition?”

“No,” Arabella said evenly. “It was lent out privately. I handled the restoration, and I have the authorization form and the supervision video.”

The moment she said that, Maxwell’s expression went completely dark.

Laura knew exactly how these circles worked and understood the problem the second she heard it. Her voice dropped at once. “Ms. Wayne, are you planning to take on Kingston Group?”

Arabella looked up at Maxwell, the corner of her mouth curving faintly. “I’m not the one who started this. Someone else decided my name was fair game.”

Maxwell stared at her, barely holding back the anger in his eyes. The moment Arabella hung up, he grabbed her wrist. “Are you finished?”

Arabella glanced down at his hand, then actually smiled. “That’s the third time you’ve asked me that tonight. Maxwell, do you know how to do anything besides grab my wrist?”

His temple pulsed. “Are you really taking this outside the family?”

“Your family took the bridal jewelry set outside first.”

“I’m talking about the industry.”

“Even better.” Arabella lifted her eyes to him. “Isn’t reputation what the Kingston family cares about most?”

Her eyes were still red, but her expression was sharp and alive.

Maxwell stared at her, his breathing suddenly heavier. For the first time that night, he realized Arabella wasn’t lashing out blindly. She knew exactly where to strike, and every move hit him and the Kingston family where it hurt.

The accuracy of her attack only made him more irritated, as if she were dragging him off balance one word at a time.

Maxwell’s grip tightened slightly, and his voice turned hoarse. “Give me the phone.”

Arabella lifted the phone right in front of his eyes and gave it a small shake. “Go ahead. Take it from me.”

Maxwell stared at her. There was a spark of defiance in her eyes, just like before she married him.

Back then, she had stood in the Kingston restoration room with a chipped vintage locket in her hand and looked at him the same way.

At the time, he had thought Arabella looked gentle, but there was nothing weak about her.

After three years of marriage, he had almost forgotten she had always been this way. Those edges had never disappeared. She had only kept them hidden.

Maxwell’s jaw tightened, but in the end, he let go.

Arabella looked at him and suddenly felt there was no point in arguing anymore.

He was always like this. The uglier things got, the more he shut down. He wouldn’t explain, wouldn’t admit he was wrong, and wouldn’t let anyone else have the last word.

The smile on Arabella’s face faded a little. “What, you can’t take it anymore?”

Maxwell looked at her, his voice very low. “Arabella, if you really drag this out into the open, it won’t do you any good either.”

“Who says it won’t?” she asked. “At least I’ll feel better.”

Maxwell stared at her, his voice turning cold. “Do you think I’ve let you go this far because I can’t do anything to you?”

Brooke went rigid the second she heard that. Maxwell had just said the worst possible thing.

Arabella’s eyes went cold at once.

“Do anything to me?” She slowly nodded. “Maxwell, there it is. You finally said the quiet part out loud. Isn’t that what you’ve thought all along?

“When I speak up, you shut me down. When I leave, you stop me. Now that I’m exposing the Kingston family, you’re ready to come after me.”

Maxwell frowned. “That’s not what I meant.”

“It is,” Arabella cut him off, her voice quiet but steady. “Maxwell, from the beginning, you were never trying to solve the problem. You were trying to solve me.”

Maxwell’s expression shifted at that.

Arabella stared at him. The emotion in her reddened eyes slowly drained away until only cold calm remained.

She suddenly didn’t want to waste another word on him. She turned and dialed a second number.

This time, Maxwell stepped forward for real and reached for the phone.

Arabella lifted the phone out of his reach, grabbed a steel ruler from the bench with her other hand, and held it between them. “Don’t touch my phone.”

Maxwell stopped short.

The steel ruler wasn’t sharp, but Arabella’s grip was steady. She wasn’t bluffing.

Watching from the sidelines, Brooke felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest.

Arabella didn’t look at him. She spoke directly into the phone. “Mr. Parker, it’s Arabella Wayne.”

The person on the other end was Ryan Parker, the editor-in-chief of the jewelry industry magazine Lumen Arcana.

Maxwell’s face darkened even further. He finally understood that Arabella wasn’t bluffing. She really meant to drag this into the jewelry industry.

Ryan laughed almost immediately. “Ms. Wayne? I was just about to contact you. The bridal jewelry set Kingston Group showed tonight—”

“It wasn’t a loan exhibition,” Arabella cut in. “If Kingston Group doesn’t withdraw that line before tomorrow morning, I’ll send you the restoration drafts and authorization record. You can start thinking about the headline.”

She paused, then raised her eyes to Maxwell and spoke each word clearly. “Something like: Who Really Borrowed the Kingston Bridal Jewelry Set?”

Ryan fell silent for a moment as the significance of her words sank in. Then he let out a soft breath, excitement unmistakable in his voice. “Ms. Wayne, you’re handing me a major story.”

Arabella’s voice stayed calm. “Kingston Group handed it over first.”

After she hung up, the workshop went completely quiet.

Maxwell stared at her, something dangerous settling in his eyes. “Arabella.”

Arabella looked at him and suddenly felt tired. “What else do you want to say?”

Maxwell’s lips moved. In the end, he still said the one thing he shouldn’t have. “Don’t regret this.”

Arabella froze for a moment. Then, for the first time, she let out a real laugh. “Regret what?”

She looked at him, a faint mockery finally surfacing in her eyes. “Regret restoring that bridal jewelry set too beautifully three months ago? Or regret marrying you three years ago?”

Maxwell’s face stiffened at once.

Arabella stared at him and slowly placed the steel ruler back on the restoration bench. Her voice softened. “Maxwell, your biggest problem tonight isn’t lending out the bridal jewelry set. It isn’t even trying to erase my credit.

“It’s that even now, you still think I’ll regret fighting back.”

She turned, walked to the door, and pulled it open. “Get out.”

Maxwell didn’t move.

Arabella gave a small nod. “Fine.”

She reached for the breaker switch on the wall. “If you won’t leave, I’ll turn off the lights and call the police. I can tell them the CEO of Kingston Group broke into my workshop in the middle of the night.”

Maxwell stared at her, the anger in his eyes finally breaking through. A few seconds later, his mouth twisted as if she had actually made him laugh. “Arabella, you’ve really got nerve.”

Arabella nodded. “So do you.”

He looked at her for two seconds before finally turning toward the door.

When he reached the doorway, he stopped without looking back. “Close that door on me tonight, and don’t come begging later.”

Arabella had heard that tone too many times before. Cold, proud, always above her, as if she would be the one to come back first.

She didn’t so much as lift an eyelid. “Don’t worry. You can learn how to beg first.”

Maxwell walked out, and the door shut behind him with a thud.

Brooke held her breath until Maxwell was gone, then finally dared to let it out. “Arabella.”

Arabella didn’t answer. She stood by the door with one hand still on the knob, unmoving for a long time.

Brooke carefully moved closer, but before she could say anything, her phone buzzed. It was a Twitter notification from an account she had alerts on.

Brooke looked down, and her expression changed at once. “Arabella. That woman… she posted something.”

Arabella slowly turned her head. “What did she post?”

Brooke handed her the phone, her throat tight.

On the screen was a new photo. Backstage at the gala, the woman was lowering her head as she adjusted the bridal diamond tiara. The warm lighting made the photo look like a movie still.

The caption was only one sentence: [Thank you, Mr. Kingston, and thank you to the Kingston family for letting me be part of something so special.]

Arabella stared at the line, her eyes narrowing. A few seconds later, she suddenly laughed. “Great. I hadn’t even gone looking for her, and she came to me first.”