No More Picking Up His Pieces Chapter 08

No More Picking Up His Pieces Chapter 08: You Knew All Along

The car across the street remained parked at the curb. Maxwell stood beside it, watching Arabella from the other side of the road, his expression unreadable and grim.

The light turned green, but Arabella stayed where she was. She only tightened her grip on her phone as the wind blew her hair across her face, and she made no attempt to brush it away.

Maxwell crossed the street as traffic streamed past behind him, the wind catching the hem of his coat and sharpening the chill around him.

When he stopped in front of her, the first thing he said was, “Give me your phone.”

Arabella laughed as soon as she heard that. “What, Mr. Kingston? We’re grabbing phones now?”

Maxwell’s expression tightened, his anger barely held in check. “Delete the video.”

Arabella gave a small nod. “So that’s why you’re here.”

“What else?” His voice dropped. “Did you think I came here to make small talk?”

For a moment, Arabella said nothing.

A moment ago, there had still been a weight in her chest. With that one sentence, it vanished, leaving her strangely clearheaded.

She was not sure what she had expected. Maybe she had thought he had finally come to explain, or that he had finally understood why she was angry.

Now she had her answer. He had come for the video.

Arabella’s mouth curved faintly, even as her eyes started to redden. “Maxwell, you really haven’t changed at all.”

Maxwell frowned. “Give me the video.”

Arabella ignored him. She unlocked her phone, pulled up the video, and held the screen up in front of him.

The backstage lighting at the gala was chaotic. Daisy sat in front of the mirror, the bridal diamond tiara slightly crooked on her head.

Maxwell stood behind her and reached up to straighten it.

The video was short, barely more than a dozen seconds, but the instant Maxwell saw it, his expression shifted.

Arabella’s voice was almost too soft. “You knew what it was. You knew.”

His jaw tightened. “Arabella.”

“Don’t say my name.” She cut him off sharply. “Maxwell, I’m not asking whether you went backstage. I’m asking why you still reached out when you knew it was the Kingston bridal jewelry set.

“You knew who restored it. You knew who it was supposed to be saved for.”

People passed by on the sidewalk, and someone turned to look, drawn by the sound of their argument.

Maxwell ignored them. His attention stayed on Arabella for several seconds before he finally spoke, his voice low. “It was chaotic backstage. I just did it without thinking.”

“Without thinking?” Arabella let out a laugh, but her eyes were already burning. “You fixed the tiara, let her walk out wearing it, and stood there while the cameras took their shots. All of that was just you not thinking?”

“And not once did it occur to you what that would do to me?”

Maxwell’s expression shut down. “Do you have to make it sound like that?”

“How else should I say it?” Arabella’s eyes slowly reddened. “Should I say you were innocent? That you had no idea? That you just got dragged into it?”

She took a step closer. “Maxwell, the worst part wasn’t that you lent out the bridal jewelry set. It was that you knew it would hurt me, and you still chose what was easiest for you.”

Maxwell held her gaze. His throat worked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only forced out one line. “It’s not what you think.”

Arabella had heard that line too many times. By now, it no longer sounded like an explanation at all.

This time, she couldn’t even laugh. She lowered the phone, pulled up Daisy’s Instagram, and held the screen in front of him. “Then look at this.”

Maxwell looked down at it, and his expression cooled.

The post showed Daisy wrapped in Maxwell’s coat. The caption framed the whole bridal jewelry set incident as a misunderstanding and cast Maxwell as the man who had stepped in to protect her.

Maxwell’s expression froze. “I didn’t tell her to post that.”

“But you gave her your coat,” Arabella shot back. “You let her wear the bridal jewelry set. You went backstage for her. And now you’re telling me you had nothing to do with that post.”

“Maxwell, do you really think I’m that easy to fool?”

Maxwell’s patience finally snapped. “What exactly do you want?”

Arabella fell silent for a moment. She had almost asked him whether what she wanted had ever mattered.

Before the words could leave her mouth, she suddenly lost interest. If Maxwell understood, he wouldn’t still be standing here asking.

She lowered her eyes and took back her phone, her voice quieter now. “I don’t want anything. I just want you to admit it.”

Maxwell’s voice tightened. “Admit what?”

“That you made a choice.”

His breath caught at that.

Arabella lifted her eyes, each word clear. “You could have stopped it. One word from you, and she would have had to take that set off. But you didn’t say it.

“Because in that moment, saving her from embarrassment mattered more to you than what it would do to me.”

Maxwell’s composure finally cracked. “No.”

Arabella froze. It was the first time that night he had directly denied her.

Before she could speak, Maxwell had already continued, “I didn’t care about her. I just didn’t want a scene backstage.”

He had fallen back on the logic he trusted most. It was never about choosing anyone, only about the situation, appearances, order, and keeping everything under control.

Arabella suddenly felt cold all over. “So the scene still mattered more than me.”

His expression tightened. “Arabella, are you determined to twist everything I say?”

“How else am I supposed to take it?” she asked. “That you actually love me and just don’t know how to say it?”

Maxwell held her gaze, his chest rising noticeably. “I never said that.”

“And you never showed it.”

Silence settled between them. Another gust of wind blew Arabella’s hair across her face.

Maxwell instinctively lifted his hand, as if to brush it away for her, but Arabella turned her head and avoided his touch.

Her sudden retreat left Maxwell’s hand hanging in midair. Several seconds passed before he slowly lowered it, his voice much quieter. “Come back with me.”

Arabella looked as if she had heard a joke. “Back for what?”

“We can talk once we’re back.”

“I have nothing left to say to you.”

Maxwell’s expression darkened. “Arabella.”

Arabella had heard that warning tone enough times. “Maxwell, are you ever going to learn how to say sorry?”

Maxwell fell silent.

In that instant, something in Arabella finally gave way. Not because he would not say it, but because even now, after everything, he still had to hesitate.

She stepped half a pace back. “Forget it.”

She put her phone back in her bag and turned to leave.

Maxwell caught her wrist, his grip hard enough to pull her straight back. “I said come back with me.”

Arabella stumbled into his chest. The impact sent a sting up her nose, and her anger surged at once. “Let go.”

“Get in the car first.”

“No.”

Maxwell looked down at her, his brows drawn tight and his voice hoarse. “Arabella, are you really going to make a scene in the middle of the street?”

“Make a scene?” She snapped her head up, her eyes red. “Maxwell, I’m not making a scene. I’m calling you out.”

She raised her free hand and tried to pry his fingers loose, but his grip only tightened.

Furious, she lowered her head and bit down hard between his thumb and forefinger.

Maxwell hissed in pain, and his grip finally loosened.

Arabella immediately yanked her hand free and took two steps back. She drew a breath, every part of her on guard. “Don’t touch me.”

Maxwell looked down at the ring of teeth marks on his hand, his expression darkening. He was about to step forward again when a white sedan suddenly pulled up by the curb.

The door opened, followed by the soft click of high heels.

Arabella turned and saw Daisy stepping out of the car.

Daisy was not wearing the bridal diamond tiara today, nor the gala gown. She had on a light-colored coat, her hair loosely pinned up, and her face held just the right amount of pallor.

She looked fragile and exhausted, as if every detail had been arranged to make people feel sorry for her.

The moment Daisy stepped out, she looked at Maxwell first. Only then did she seem to notice Arabella, pausing slightly. “Ms. Wayne, you’re here too.”

Arabella laughed at once. “You stepped out right in front of me. Drop the act.”

Daisy’s expression stiffened.

Maxwell frowned as he turned to Daisy. “What are you doing here?”

Daisy pressed her lips together, her voice soft. “I called, but you didn’t answer.”

She then glanced at Arabella with just the right amount of helplessness. “I saw what was happening online. I was worried it would make things difficult for you.”

Arabella stood off to the side, almost impressed by the performance.

So this was the kind of woman Maxwell kept protecting, Arabella thought. She chased him all the way here, then dressed it up as concern for me.

Daisy turned to Arabella, her timid expression perfectly measured. “Ms. Wayne, I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t think it would make you misunderstand.”

Arabella said nothing. She simply stood there and watched Daisy perform.

Daisy grew uneasy under the silence, and her voice dropped even lower. “About the bridal jewelry set, I really should have thought it through. I only assumed that since Mrs. Alma Kingston had approved it…”

“You assumed I was dead, right?” Arabella finally said.

Daisy froze, and Maxwell turned sharply toward Arabella.

Arabella’s mouth curved faintly, her eyes clear and cold. “Daisy, do you really think I’m that easy to push around?

“You wore my bridal jewelry set, used it to humiliate me online, and now you have the nerve to stand here telling me you ‘didn’t think it through.'”

She took one step forward and stared at Daisy. “Are you that bold, or are you just shameless?”

Daisy’s face went pale, and her eyes quickly reddened. “Ms. Wayne, how could you say that about me?”

“What else am I supposed to say?” Arabella cut in. “Should I call you classy? Praise you for knowing exactly how to steal what isn’t yours? Or admire how comfortably you can wear another woman’s bridal jewelry set?”

Maxwell’s expression darkened. “Arabella.”

That warning tone returned, making it sound as if Arabella were the one crossing the line.

Arabella turned to him, the last trace of warmth gone from her eyes. “What? Are you protecting her now?”

Maxwell’s throat worked. “Don’t make this uglier than it already is.”

“Fine.” She actually nodded, then gave him a sudden smile. “Maxwell, you’ve made your choice very clear this time.”