Chapter 0690
“Peter… I… I don’t know what to say… I’m sorry! Please forgive me! I was a selfish bastard… I never thought about you, never thought about how you felt…” Maximus said, his voice breaking.
“Maximus, that was years ago–25 years, to be exact. There’s no point worrying about something that happened so long ago.”
“I feel guilty, brother, for everything I caused you because of my damn arrogance. If I hadn’t crossed paths with Mary, you might have lived your story with her. Now, all you can do is watch her story with Marcus from the sidelines.”
“Stop with the nonsense and melodrama, Maximus. I’ve told you I’ll always love Mary, but that chapter of my life -while it’ll always be there and never really go away–is over. Now, I have someone else to think about.”
“Celeste…?”
“Yes… It’s been years since I’ve felt this way. Have you ever looked at someone and just known it’s them? Like, something in them tells you that you don’t need to look at anyone else?”
“Yes…”
“Diana, right?”
“Yes…”
“Well, it’s the same with Celeste for me. I don’t know if I can say I love her, and yeah, there are bad days when I doubt everything–when I even doubt my sanity–but ever since I met her, I haven’t wanted to stay away from her.”
“Then why are you still so insistent on protecting Mary?”
“Well, I guess in my head, I still feel like I need to protect her, especially now that Marcus’s in prison…”
“Speaking of that… Are you going to leave Marcus in jail?”
“I’d love to… But no. Honestly, I didn’t expect Frank to throw him in there. But I think Moriarty can get him out. In fact, I’d bet that if we leave Marcus there until Moriarty comes into power, he’ll not only get him out but also clear his record. The Bartzs are in Moriarty’s debt.”
“Tell me… Who is this Anthony Moriarty?”
“There’s nothing particularly remarkable about Anthony Moriarty. Honestly, I didn’t even know he existed until recently. From what Magnus told me, the Moriartys were close friends of the Bartzs, but they distanced themselves from the family because of their connection to our family and our hidden dealings. That cost them everything. Our family essentially buried them commercially. For a long time, they lived abroad because they couldn’t succeed here.
“After Catherine died and Leonardo left the country, Vincent Moriarty returned to Valentia. That brings us to Anthony Moriarty, Vincent’s son. He’s a lawyer who, in no time, will become a judge–the youngest judge in history, actually.
“Let’s be realistic, Maximus. Neither you, nor I, and especially not Marcus, will ever be able to finally punish Frank Levett father or son. And Leonardo? He’ll get off scot–free, too.
“If we expose any of them, all the dirt around us will come to light. In your case, you’ll just get splashed, and with some effort, you might come out of it okay. But Marcus and I? We’d spend our last years in prison, right alongside Frank and Leonardo.
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+25 BONUS
Chapter 0690
“Anthony Moriarty is the only one who can deliver justice not just to the Bartz family but also to everyone who suffered because of our family and the Levetts.
“Sure, you or I could take justice into our own hands. Of course, we could. But that would make you just like us, and I won’t allow that. You’re an idiot, and I hate you, but I’m not going to let you get dragged down by the mess Marcus and I created.”
That conversation between Maximus and Peter was one of the rare ones where they laid everything out as it was. Peter had a moment of clarity, and Maximus made the most of it, pressing for answers. Now he knew who to ask about and what Peter hoped for. Anthony Moriarty’s name was out in the open, and Maximus needed to investigate who he was. He needed to find out if Moriarty was as reliable as Peter and Magnus believed.
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