Virgin At 25-Chapter 113: CHILDHOOD FRIENDS… ADULT HEADACHE

Zion stared at the message on his phone, and his whole body stiffened.

"They know."

Of course it was his parents.

He exhaled sharply. "Excuse me," he muttered, already heading for his room.

He paced the floor like a caged animal, running a hand through his hair.

"Think. Think. Think."

He finally grabbed his phone and dialed one number.

"Deputy William," Zion said, voice cold enough to freeze blood. "Did you report anything to my parents?"

On the other end, William sighed.

"Sire Zion... I didn’t. But you know your parents. They get answers one way or another."

Zion’s jaw tightened. William was right. They always did... They would get what they want if William was in the picture or not

He hung up without a goodbye and left the room.

When he reached down, Sharon was slumped against the couch, half-asleep, half-dizzy. Maxie was gently patting her shoulder, whispering something to help her sleep.

Zion’s brows pulled together instantly.

"How is she doing now..."

Maxie looked up at him, eyes sharp. "We need to involve the police."

Zion almost laughed. "Police? They control the police."

Maxie’s expression showed pure anger from Zion’s reply but he was right regardless ...

"So what? At least they’ll document it. Something! Sharon is involved in what shouldn’t concern her. How did she enter your family drama this deep?"

Zion’s lips twitched. "You think I wanted this?" Zion’s brow twitched

"If Aec is the problem, she should stay away from him. Simple." Maxie added...

Zion’s silence hit the room like a slap.

" Answer me, Zion. Why is Sharon even this tangled up with you people?"

He finally looked at her... really looked.

" Aec... doesn’t look it, but right now, he’s the best person to protect her."

Maxie scoffed. "Protect? From who? From you people or from himself? You think he would go against his family..."

Zion clenched his fist but held his tone steady.

"Maxie... you don’t understand what’s coming."

The atmosphere felt heated but they were careful enough not to wake Sharon up...

"Then make me understand! Because I’m tired. Sharon is not built for this. She cries over telenovelas; how will she survive real-life mafia nonsense?"

A shaky breath escaped him.

"...I’ll keep her safe," he said quietly.

Maxie looked at Sharon again... her weak blinking, her shallow breaths, her messy hair sticking to her forehead.

Maxie’s expression softened... just a little.

Then her phone rang.

She glanced at the screen.

TORY CALLING.

A message popped above it... " I found out something new."

Maxie’s eyes widened.

She grabbed her bag. "I have to go. Zion, watch her properly. I swear, if anything happens to her again I might loose it"

Zion nodded once. "Nothing will."

Maxie shot one last look at Sharon and left quickly, the door slamming behind her.

Maxie left Zion’s house without telling him about the text. The text had been tight, urgent... By the time she got home, her heart was racing with a strange mixture of fear and anticipation.

Tory was already in her living room, sitting on the arm of her couch as though he lived there. He looked up the second she stepped in.

"You’re back. Good. I found something."

Maxie looked around the living room but Marcus was absent...

"His inside..."

Maxie paused, instantly suspicious. He had helped them too much, too fast, too willingly. The whole thing felt off. She dropped her bag and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Before you start," she said slowly, "what exactly do you want from me? Because the way you’re acting... it’s weird."

Tory blinked, then let out a small scoff. "Weird? Really?"

"Yes. Very."

He stood up, brushing invisible dust from his shirt. "Fine. If you must know... I like you."

Maxie froze. She tried to keep her expression neutral, tried to pretend the butterflies in her stomach weren’t performing a whole carnival show.

Tory saw the stiffness in her posture and smirked. "Relax. Let me flirt with you for one minute before we get serious again."

She glared at him, refusing to react. Inside, she was practically screaming.

He stepped closer, gaze softening but still holding that boldness she found annoyingly distracting. "You’re stubborn. Sharp. And you pretend you’re not impressed when you clearly are."

Maxie stared straight ahead. "Are you done?"

He chuckled, low and amused. "Almost. I also can’t look away from... " he paused, searching for the right word, " Injustice. That’s partly why I’m helping."

She blinked once. "Okay. That sounded less cringe than I expected."

"Good," he murmured. "Now can I talk?"

Maxie nodded, stepping aside as he reached into his bag and pulled out a slim folder. He didn’t open it yet. He simply held it, watching her carefully.

"Diana has an inheritance everyone wants," he said.

Maxie’s eyebrows shot up. "Come again?"

"Her father left something behind. A lot of it. Land, money, shares, whatever it is, it’s valuable enough to make people do stupid things."

Maxie let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. "This is sounding like a Hollywood thriller. Are we in a movie?"

But Tory’s expression didn’t change. He was dead serious... too serious.

Her laughter faded.

He continued, voice even. "Victor rushed the marriage between Diana and Aec. They needed Aec to gain legal control of that inheritance. And for that, Diana had to sign certain papers."

Maxie’s face twisted. "Okay... but why is Sharon in this story? Why is she dragged into their family madness?"

"That’s the part Victor didn’t plan for."

Tory finally opened the folder, but he didn’t show her anything inside. Instead, he looked up at her again, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Sharon came along," he said quietly, "and Aec changed. He stopped prioritizing Diana. He stopped playing the role Victor needed him to play. And once Aec shifted... everything else shifted with him."

Maxie felt the weight of those words settle in her chest like lead.

Tory closed the folder.

"Aec made Diana feel unimportant," he continued. "And Sharon became his priority. That alone was enough to make everyone panic."

Maxie swallowed, her heart suddenly beating too loud.

So this was what they had stepped into, something much bigger, older, and darker than simple family trouble.

And Sharon...

Sharon was right in the middle of it.

Maxie swallowed hard, the information sinking in slowly, painfully. She sank onto the couch, fingers curling around the fabric as she gathered her thoughts.

"So..." she began, her voice quieter now. "Aec... was he aware? About the inheritance? About the signing and all that?"

Tory didn’t answer immediately. He dropped onto the armchair opposite her, elbows resting on his knees, eyes fixed on the floor as though he was arranging his thoughts.

"Of course he was aware," Tory finally said. "He’s not stupid. And Victor doesn’t hide things from him when he needs something done."

Maxie’s brows drew together. "So he agreed to it?"

Tory rubbed the back of his neck. "That’s the thing... I don’t know at the expense of what."

Maxie’s breath hitched. "Meaning?"

Tory leaned back, expression turning oddly thoughtful. "Aec... the Aec I know... he wouldn’t willingly do something that would hurt Diana. He might not love her as his wife, he might not even want the marriage, but she’s been his friend since childhood. There’s loyalty there, deep loyalty. Even if he has a strange way of showing it."

Maxie stared at him, stunned.

"So if he agreed," Tory continued quietly, "it means something forced his hand. Something big. Something we probably don’t even know yet."

The room felt colder suddenly.

Maxie’s grip on the couch tightened.

Sharon...

Diana...

Aec...

The Langley family...

And now an inheritance strong enough to destroy everything around it.

She took a shaky breath. "Tory... if Aec isn’t the villain here... then who is?"

Tory just looked at her, his expression shadowed, jaw tight and didn’t answer.

Which, in its own way, was an answer.

Maxie stood up, the weight of everything Tory had told her pressing down on her chest. "Okay... thank you," she said softly. Her voice trembled, but she forced a small smile before turning toward her front door as if telling him to leave.

She barely took two steps before fingers wrapped gently around her wrist.

She froze.

Tory pulled her back not roughly, just firmly enough to make her stop and look at him. His eyes, usually playful or mocking, held something deeper this time. Something that made Maxie’s pulse skip.

"Between all this chaos," he said quietly, "don’t forget that I’m chasing you. Hard."

Her heart did a stupid, excited flip. For a moment one tiny, traitorous moment her face almost lit up. She almost grinned like an idiot. Almost.

But she caught herself quickly and forced her expression back into neutral.

Her voice came out steadier than her heart. "I... I won’t date my boss’s family."

Tory blinked. Once. Slowly. Like the answer genuinely stunned him.

Maxie looked away, suddenly embarrassed. "Thank you for the help... for everything," she added, her tone softer now. "But... let’s talk about this some other time, okay?"

A muscle ticked in Tory’s jaw, but he let go of her wrist. "Fine," he murmured, eyes never leaving her. "But don’t forget what I said, Maxie. I don’t back off easily."

She swallowed and nodded before slipping inside, closing the door between them... Not minding if he left