Half an hour later, Max entered La Belle Château's function hall.
The event director, Mr. Chan, who was also their batch president, greeted her at the entrance.
"CEO Max, nice seeing you ah! Finally gracing our reunion, this is a cause for celebration!"
The former schoolmates near the two turned their eyes to the double doors.
What they saw was a dashing woman with sharp features. Her skin was pale with a cool undertone. The side of her head was shaved, with the remaining braided in little threads cascading down to her waist.
With her fully clothed, the only tattoos visible were the small asterisk below the outer corner of her left eye and the midnight black rose in full bloom covering her throat.
Her deep burgundy dress suit tailored to flare all the way down to her calves subtly accentuated the dark blue undertone of the ink.
The other tattoos were peeking from the edges of her collar and cuffs making one curious as to what images were hidden underneath.
One look at Max and it would already leave a deep impression on anyone.
Her presence spoke of many different contrasts. Her body was that of a woman's but she gave off a sex appeal that could rival any Calvin Klein model.
She was the image of rebellion yet every step she took commanded awe and respect.
Her appearance screamed tyranny but under her was one of the continent's largest conglomerates, proving her strength in leadership.
Contrary to expectations though, her entrance didn't garner that much attention.
Max's eyes roamed around to find that someone. She wasn't even listening to Mr. Chan's blabbering.
If the video was uploaded almost at the same time as the start of this reunion then not all people here knew about it yet.
But when she heard some whispers, she knew that the news started spreading already.
Just as she saw the familiar but slightly unfamiliar figure, a man suddenly burst laughing from one of the tables.
"Classmate Lee, you made it to the headlines again!"
Along with all the people, Max looked at Gabriel Lee.
There he was, eating sweets and not minding the flock of women surrounding him.
His limpid eyes lifted towards the man who called him.
"Headlines?" His voice was a siren's call seducing anyone to drown into his soft gaze.
The man who was wearing a rented suit (according to Max's sharp eyes) smirked.
"Got a nice video here ah!" He didn't raise his phone for everyone to see but his lewd face and the ambiguous statement said it all.
Gabriel didn't understand it at first but upon receiving weird looks from everyone, his lashes trembled.
The man was making catcalling sounds.
He drank quite a few glasses already and he didn't like how all the women looked at the flower boy with worship.
Now that he saw what was trending, he couldn't help but let out some steam.
But before he could make more rude comments, Max stepped up.
"We have a drunk scandalous classmate here ah. Have someone send him home, Director Chan."
Then she whispered, "Send his name to my secretary."
The man seemed to sober up when he saw Max but he was already surrounded with security, each one twice his size.
Everyone had ideas on what the man alluded to but seeing that their benefactor obviously put a stop to discussing it, it would only be polite to shut their mouths.
Max continued walking towards Gabriel who was turning paler by the second.
The people around him just now all escaped to who knew where.
"Yel..."
Her sharp features seemed to soften a few degrees as she quietly called him.
Upon hearing that nickname, he stiffened for a bit.
Aside from his mother, the only one who called him that was his high school bully and seatmate.
With wide watery eyes, he looked at her.
"Let me get you outta here."
Never in his life would he have expected to hear those life-saving words from the meanest woman he ever knew.
"Where are we going?"
After dazedly following Max to her limousine, Gabriel finally spoke.
Max wanted to drive earlier but wasn't confident of her driving skills which grew stagnant since she got crippled in her last life.
"Haven't decided on that yet."
She looked at him who was scrolling down his phone.
Taking his phone, she shut it down after getting his number then gave it back to him.
"Wha-"
"You don't have to worry about it. Your company will take care of the issue. For now, you need to lay low."
"How're you so sure?" Gabriel was skeptical of her.
To his surprise, Max only caught his hands.
"What are you doing?!"
"Warming your hands. They're super cold when you're nervous and stressed, right?"
She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
There was a slight frown on her face as she felt him trembling.
His fingers were chilly as opposed to her warm touch. He couldn't help but crave more for this warmth without crossing the boundaries.
Because of his struggle, the distance between them shortened and he could discern the worry in her eyes.
Gabriel didn't know what to make of it.
After all, this was the first time he saw Max face to face after they graduated high school.
His strongest memory of her was her smirking at his lameness so he didn't really have a good impression of her.
Why would she be worried about him?
As he was wondering, Max did another shocking thing.
She rubbed her palms against his hands then placed them on her cheeks. Then repeated the process.
"He-Hey!"
How could she do it without a change of expressions?
"What?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Shy?"
Gabriel felt the tips of his ears heat up so he took back his hands from her grasp. "I'm good."
Max chuckled.
"Remember that old convenience store in an alley at the back of the school?"
She asked, grinning then informed the driver of their destination.