Divine Hell

misunderstood villain

Alexei stared at his boss and best friend with a confused look. He had been sitting across from him for almost fifteen minutes, and Maxwell had been muttering to himself, asking him nonsensical questions.

"A life after life?" Max asked, confused. "How is that possible?" A second chance to make amends for the mistakes of a previous life.

Hearing that made Alex even more confused.

"Are you drunk in broad daylight?" he asked bluntly. "Or are you drunk on amethyst?"

Max hissed. "Shut your mouth before I gag you with Ivan's shoe," he said coldly. "You were there the night before, too; you helped me dig up Estella's grave."

Hearing that made his jaw drop, shocked. "I did what?"

"You don't remember anything? Estella died on her wedding day, and it was all my doing to want her dead. Then I discovered the truth years ago and found proof that Estella wasn't the villain in my story. The real villain manipulated me, making me believe she was the mastermind behind everything."

Scarlett.

To think that she could so heartlessly take advantage of Estella's indifference towards the good things she did for others, acting as if it were all her doing and not Estella’s. Oh, the audacity Scarlett has. It made him want to strangle her to death or kill her slowly.

"Estella is innocent, she just doesn't want to look good even after doing good deeds," he whispered. "It's like, she doesn't mind being misunderstood by others and letting people think that she has no emotions and is a villain."

Unfortunately, Estella's attitude led to her being exploited by opportunists like Scarlett, and he was convinced there were plenty of people like that around Estella. People who acted so nice to get on her good side for the personal gain they could reap.

Alexei snorted. "I don't understand. Just two days ago, you were so passionate about killing Estella Partridge with Nightshade, and now you're defending her like she saved your life."

"That's the truth," he replied without hesitation. "Scarlett has been instilling hatred in me since we were in high school. She poisoned my mind—planted the seeds of hatred by saying that Estella and her rich friends are evil. Saying that we do bad things to them simply to return the favor, nothing more, nothing less."

Oh, if only he weren't so blinded by his hatred for Estella, perhaps he would have had the presence of mind to ask his subordinates to find out what happened back then. Anything, anything, no matter how small, that could be related to Estella, who was actually the one who saved him from a living hell all this time.

But now, Max has been given second chances to make things right, and he believes that the second chance that God has given him is His generosity. He understands that he was only used by irresponsible people like Scarlett, who then played him like a puppet on the strings. He would never let the history repeat itself, and see Estella died. Not again, not when he is still alive.

Alexei shook his head. "You look like you've had a nightmare, boss," he said. "You need to get some rest and let the universe do its thing. Hopefully, everything will work out the way you've always dreamed."

No, it was all too real to be a nightmare. It was all real, and not only was his fear coming to life, Estella's death was real, and everything that had happened before that was real too. Simply because he remembered it all and the ring that was given to him by Estella was still sitting gracefully on his finger.

Everything was real, and now he can make everything right and he shouldn't do anything wrong.

Not even in the slightest.

If before he was just a dumb man, now he will play carefully and smartly. Before this happened, it was Scarlett and her minions who played the strings, now he will be the one who plays the strings in the shadow and makes everyone dance. The has game begins now.

"I want you to do something."