wo days after the funeral, Nina went back to her grandmother's house. It turns out her grandmother had left her the house in her will and some money from her insurance as well. Although Nina didn't care about that. She just wished her grandmother was alive and smiling and joking around with her.

Nina hated herself for leaving her grandmother all those years ago just to be with Nick, who she was so in love with now he was who she despised.

The day of the funeral had been raining, and many people had shown up. Nina hadn't realized that her grandmother touched so many people. Even Tristan had shown up to give his condolences. He didn't speak to her, which made her heart crumble, but at least he had shown up.

Tasha had been there, and she was a constant support and she couldn't ask for a better friend even though she had been a shitty one by not contacting her when she should have.

Nina would change that from now on.

The only people who didn't show up were Nick and Naomi. She didn't care about Nick showing up, but she hoped Naomi would show up. Se had called her to tell her that their grandmother had passed and Nina could hear the sniffles and cracked voice from her sister, but she didn't show up.

Maybe Nick wouldn't let her come. She didn't want to think he was that heartless, but she already knew deep down inside that he was an evil man.

Nina opened the door to her grandmother's house. The dog greeted her and she gave him a pat and scratched behind his ears and then shut the door.

Everything looked the same, it still smelled of her grandmother and Nina couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Nina sat down on the couch but ended up curling up into a ball.

Nina was drifting off to sleep when she heard a knock at the door. She frowned wondering who it could be. Nina trudged towards the door.

She told the dog to hush and go away which he did.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me, Max."

Nina's frown deepened but she opened the door.

Max gave her a small smile. "How are you doing?"

"Terrible," Nina said, opening the door wider so he could come in.

Nina motioned for him to come and sit down on the couch.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," he said.

"Thank you. How did you know I was here? Don't you hate me just as much as Tristan does?" Nina asked, glancing down at her lap.

"I don't hate you and Tristan doesn't either. I asked Trisha where you were."

"Trisha? You guys know each other?"

Max grinned. "Something like that."

Nina didn't miss the fondness in his eyes when she had mentioned Trisha.

Nina shook her head. "Anyway, you don't understand. I stole money from you guys and now he wants nothing to do with me. I've tried calling him but he won't answer."

Max sighed. "When I heard from him that you confessed about the money I didn't want to believe it. There's a good reason why you did, right?"

Nina nodded.

"Can you tell me why?"

Nina shook her head."I can't tell you either."

Max grabbed her hand. "Nina, you need to tell me so I can help you."

"I can't. A lot of people will get hurt," she said wiping a tear from her cheek.

"Does it have to do with Nick? I know he's a drug dealer?"

Nina's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"I had someone do a background check on him. He thought he was smart but we were still able to dig deep and find some information on him. I have a friend who works for the FBI and he did me a favor," Max said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Nina let out a breath of air. "Can you promise me no one will get hurt if I tell you?"

Max lifted his other hand up with just the pink extended. "Pinkie promise."

Nina laughed. "You're so corny."

Nina wrapped her pinkie around his and they both grinned at one another.

"Now, I need you to tell me everything. Don't leave out a thing."

Nina proceeded to tell Max that she had never meant to betray Tristan and that she really heard from Nick a couple of weeks ago. Nina explained how Tristan had called her and told her needed money.

She explained that he threatened that if she didn't do it the people she loved would be killed. She told him how she got the money and how then Nick had asked for additional money because he was crazy and didn't want to see her with Tristan.

"So he did all this because he still wants to be with you?" Max asked.

Nina shrugged. "I think so. I can never be sure with him but that's the jest I got from him. Which is ironic because he divorced me just to be with my sister."

"You know the feds have been looking to get him locked up for ages now. That's what my friend told me."

"Really?" Nina asked, hope blooming in her chest.

"Yeah. With your help, we can get him locked up for good."

"How can I help?"

"Do you know anything about his drug empire?"

Nina shook her head. "I tried to distance myself from that."

Max hummed. "I see."

"Is there no other way I could help?" Nina asked.

"Do you think your sister would know anything?"

Nina nibbled at her bottom lip. "Probably. She was into that life more than I was."

"Are you able to get a hold of her to see if she can help us?" Max asked.

"She might be too scared to do it. I haven't been able to get a hold of her. I'm pretty sure Nick won't let her speak to me."

"Let me talk to my friend and see what scenarios we can come up with," Max said standing up.

Nina stood up as well. "Okay."

Max turned to walk away but Nina grabbed his wrist. "Wait a moment."

Nina grabbed an envelope which had all the money she had saved up plus some money from her grandmother's insurance."

"Here," she said placing the envelope in Max's hand.

"What's this?" he asked, opening it up to peek inside. "Money?"

"I want you to give that to Tristan. I know it won't make up for all the money I stole and money doesn't make up for the hurt I gave him but I want him to know that I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart."

Max gave her a hug.

"I'll give it to him and let him know. Don't give up on him."

"I haven't but I'm afraid he has given up on me."

***

Hey guys. What do you think of this chapter? Do you think Max can help her? If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to comment, vote, and share:).