---- Chapter 17 17 Marc and his other "friends" from the elite circle gathered, concerned Not for Liam's well-being, but for the stability of Goldstein Global, and by extension, their own comfortable lives. "He's losing it," one said, swirling his brandy. "Obsessed with a woman who clearly wants nothing to do with him." "It's pathetic," another sneered. "All that power, all that money, and he's crying over one woman." Marc Chen, ever the pragmatist, was more direct. "His obsession is bad for business. The board is getting nervous. We need to distract him. Find him a new Maya." They were cynical, envious. Liam's genuine, albeit destructive, devotion to Maya was something they couldn't comprehend. It made them uncomfortable. It highlighted their own shallow relationships. They decided to stage an intervention. They found Liam in his darkened office, surrounded by empty bottles. "Liam, we're worried about you," Marc began, his tone falsely solicitous. "You need to move on. Maya's not coming back. She was just a woman. Plenty more where she came from." Another friend chimed in, "Yeah, Liam. She wasn't even that ---- special. A bit cold, if you ask me." Liam listened, his eyes, bloodshot and dangerous, fixed on them. The disrespect to Maya, the casual dismissal of what they had, ignited a fresh inferno of rage. He rose slowly, unsteadily, but with a terrifying aura of menace. "She," Liam growled, his voice low and guttural, "was everything. And you... you are nothing." He lunged. He grabbed Marc by his expensive silk tie, slamming him against the wall. "Don't you ever," he spat, his face inches from Marc's terrified 'one, "speak her name again with such disrespect." He backhanded the other friend, sending him sprawling. "| built this empire," Liam roared, his voice echoing in the opulent office. "| can destroy it. And | can destroy all of you Stay away from me. Stay out of my life. And never, ever, mention Maya again unless it's with the reverence she deserves." His friends scrambled away, shocked and terrified. Liam's power, even in his broken state, was absolute. One of them, nursing a split lip, muttered to Marc, "He's completely insane." Marc, straightening his tie, his face pale, nodded. But a resentful glint remained in his eyes. ---- He discreetly signaled his assistant. "Find women who look like Maya Evans," he mouthed silently. "As close as possible. Bring them to the usual places. Let him 'discover' them." If Liam wanted Maya, Marc would give him a pale imitation. Perhaps it would be enough to snap him out of this self- destructive spiral. Or perhaps it would push him further over the edge. Marc, at this point, didn't much care, as long as the company, and his share in it, remained intact