Master of his heart (Max and Brielle)

After splashing Lewis with a steaming cup of coffee, Kailee stomped back home, still seething from their encounter. It gnawed at her that she hadn't quite delivered the blow she intended. Flopping onto her couch, she glared at the diamond bracelets on her wrist, their sparkle almost blinding. Were they really that over-the-top?

The thought of Lewis's smug, Ivy-League demeanor and his backstabbing ways made her blood boil. She was so furious, she couldn't even think about eating.

That jerk, digging up ancient history like it was yesterday!

After brooding for two solid days, Kailee had had enough. She picked up the phone and called her brother, Joseph.

"Hey, I need you to take someone out for me!"

Joseph, hanging out in Beaconsfield, was eagerly waiting for his own boss to return, fed up with watching Patrick strut around like he owned the place.

"What's up, Sis? Who's got you all worked up this time?"

"Remember that boyfriend I had back in school?"

Joseph tried to recall but came up empty. Maybe it was because Kailee had always insisted she'd never been dumped, preferring to claim that King was her first love.

"Didn't you say that Mr. Perfect was your first love?"

Joseph was confused but listened as his sister unabashedly declared, "I had to say that to catch him, right? Now, if I like someone new, he's my first love. No past, no exes, you know? Guys are funny like that." Joseph smirked, rubbing his temples.

"So, what did this ex do to tick you off this time?"

Kailee took a deep breath and unleashed a torrent of complaints about Lewis, sparing no insults until she felt a tad better.

"He dumped me, said I'd ruin his

future, his luck, and a bunch of other nonsense. Looked down on me, so I went to the Bahamas to clear my head. Sure, I've got a temper, but he was asking for it, right? Just up and dumps me, the nerve! With his smug face acting all superior while trashing me. I'll get him back, one day."

Joseph set his phone aside, leisurely finished his drink, and after Kailee's rage ran its course, he asked, "So, how do you want to get back at him?" "Get him fired from the hospital! I can't stand even looking at him!"

"Okay, sure."

Kailee's mood instantly brightened.

"Thanks, bro."

Of course, Joseph wasn't actually planning to do anything. Ever since gaining some clout, he'd been fielding Kailee's daily dramatic calls about someone supposedly "asking for it. By afternoon, she'd often call back, saying the person wasn't so bad after all.

So, as always, Joseph did nothing after hanging up.

Feeling much lighter, Kailee happily went off to ride her horse.

But, as fate would have it, too much happiness can lead to trouble. As she imagined Lewis getting canned, grinning from ear to ear, her horse suddenly bolted, leaving her with bruises and a particularly painful

injury in a sensitive spot.

Rushed to the hospital, wincing with every step, she ditched all pretense of being ladylike, desperate for a doctor to assure her everything was... intact. Then in strolled Lewis.

"What seems to be the problem today?"

Their eyes met, and it was like flint striking steel.

Kailee glared so fiercely she nearly jumped up, but a sharp jolt of pain had her cringing and collapsing back onto the bed, utterly defeated.