Marshall had too many reasons not to trust Maxwell.

After all, the kid had once tried to kill him.

The horrific memories of his past life—of the way Joanna had utterly destroyed him —still tore him from his sleep, heart pounding and skin slick with cold sweat.

Joanna's ambition and desires knew no bounds.

She was destined for even greater things in the future.

His memories were fuzzy, just fragments, but he could clearly recall Joanna in lavish clothes, radiating an aura of success.

That dream had forced him to mature.

Right now, the most important thing was to strengthen the company quickly.

A piece of trash like Joanna would eventually get what she deserved.

Working with his father, who was handling things abroad, he had managed to drastically improve the company's performance in just a few short months.

"Maxwell, you've done a lot of messed-up things, and I don't trust you. If you want my trust, you first need to learn how to be a decent human being. I'll give you one year. If I see you've genuinely changed, I'll help you."

"For now, since you've deceived Joanna, she'll definitely come after you. Her methods are brutal-the kind where she'll have you torn limb from limb without a sound."

Maxwell was speechless.

"Cousin... why are you both making her sound so terrifying?"

Marshall let out a cold laugh. "Terrifying? Of course it's terrifying. You'll only understand when you've experienced that kind of fear for yourself. Joanna isn't human. She's a demon from hell."

"You can't get any evidence for the things she made you do. That's how smart she is. She can walk away completely clean, but you can't."

Joanna was bold and cunning.

The evidence he currently had wasn't enough to take her down.

And the man Natalie had mentioned had already appeared.

He had never expected Natalie to share that information with him.

Even more unbelievable was that this man looked exactly like Sebastian.

That was why he had planned to go see Natalie first thing in the morning.

"Okay! Cousin, I'll follow you and work hard. I'll do whatever you say, no questions asked. For this year, I'll listen to everything you and Grandma say."

Marshall looked at him, surprised again. "You want to follow me?"

The Spencer matriarch, sitting beside them, also raised an eyebrow, disapproving of the idea.

Maxwell had been a troublemaker since he was a child, and she feared this was a ploy.

Seeing his eagerness, Marshall

relented. "Fine. I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. You can tell your father yourself if he continues fo work against our company, he only be bringing about his own destruction."

Marshall leaned back on the sofa with an air of casual confidence, his long legs stretched out, exuding a roguish charm.

It was then that Maxwell realized his cousin had changed. He had become more composed, almost to the point of being a stranger.

But a look of immense joy spread across his face. His cousin was willing to take him in. By following his grandma and cousin, he was sure he could learn a lot.

He looked at his grandmother and promised sincerely, "Grandma, I was foolish before and didn't appreciate your love. But I understand now. Please, give me one more chance."

The old woman took a deep breath and looked at him. "Fine, fine. Seeing your sincerity, I'll forgive you this ance just hope you don't turn out to be a heartless bastard like your father."

"I'm forgiving you because you're still young. If you truly reform and work hard with a responsible attitude, giving your all to everything you doin the future... I don't expect you to be perfect, but you must strive to be an upright, kind, and sincere person."