Catching On

( 9 pm, The Upside , Earth ) 

Max wore pitch-black pants and a black round-neck t-shirt as he went to meet Sophie for dinner. 

The reason why he chose dark-colored clothes was to hide the stains of blood if accidentally there were to be any. 

He was careful to hide his face from the camera's on his way to Sophie's home as he kept his head down and admired the road pavement whenever he was passing through one mounted on the streetlight. 

Upon reaching Sophie's house Max took a deep breath before ringing the bell as he put on a fake smile as Sophie answered the bell. 

" Maxie! You look so dashing! I love the color black on you ". Sophie beamed looking at Max.

To be fair, Max had a very athletic body and a pretty face, so the full black outfit gave him the bad boy vibes that girls found attractive in men. 

" As do you," Max said, trying hard to not let his smile crack as he pecked Sophie on her cheek. 

The two went inside, and the usual teenage flirting started as Sophie began flattering Max. 

Max felt complex emotions rising in his heart, looking at Sophie now it almost seemed incomprehensible to him that this was the same woman who left him in an instant for a better man at the first opportunity available. 

The way she teased and flirted with Max with the sparkle in her eyes, it was easy for one to think that she was deeply in love with Max. 

Sophie kept blabbering about stuff and Max sat in silence as he felt disgusted at the levels of trickery that humans were capable of. 

Emotional manipulation was the worst kind of manipulation out there and the deceit that Sophie was capable of was so advanced that even succubi would feel ashamed of their skills when compared to her. 

Max's eyes darted across Sophie's room, and although in his past life he was too focused on Sophie to notice anything else, this time around with him being not interested in Sophie's curvaceous body anymore he could see things he was blind to before. 

There was a bouquet of flowers stuffed in the trash can at the corner of the room. The flowers in the bouquet were red roses and since he was not the one to have given them, they were definitely from some other male suitor.

There was a wooden wall clock on her wall which was definitely run by mana, although it was not too expensive, the price being a couple of silvers at best when bought from the Morningstar Market, with Sigma only being accessible to humans for a few short days at best, for someone to be able to already gift her this clock so early meant that she definitely had contacts which were not formed recently but had been cultivated over-time. 

" MAX? MAX! Are you even listening to me? " Sophie asked with a pout on her face as Max snapped back to reality. 

" Agh yes my dear, I was just admiring the wall clock you have, it appears to run on mana, I saw a similar one in the Sigma markets, what a coincidence eh? " Max said with a smile as he saw Sophie's face turn ashen white. 

For a moment Max said nothing and neither did Sophie as she tried to judge from Max's expression, whether or not he suspected an affair, but to her relief, he seemed to be as oblivious as ever. 

" Agh yes, I bought it from the local store for 5000 dollars! ". Sophie replied nervously and quickly tried to change the topic but Max caught on. 

" No way! From old Joe's shop? 5000 is a bargain, let me call him now. I'm sure my brother will love this wall clock for his office". Max said with fake excitement in his voice as he saw Sophie absolutely lose her mind. 

" No need, no need, you can just take mine! ". Sophie said as sweat beads visibly formed on her forehead. 

Max was absolutely sure of her crime now, he needed no more confirmation and no more humiliation. The truth of the matter was that she had been cheating on him long before he became a manaless trash and he was just blind to see it. 

For his entire past life, Max had believed that it was his low worth as a man that made Sophie choose a better man. But now Max knew the truth. The truth about Sophie was not something as complicated as choosing the best man. She was simply a lying and cheating wh*** and that was all there was to the matter. 

"Thank you for your kindness, let me transfer 50,000 to your account". Max said letting the matter rest as he took his mobile to make the transaction.

Sophie audibly sighed in relief and made some excuse to heat up dinner as Max decided to help her by setting up the wine.

Sophie heated the dishes and Max poured two glasses of red wine taking a sip from his cup as he waited for Sophie to join in with the food. 

Moments later, the two had set up the table and started enjoying the dinner all the while sipping wine and talking about Sigma. 

From the moment that Sophie took her first sip from the glass, Max started the 5-minute timer on his watch as it would take about that long for the poison that he laced in her glass to be absorbed into her bloodstream and take effect. 

For the first three minutes, he behaved normally and cordially, but the moment the three-minute marker ended, Max abruptly stood up from the table and walked to the edge of the room as he picked the bouquet of roses out of the trash can. 

Sophie looked horrified again, but before she could say anything Max read the contents of the tag attached to the bouquet. 

" Dear Sophie, you are the most beautiful woman in the world, and ever since the night where we first consummated, I have not been able to get you out of my mind. 

Sending you flowers in hope that you don't forget me either. 

With love, 

Vale Kingston ". 

Max looked at Sophie, a smile still plastered over his face as he began to laugh a little. 

" Vale Kingston? Seriously babe? He's what 56-57 now? His daughter is a year younger than you are, lol ". 

" It's not what it looks like Max, that guy is heckling me, I even threw the flowers he gave in the trash. I-I only love you! I did not tell you previously because I did not want to ruin this evening ". Sophie said, crocodile tears forming in her eyes making her look extremely pitiful and fragile.

" A watch that costs a whole 2 silver in Sigma. A whole 2 silver that even I could not earn in my 3 days of gaming there, yet a man actually gifted you that, must be an impressive player for sure ". Max said admiring the mana run watch in his hands as Sophie struggled to find words to defend herself any longer.

Looking at his watch Max saw that the timer read 4:22, there were about 38 seconds left, so it was pretty much time.

" You have made a fool of me for wayyy too long Sophie Alvarez, I was a fool for fighting with my family over a woman like you.

You have cheated on me for the entire duration of our relationship and you have only kept the pretext of dating me because it gets you access to the highest social circles.

I have been blind, and I have been played, my emotions have been toyed with and all the while you have had your fun. 

It's fair, it's good. 

But today is judgment day, so you better be prepared to pay for your crimes".