Seeing that she had fallen asleep, Maximus took a seat on the sofa beside the bed. He watched the face of the young woman before him. It had been a long time since he had stopped to really look at her. Physically, his wife was no longer the same "girl" he had first met. Now she had a more mature fac
It was July 17th. That morning, the sun was shining brightly, its light filtering through the curtains. Maximus had gotten up early to go for a run. It was Saturday, yet he still planned to go to the office. His plans changed abruptly when his phone rang—it was his grandmother."Hello," he answered,
The sun streamed through the curtains of the entire mansion, signaling that morning had arrived. Mary woke up and, to her surprise, founda a letter addressed to her on her bed. The sender was her beloved grandfather, Albert. She opened it and read its contents.[My dear granddaughter,Today is your
"Mary, are you awake? Can I come in?" a deep voice called out.She turned around. It was Maximus's voice. She regretted still being in her pajamas and walked over to answer the door."Hi, Maximus!" she said as she opened the door."Hello! I have this for you. My grandmother said it's your birthday!"
Meanwhile, Mary remained seated, watching the waves come and go. Even though her family had a good standing in her country, she had never been able to visit the beach. Her father was very strict with her, often sending her to boarding schools. Weekends were for doing homework because if not, she wou
Mary walked ahead and entered the quaint shop filled with cakes of various flavors. The attendant promptly approached her with a warm smile."Hello, Miss! Would you like some cake, or will you be heading to the café?""Hmmm…" Mary turned to the man beside her for guidance."We'll head to the café,"
"Well, thank you! That's a compliment, and I'll take it," she said, smiling."Now that your father isn't here and you've just turned 18, what do you plan to do?""Well, for now, I can't do much. But when all of this is over, I want to take my things and…" She paused as a thought crossed her mind. Ma
"No, how could I? That's your cake!""Yes, but I'm offering it to you.""No, I can't accept!""Come on! If you don't eat, then I won't either!""You know that's blackmail, right?""No, it's just a show of affection!""What a way to show affection!""Come on! It won't hurt!"Seeing how insistent she
Before long, Peter arrived at the hospital where Celeste was being examined by a doctor Peter trusted."Peter," the doctor said, "I’ve checked on Celeste. Her wounds are healing well. If things continue like this, we can consider discharging her. After all, I know you’ll take good care of her. There
Peter took a bath and a short nap. He woke up when he felt someone tugging on his hair—a small hand playing with his curls."Ethan, aren’t you going to school?" said Peter, groggy, with his eyes still closed."Yeah, but I want you to take me. Where have you been, Grandpa?""I’ve had a lot of work, a
Camille, having seen Marcus storm out, went to find the girl she considered her daughter. She found Valerie in tears, embraced her, and said:“Valerie, my love, I don’t think this is going to work. Have you thought about whether it might be better to end things?”“What?”“Valerie, darling, I’m not b
Minutes after Frederick received Marcus’s call, the man was knocking on his door. When Frederick opened it, he was greeted by the sight of his friend and colleague’s battered face.“Marcus, what happened to you? Who did you fight with?”“Can I come in?”“Oh! Right! Come in, come in, my boy. When you
Peter circled around Maximus’s car. It was clear he owed him a window now. He was heading to his house to ask Theodore for help taking it to the shop. Besides, there was no way he could return to the room with Celeste in this state. It was past 5:00 a.m., so the best option was to go home, take a ba
He paused, leveling a hard look at Marcus. “By the way, why the hell haven’t you killed Frank yet? Everything that happened—this whole mess—is because of him! Did you forget what he did to your family?”“Don’t you dare bring up my family,” Marcus warned, wiping blood from his lip.“Oh, I haven’t for
“Stop! Stop it! Calm down!” Peter shouted, holding Marcus back with all his strength.A stray punch escaped Marcus’s struggle, smashing into the window of Maximus’s car. The glass cracked, and Marcus’s hand began to bleed.“Enough!” Peter bellowed.“You’re a damned bastard!” Marcus shouted. “Why, Pe
Marcus drove aimlessly, trying to cool his head and avoid escalating the argument with Valerie. Yet, his heart guided him to a place he instinctively knew wouldn’t bring him peace. Parking outside the hospital, he stepped out of the car, ready to confront the turmoil consuming him.At the reception
"No, Marcus, it’s me who needs to apologize. Something’s been bothering me, consuming my thoughts, and it’s not fair to you—to you, my husband."Before Marcus could respond, Valerie was already by his side. Her growing belly brushed his shoulder as she stood close. Marcus turned to face her and stoo