Max hesitated, not sure how much to tell her. He didn't want to worry her, but he also didn't want to lie. "It's nothing," he said, trying to sound casual. "Just an old business associate looking for a favor."Carmela raised an eyebrow. "A favor?" she asked, her voice skeptical. "What kind of favor?"Max took a deep breath. He had to tell her something, but he didn't want to scare her. "It's nothing serious," he said. "Just an annoyance, really."Max and Carmela continued to chat, the conversation flowing easily between them. But even as they talked, Max's mind kept returning to the encounter with the man from the photo agency. What did Nichole want with those pictures? And why was she so interested in him and Carmela?He pushed the thoughts aside, focusing on Carmela. He didn't want to let anything ruin this time with her. She was the most important thing in his life, and he wasn't going to let anything come between them.Eventually, the sun started to set, and Max and Carmela
As Carmela woke up, she reached for her phone, only to find that it was off. She was confused, and she tried to remember when she had turned it off. But her mind was blank. She turned it on and a flood of messages came in, most of them from Sarah."Where have you been?" Sarah's texts read. "I've been trying to reach you for days. Are you okay? Hannah and Noah don’t like your sudden disappearances every now and then."Carmela's heart sank. Had she really not checked her messages for that long? What had she been doing?Carmela sat up in bed, still in a daze. She scrolled through her messages, reading them one by one. Sarah was worried, asking over and over if Carmela was all right. But there were other messages, too. Some were from her boss Pedro, and some were from Andrew. She had missed so much. And in all of the messages, there was a common theme: Where had she been? What had she been doing?Carmela felt a knot in her stomach. She had no idea how to explain it to anyone.As she k
"I can't stay here," Carmela said, her voice trembling. "Not if someone is watching us. Not if someone wants to hurt me. I have to leave, for my own safety."Max stood up, his expression pleading. "Please, don't go," he said. "We can figure this out. We can get to the bottom of this. We can't let someone scare us out of our own home."Carmela looked at Max, her heart breaking at the thought of leaving him. But she knew she had to do what was best for her and her twins. She turned and walked out the door, hailing a cab to take her back to her own apartment. As the cab pulled away, she looked back, catching a final glimpse of Max as he stood in the doorway, watching her go.In a moment or two, Carmela was looking at Sarah’s home, the sight of it filling her with dread. Police cars were parked in front, and officers were milling about, some of them looking at her as she approached. Carmela hesitated, not sure what to do. She hadn't done anything wrong, so why were the police here?A
Max sat on the beach, his eyes closed and his mind wandering. He was lost in thought, his thoughts drifting from one thing to the next. But then, his phone rang, and he saw that it was Nichole. He answered the call, his voice brimming with anger."What do you want?" he snapped. "I told you I don't want to talk to you right now.""Max, please," Nichole said, her voice sounding desperate. "Your father wants to see you. It's important."Max gritted his teeth, his frustration growing. "What is it?" he demanded. "Tell me what it's about!"Nichole paused, and Max could hear her taking a deep breath. "I can't tell you," she said. "But you need to come back. Your father is waiting for you."Max let out a roar of anger and threw the phone to the ground, stomping on it until it was nothing but pieces of plastic and metal. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but he could feel his rage boiling over.Max sped down the road, his grip on the steering wheel tight and his foot heavy on
"Free to go?" she asked, her voice shaking with disbelief. "What do you mean? What changed?""I can't discuss it with you," the officer said, his tone firm. "You're free to go, that's all you need to know. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you."Carmela just stared at him, still stunned. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. After everything that had happened, she couldn't understand why they were letting her go now.Carmela's mind was racing as she tried to make sense of what was happening. She stood up, her legs shaky. Was this some kind of a trick? Were they planning on arresting her the moment she stepped outside?But the officers didn't move to stop her. In fact, they were ushering her towards the door. She felt like she was in a dream, everything felt surreal. She walked out the door, blinking in the bright sunlight. She turned to look at the building behind her, trying to make sense of it all."Congratulations, Carmela!" Andrew said, his voice warm
"If you ever come near Max again, I'll make you regret it," Nichole said, her tone threatening. "He's my husband now, and I won't let you ruin that. I will do whatever it takes to protect my relationship."Carmela's heart sank. She couldn't believe that Nichole could be so cruel, so ruthless. She thought they had been friends, that they had cared about each other. But now, she saw that Nichole had only ever cared about herself.But before Carmela could say anything else, she heard the click of the call ending. Nichole had hung up on her, ending the conversation as abruptly as it had begun. Carmela felt like she had been punched in the gut, like the wind had been knocked out of her. She dropped her phone to the floor, the sound of it hitting the ground echoing in the empty room.As Carmela sat there, numb and reeling from the conversation, she heard the sound of the front door opening. She looked up to see Andrew standing in the doorway, a look of concern on his face."What's wrong?
Reluctantly, Carmela got up from the sofa and went to the door. She opened it and there stood Max, looking as handsome as ever. He looked at her with pleading eyes, and she could see the pain in them. "Please, Carmela, I need to talk to you," he said, his voice full of emotion. She hesitated for a moment, but then stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She looked up at Max, waiting for him to speak."What is it, Max?" she asked, her voice sounding more tired than she intended."Don't you have anything to ask me?" Max asked, sounding frustrated. Carmela laughed dryly. "What exactly do you think I want to ask you, Max?" she said. "You left me, remember? I'm not interested in what you've been up to. And I certainly don't care about your marriage to Nicole. It's none of my business."Max looked taken aback by her words, but she didn't care. "Fine, I won't talk about that," he said. "But I have to talk to you about something else."What I need to tell you is about the night we
“Max, I don’t care.” Carmela breathed. “It’s time you head back to your *To be Wife* She might come looking for you.” Carmela wanted Max to leave that instant, she couldn’t bear to look at him for a second.“Carmela, you have to hear me out.” Max pulled her by the hand, however, she bruised it off. “Max, you’re crazy to think I’ll come back to you.” She shouted. “Leave, or I’ll call the cops.” Max was perplexed he couldn’t believe that Carmela wouldn’t want to hear him out. Instead, she planned on calling the cops on him.He stopped pulling her and begging. He turned and started to walk away. Carmela on the other hand was feeling her heart break as she shouted at Max. She felt bad for what she said, nevertheless, she made the right decision. It was time she let Max go. She rushed inside the house, slamming the door from behind as she tried to catch her breath. She couldn’t believe she just rejected Max! “Who was that?” She heard a feminine voice and she flinched. “I thought I he