My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus)

Not too thrilled about it, Paul left his room and headed toward the garden, where a man was already waiting for him—one who didn't look his age. And to be honest, the resemblance between young Paul and the man was unmistakable.

As soon as he heard footsteps approaching, the man—already sipping a cup of tea-stood up and turned to look, surprised to see his son walking toward him.

He couldn't help but smile with pride and satisfaction. The boy was good-looking, and the genetic resemblance was undeniable.

For a man of noble blood, that was something to be proud of his lineage would

live on.

"Paul, let me introduce-" Maximus began, trying to keep it polite.

But Paul cut him off.

"I already know him. Pierre Legrand Bouygues," the boy said, looking a little surprised but keeping a serious tone.

Maximus turned to him, taken aback by his son's words. What he didn't know was that Pierre had already had an encounter with Paul in the past-but they'd lost touch over the years.

"What? What do you mean?" Maximus asked, shocked.

"I mean this man and I had already met back in school. He's the uncle of one of my classmates who lived in Valentia for a while. Then he left, and I never saw him again."

Maximus was visibly annoyed, and it showed clearly on his face.noveldrama

"Mr. Legrand, didn't you say you'd never had contact with Paul before?" Maximus asked, clearly irritated.

"Back then, I didn't know he was my son..." Pierre replied, trying to piece the memories together.

"Oh, come on! Don't give me that nonsense. You told me yourself you always knew my wife's child was yours."

"Yes, but I didn't know Paul was the child-or did I, Paul?" the an said, looking at the boy.

"No..." Paul replied, embarrassed.

"Well then, I'd like to hear the story of how you two know each other," Maximus said, sitting down at the same table.

Paul winced-he regretted speaking too soon, before his dad had left and left them alone.

"Paul? How do you know this man?" Maximus asked with a hard look.

Feeling a little flustered, Paul figured it was best to just get it over with.

"Dad, it was at a party at my classmate's house. His parents weren't home, and we all showed up. We were just kids, like 12 or 13... I don't remember exactly," Paul said, trying to downplay it.

"Paul, you're 15. There's no way you don't remember how old you were," Maximus said seriously.

"Alright, I was around 12. We went to this party and since the house was empty, we thought it'd be fun to grab a bottle of liquor from the dad's cabinet. We thought drinking was easy, so we kept pouring.

"I don't remember how long it lasted, but we ended up completely drunk, passed out on the couches..."

"Okay—and what does this man have to do with that?" Maximus asked, clearly not amused.

"Well..." Paul said, lowering his head, "he was the one who found us. My friend's dad is Mr. Legrand's cousin.

"There was one kid who'd never had alcohol in his life, and things got out of hand. It was like something was seriously wrong with him-he was shaking and wouldn't stop, no matter what we did. This man-Mr. Legrand-picked him up and rushed him to the ER.

"We wanted to go with him, but he didn't let us.

"That night, I called the house to say I wouldn't be home, that I was staying for a sleepover. Mom didn't mind, but she had no idea what kind of mess we were in.

"Mr. Legrand stayed with us and called my friend's parents. We were really in trouble."

"And why didn't I know anything about this?" Maximus asked, stunned by a story that felt like it came from a stranger's life, not his son's.

"Dad, I don't want to point fingers, but back then you were never around. You always had important things going on...

"Mr. Legrand brought me home the next day and only spoke to Mom. She didn't yell at me-which was surprising-but she did punish me. Right after that, she sent me off to boarding school. And from that point on well, you might remember, I didn't come home much after that.

"I mean, Mom usually didn't let me visit—but in the summers, we did. That party

happened in the summer..." Paul added quietly, embarrassed.

"Paul, why didn't you tell me something this important?" Maximus asked, still surprised.

"Because you weren't home. You were always busy, and even if you're being a good dad now, back then you were the one who agreed to send us to boarding school," Paul replied, ashamed but firm in his words.

"Well, the reason I'm here, Mr. Evans, has nothing to do with what happened all those years ago," Pierre jumped in, seeing how uncomfortable Paul looked.

"Fine. But this is something my son and I will talk about in private. The issue at hand is that you came here to meet Paul."