My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus)

"We never said we would deny you that," Laura replied sharply. "But let's be

honest, Mr. Legrand, this puts us in a very uncomfortable situation. I do believe he should meet you, but we should take it slowly-we can't just drop the truth on him all at once."

"Lau....." Lucius finally spoke, his voice calm but firm. "Sister, I know what I'm about to say will upset you... but if we've already kept the truth from Paul for so long, we shouldn't keep lying to him."

Laura turned to her brother, confused.

"It's obvious that this will change everything," Lucius continued. "I mean, from one day to the next, someone appears claiming to be your real father-that's not easy to process. But... think about it. Paul has to face the truth sooner or later.

"If we keep hiding this from him, we're making the same mistake Mom did. We can't keep repeating the same mistakes."noveldrama

"Lucius... but Paul is just a kid..." Laura reasoned, struggling to accept it.

"Look at me!" Lucius countered. "For years, our grandparents kept me away from Dad. And look at us now-I finally have the chance to spend time with him, but not for long because I'll be going back to school.

"Dad and I were denied the chance to have a real father-son relationship. And we now understand why." Lucius turned to Maximus, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Lucius..."

"If you ask me, I would have loved to have my father at school events. I wish he had been there for my graduations, for my teenage years—to give me advice when I needed it. But I was denied that chance.

"Don't deny Paul the same opportunity.

"I'm not saying Mom and Pierre did the right thing. Of course not-and Pierre knows that. But we are not the ones who get to judge them. And neither is Dad.

"All I'm asking is that you put yourself in Paul's shoes.

"Dad will always be his father. But Pierre... Pierre deserves a chance to earn a place in Paul's life. Maybe Paul will never call him 'Dad'-maybe he will. That decision belongs to Paul, and no one else."

Laura stayed quiet for a moment before turning to Pierre.

"Mr. Legrand, what are your real intentions with my brother?"

"I only want to get to know him," Pierre said, his voice filled with honesty. "I know this won't be easy. I know I failed him by not trying harder to be part of his life.

"But I loved your mother. I loved her until the very end. And I know you might not believe me, but it's the truth. She was the most important woman in my life... even though I wasn't the most important man in hers.

"I just want to be in my son's life for the time have left. And if, after me, he decides he

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want a relationship, I will I

that.

"But I cannot live with the regret of never trying. Do you understand?"

Laura stared at him for a long moment. There was something in his words that rang true.

She knew exactly what it felt like to face this kind of situation.

She was living it with the father of her own child.

"Alright, Mr. Legrand. I will allow you to meet my brother. But first, we will be the ones to tell him the truth.

"After that, you can be in his life. Not before."

"Thank you, Laura," Pierre said sincerely. "I knew you would understand..."

Maximus observed his daughter, surprised at how protective she was over her brother.

Her maturity, her instinct to shield her loved ones-it was clear Laura had grown.

Sure, she still had moments of weakness, still had emotional outbursts. But that was normal. It was part of growing up.

With that, the meeting didn't drag on much longer.

This wasn't a casual social gathering.

Laura finished her coffee and stood up from the table.

"Laura, thank you for trusting me

with this," Pierre said. "Maximus, I

know this is a difficult situation, but t know this is a

believe we can handle it together Lucius I know you understand better than anyone else here... all I want is to be part of my son's life.

"I don't want to take him away from you-I never did." His words were meant to soothe, but Laura's heart was still racing. Because whether she wanted it or not, this was only the beginning.