My Love Until the Last Goodbye by Alut

Maximus knew full well that his daughter was going through a pivotal moment in her life. He could see it clearly—just as his children grew, so did their problems.

All he could do now was pray to every saint he could think of, asking for the wisdom to guide them the best way he could.

Maximus had already looked into Adrian Brown. In fact, he started digging the moment his daughter told him she wanted the father of her child to have some kind of relationship with the baby. So, in secret, he had investigated the young man's entire background.

To be honest, Maximus didn't feel like he had the moral high ground to call him out. Considering his own past with Mary, he was probably the last person who could throw stones. But this was his daughter-and for her, he had to step in.

After giving it a lot of thought, he decided it was time to have a man-to-man conversation with the boy. Without telling anyone, he reached out to Adrian. The young man was both surprised by how calm Maximus sounded... and a little terrified by that same calm.

Adrian had heard of Maximus Palmer-and not in a good way. In fact, his cousin Antonia had given him some of the worst impressions about the man. But after the truth came out about her, it was clear there were a lot of shades to the stories surrounding him.

In the end, if Adrian truly wanted to be a part of his daughter's life, he had to go through this test. He had to show that his intentions with Maximus Palmer's granddaughter were sincere, and that what he really wanted was to make up for lost time at least with his child.

"So, you finally decided to meet with that kid?" Peter asked, with a touch of irony.

"Yeah. I'm seeing him today. I really hope he shows up. If he doesn't... then it'll be obvious that he only shows his face when my daughter's alone."

"Does Laura know about this?"

"Of course not."

"Why not tell her?"

"Peter, the day your little princesses become teenagers, you'll understand that some things are meant to be talked out man to man. In this case, the kid-like you called him—I haven't even had a proper conversation with him. So what I'm trying to do here isn't to scare him... I just want to see how he reacts.

can I say? I'm absolutely sure my karma is my girls. I can already see

you know all the tricks guys use to charm innocent girls. So it's

soon as they start saying they like some little boy at preschool, I'm going to start training them to

think that's a

little flirt myself as a kid?"

even then, there are heartbreakers in the making. I can't afford to have one of my

it. But fine... I know I'm not

had arranged to meet Adrian. He had planned to get there early to catch

sitting at a corner table in that same bar Peter once took him to... was Adrian,

"Good evening, Brown."

G-Good evening," the young man stammered, trying

noticed right away that the young man was

he asked, though he already

Adrian replied,

Brown. Don't try to play

it a lie, I'm

right. So you already know you

to let you

were up to me, honestly, I'd be the

with that. But I wanted us to meet because there are a few

we need to talk

to drink?" Maximus asked,

water's fine for me," Adrian replied. Maximus didn't fully believe him but went ahead and ordered what