My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus)

They barely made it to the car before they were already pulling up to the place where Adrian was now living. When they arrived, Laura was surprised by the location. It wasn't bad, exactly—just not the kind of place she could ever picture Adrian choosing for himself.

It made her think his financial situation probably wasn't great. He wasn't living on the street, sure, but the place left a lot to the imagination-especially considering that back when they were dating, Adrian used to brag about only using the best of everything.

"Adrian... do you need help getting upstairs?"

"Ah! No, don't worry. I'm used to it-I know how to manage."

"Yeah, but with your backpack, you could trip. I'll come with you, walk you to the door, and then I'll head out," said Laura, not giving him a chance to refuse.

After climbing two flights of stairs, they got to the apartment where Adrian lived. Laura helped him open the door. Inside, the place was simply decorated-the furniture wasn't fancy, but it had everything someone might need to get by.

"Alright, I'll leave your backpack here. I've gotta go. Adele's probably missing me by now," said Laura, stepping back out, though she couldn't shake a strange feeling of worry.

"Yeah... thank you so much! Drive safe."

"I always do... Get some rest," said Laura. Something still didn't sit right with her, but she couldn't afford to be soft-hearted.

In the end, she didn't know exactly why Adrian had ended up like that—but whatever the reason, it was his business.

As soon as she got back in her car, she drove home. When she arrived, Emma was already there waiting for her, holding Adele, who was just about to fall asleep. Laura scooped her up, and the little girl relaxed completely in her arms-like she'd just been waiting for her mom to come home so she could drift off.

"Emma, how was Adele?" Laura asked, almost in a whisper.

"Good, sweetheart. The cleaning staff helped me out, but she behaved well. She's little, but already has so much energy," Emma said, clearly exhausted.

"Hey, how's Serene? How's the baby?"

"They're good. My sister's doing well, and the baby is absolutely precious. Once they take her home, let's go together to visit and catch up-how does that sound?" Laura said as she gently laid Adele in her bed.

"Sounds perfect! I didn't want to go today—I didn't want to overwhelm her. Everyone was probably rushing to see the baby, and we have to remember she just gave birth, and especially under the conditions she did..."

"Can you believe Lucius helped deliver little Isabelle?" Laura said, clearly proud of her brother.

"I think that's a beautiful way to start mending things. That's a memory they'll carry for the rest of their lives," Emma said calmly.

"Totally! I actually want to see Lucius. I want to talk to him, find out how things went with Serenity. I mean, before everything went crazy-I want to know what they talked about..." Laura said, heading toward the hallway.

"Sweetheart, maybe go talk to him tomorrow. He just got here a little while ago, went looking for Amanda, and they've been locked in his room for a while now. Believe me, I don't need to be psychic to know what they're doing..."noveldrama

Laura's face twisted in surprise. She couldn't believe they were doing what she was thinking-not in their grandfather's house.

"Let them be, sweetheart! They're young! In fact, I'll tell you something—even if it's not exactly proper since they're not married and we barely know Amanda—it actually makes me happy to see your brother getting into this kind of mischief..."

"How can you say that, Emma?" said Laura, clearly surprised.

"Sweetie... Your brother was raised by your grandparents with the idea of what it means to be a 'man,' or so your other siblings have told me. I think they stole his youth, his teenage years and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they even took his childhood away."

"I know it's a little strange to defend your brother's 'mischief,' but I think we should let him behave a little differently for once."

"Alright then, let's just make sure he thinks he could get caught any second-let him feel that little rush of doing something he knows he shouldn't," Laura said with a mischievous grin.

"Laura... You've really got that little streak of wickedness in you..." Emma said, watching Laura head toward her brother's room and knock on the door.

"Lucius... are you decent? Can I come in?"

"No! Wait!" came a shout from inside the room. Two or three minutes later, Lucius opened the door with his pajamas thrown on in a hurry.

Emma just stood there, watching as Laura let out the same playful mischief that used to be so typical of her mother.

"Lucius, hey, have you seen Amanda? I checked her room but didn't see her, so I figured she might be here."

"Amanda? Yeah, she's here, but she's in the bathroom. Come in, come in..." said Lucius, looking totally resigned.

Emma shook her head, watching as Laura totally ruined whatever moment the couple had been having.

"Don't worry! I'll talk to Amanda tomorrow. I'm heading to bed-I'm so tired. Don't stay up too late, and keep it down. Dad or Grandpa might hear you..."

Lucius's face went pale the second he realized what his sister meant.

"We're not doing anything wrong!" he said, clearly flustered.

"I never said it was wrong..." Laura replied, narrowing her eyes. "Alright, I'm off.

Tell me tomorrow how things went with Serenity. Goodnight!"

After that, Laura walked to her room. Emma just shook her head and said:

"You're evil!"

"Just a little..." Laura said with a playful smirk and a soft laugh.

"And you, my girl-how did it go? Even though you try to hide it, I can tell

something's bothering you. Come on, what's going on in that little head of yours?"

Emma asked, finally unable to hold back her curiosity.

"Emma, do you think it's wrong that I still worry about Adele's dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah... I saw him today, and, well,

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he didn't look great. My mind's been all over the place. I know I shouldn't care, but you know... he is my daughter's father, and every time I see him, I can't deny I still feel something."

"Of course, I've forced myself to bury all of that deep down, but I have to be honest-I still feel things for him. But I know I'm not going back to him. Still, I can't help but worry."

"I think that's normal. He was your first love, and yeah, he's Adele's father. She's always going to be a reminder that you two once had to care

something. No, it's not wrong.ne

about him. But the real question is what do you want to do with those feelings?"

"I just want him to be okay. And honestly, part of me wishes he'd show up all cocky and arrogant again-sol could hate him, just like that. But he's not. He's not like that anymore. And every time I see him, I remember the day I told him I was pregnant. I use that memory to try to feel nothing."

"But I think that trick only worked once or twice. No more than that..."