My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus) novel Chapter 1081

"Mr. Palmer, I know you came here looking for something that might stop me from seeing my daughter. But I can assure you—if there's one thing I've always been, it's stubborn. I didn't even listen to my own parents—at least not until they finally found a way to tie me down...

"And I won't back down from my desire to be part of my daughter's life. I know I'm not a shining example—not even close—but I truly hope I can turn things around. I hope I can become the kind of father my daughter can be proud of. I hope that when she looks at me, she doesn't feel ashamed.

"I understand that whatever I had with your daughter will never be again—that's a given. But at the very least, I want to be a present father to my child."

Maximus listened carefully, and it felt like looking at a younger version of himself. He would've loved to have had the chance to know his daughter Serenity from the beginning, but everything he'd done had taken him to a point of no return.

It wasn't the same situation—in fact, what Maximus had done was much worse than Adrian's mistakes, if he were being honest.

"Let me tell you something, Adrian. If you really want to meet your daughter and be part of her life, you've got a lot of work ahead of you.

"My little girl is one of my greatest priorities. So you can understand I'm not going to welcome you with open arms. And if you don't keep your word… I'll use every bit of my power to destroy you. And trust me—what you're living through now will seem like heaven compared to what I'll bring down on you.

"Now, whatever is or was between you and Laura—that's none of my business. That's her decision to make. I can't force her into anything she doesn't want. But when it comes to my granddaughter, I'll only say this: if you want to see her—as Laura allows—you're going to have to prove you deserve to be her father.

"A part of me is going to regret this, but… in one week, I want to see your résumé. Bring it to this address," Maximus said, handing him a business card for the new company they were building.

For some reason, Maximus felt something for the young man—not because he liked him, but because Adrian reminded him of his brother. That same brother who was always in trouble, always frowned upon, and yet… silently admired.