My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus) novel Chapter 2

Mary was exhausted from all the crying. As she put on her pajamas, she saw a large bruise on her stomach, caused by the blow her husband had landed earlier that day. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she chose not to think about it anymore. This wasn’t the first time it had happened, so seeing her skin marked up like this wasn’t new. She reminded herself that all of this was for her grandfather, and she couldn’t let him down.

When she finally managed to fall asleep, she drifted into a dark dream that suddenly filled with light. She began to see brief flashes of what her life would be like. They were short, but each one left a hollow feeling in her heart. Her life wouldn’t change for the better. On the contrary, despite all her efforts, she would end up alone and without a family. Her grandfather would die in prison, and Maximus and Alexia would live happily after turning Mary’s family over to the embassy. She would end up living on the streets, going hungry, unable to feed her baby.

“Ah!” she screamed, waking up.

The sudden dream woke her at 5 am. In the dream, her little one had died of starvation and cold at 5 pm. No matter how much she had pleaded for help, no one had come to her aid—at least, that’s what she could remember. She looked at her arms and wondered who that baby was, and how she ended up in such a terrible situation.

For a few minutes, she thought about it. The baby couldn’t be Maximus’s. He had never treated her as his wife, so never touched her. In fact, he had told her outright that he felt repulsed by her. He couldn’t be the father.

“Oh, Mary, you’re losing your mind, dreaming about things that will never happen. Most likely, you’ll die old and forgotten in this big mansion,” she told herself while she washed up.

By the time she left the bedroom, it was nearly 7:00 am. She headed to the kitchen. Today, she particularly craved some coffee like they made it back home, so she put a pot on and added a bit of cinnamon to boil. As she waited for the water to heat up, Emma walked in.

“Ma’am, are you alright? Yesterday, the master sent me away, and I couldn’t stay with you.”

“Yes, Emma, everything’s fine! Today I want to have breakfast like in my country. I made some coffee. Would you like to join me after Maximus leaves?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Emma replied, though she was still a bit worried.

Mary smiled, sensing that Emma wasn’t fully convinced by her response. The aroma of the coffee she had made filled the entire first floor of the house. She poured herself a cup and went out to the garden to sit at the table outside. She intended to just admire the garden and lose herself in her thoughts. Today, she particularly didn’t feel like having breakfast with her husband, so she planned to wait outside until he finished eating and left—at least, that’s what she imagined would happen.

Maximus had just entered through one of the house’s entrances after going for a run. Last night’s dream had left him a bit unsettled, so he decided to get up early to distract himself. When he arrived, he noticed the delicious aroma of coffee and something else. Before cleaning up, he headed to the kitchen and found Emma.

“It smells delicious, Emma! What coffee did you buy?”

“Oh, sir! It’s the missus’ coffee. She got up early and made it.”

“Mary is awake?”

“Yes, in fact, she’s in the garden. She poured herself some coffee and told me she’d be drinking it outside,” Emma said, pointing to the garden table.

Maximus couldn’t help but look out and see his wife’s small figure curled up in the garden chair. Her back was to the window, so Mary didn’t see who was watching her.

“Well, I guess we’ll be having breakfast in the garden today.”

“Would you like me to take your breakfast out there, then?”

“Yes, please!”

“Alright, sir!”

“I’ll be down in a moment. I have a meeting at 9 am, so I can leave a little later today.”

“Very well, sir, I’ll bring your breakfast.”

Without thinking any further about it, he went to take a shower and came out as the same businessman his wife knew all too well. Mary was listening to music, lost in the memory of the dream she’d had the previous night. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar scent of mint and citrus.

She opened her eyes, and there was Maximus, reading the news on his tablet and sipping from a coffee cup. That small gesture would have seemed wonderful just a few hours ago, but now everything was too messy. When she saw him, all she felt was the urge to cry, but she couldn’t give him that satisfaction. So, she just closed her eyes again, turned up the music on her phone, and pretended no one else was there.

Maximus could only feel frustration at her attempt to ignore him, but he also understood it was to be expected. She hadn’t caused a scene last night, but he knew she was upset. After all, he had used force to calm her down yet again.

“Sir, here’s your coffee!”

“He already has coffee, Emma. He just stole mine. Could you give me that cup?”

Emma didn’t know how to respond until Maximus signaled her to hand over the cup.

“I’ll be back with your breakfasts.”