My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus) novel Chapter 905

Maximus sipped his coffee, his thoughts elsewhere. In just a few hours, he would see Diana—they had agreed to visit Peter and Celeste together. Originally, they had planned to go in the morning, but a last-minute issue had come up for Diana, so they decided to visit them during lunch instead. Maximus had already called Peter to check on them and make sure they had everything they needed.

But right now, his biggest concern was Paul. Ever since they had returned from the Maldives, the boy had been different—distant, withdrawn. Maximus knew things hadn’t gone as Paul had hoped, but that was part of life. Relationships could be amazing, or they could be a complete disaster. Unfortunately, this time, it had been the latter.

Maximus was lost in thought when he was abruptly interrupted by Laura, who walked in carrying little Adele.

"What’s wrong, Dad?" she asked, curious.

"Hmm?" Maximus blinked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"You look deep in thought. Your mind isn’t here," she said, concern in her voice.

"Oh… it’s Paul. Ever since we got back from the Maldives, he’s been… well, I don’t know how to put it."

"Sad?"

"I don’t know if that’s the right word, but things didn’t go the way I expected. I actually thought we’d stay there longer, but as soon as we arrived, we practically turned right back around."

"What do you think happened?"

"Paul hasn’t talked much about it, but I suspect Nadia wasn’t what he imagined."

"What makes you think that?"

"Serenity and I noticed some things. We both had a feeling about her… a bad feeling. We tried to warn Paul, but of course, he didn’t listen."

"Oh? And what exactly did you two notice?"

"Well, the girl didn’t sit right with us. Call it a woman’s intuition, but something was off. She was sweet, sure, but the way she treated Paul didn’t feel right. Honestly, it seemed like she was with him for what he could give her. I know it sounds cliché, but we saw it."

Maximus listened to his daughter and thought about Paul.

'Did Paul realize something and not feel comfortable telling me?' he wondered.

"Do you really think that’s what happened?"

"I don’t know, Dad, it’s just a guess. But I do know this—if things had gone well, he’d be over the moon. And he’s not. I have a strong feeling he was seriously let down by Nadia."

"That could be it… I need to talk to him. Paul is a great kid—he’s handsome and kind. He’ll find someone else. This was his first love, but it won’t be his last."

"You’re right about that. Paul looks a lot like Mom. He got all of her genes," Laura said.

Maximus let out a slow breath.