My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus)

After a lot of back and forth, Marcus finally decided to go in. He knew his friend wasn't an easy man, but above all, he understood that if anyone could keep things under control, it was him. So, setting aside any negative thoughts, everyone agreed that Marcus should be the one to talk to Peter.

Minutes later, Marcus stepped into Peter's room. He felt nervous, though he couldn't quite understand why. The man lying in that bed had been his best friend, and the age Peter remembered himself as had been one of their best years together.

"I can smell your fear from here," Peter said, staring at his reflection in the window.

"Peter! How are you?" Marcus replied, his nerves showing.

It was obvious-Peter's gaze wasn't the same as it had been before his operation.

"Get that scared look off your face! You're making me think whatever happened to me is really bad." "It's not that...! It's just... there's a lot we need to talk about," Marcus said, unsure where to start. "Then start, because no matter how hard I try, I can't make sense of anything," Peter replied, frustration clear in his voice. "Imagine waking up and seeing woman you don't recognize, surrounded by people you've never seen before."

"How far back do you remember?" Marcus asked carefully. "So it is bad, huh?" Peter said, his eyes turning cold. "What?" Marcus asked, feeling the weight of that gaze.

"All the doctors keep asking me the same thing over and over. Can you cut the act and just be honest with me? Tell me what the hell is happening to me?" Peter snapped, exasperated.

Marcus took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. His mouth opened, then closed again he had no idea how to begin. How was he supposed to sum up 23 years of Peter's life? He didn't know the details of those missing decades, but he did know some things. He'd tell Peter what he could, and leave the rest to Celeste and Maximus.

"Marcus, what I remember is a dinner. You and me, in New York. Then I met a gorgeous woman, went to a hotel with her, spent the night... and after that, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"What you remember is a dinner where you left with a woman we met at a bar. The truth is, you never saw her again. It was just a one-night thing, and then you went back to Valentia."

"She didn't do this to me?"

"No, no. She was just a fling, like I said. From what you told me back then, months after that trip, your grandmother Catherine reached out to you and asked you to look after a young girl. Her name was Mary, she was 18, and she was Hesperian."

"Did she do this to me?" Peter asked, staring intently at his friend.

"No! Let me explain what I know, and little by little, you'll understand. I don't want to overwhelm you with too much at once. Mary lived with you for a few months. I don't know exactly what happened between you two, but at some point, you told me you'd fallen in love with her. And then... Katherine showed up."

"Tell me! What happened? You know Katherine isn't just any woman," Peter said, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

Peter-the Peter who had just woken up-remembered Katherine vividly. She was the woman he had been hopelessly in love with, and he couldn't hide it.

"Peter, to sum it up... You and Katherine... You have a son together."

"So that means... Katherine and I finally..." Peter murmured, lost in thought.

"From what I know, the night your son was conceived, you were planning to ask Mary to be your girlfriend. But then you saw Katherine, and you completely

abandoned Mary. She ended

up

leaving with Maximus. A short time later, she married your brother. A lot happened after that, but that was a long time ago," Marcus said, avoiding the details.

Peter's mind was racing. To him, in his memories, Katherine had been the great love of his life. The name Mary sounded completely foreign to him.noveldrama

"Am I married to Katherine? Did she finally divorce that idiot of a husband?" he asked, excitement clear in his voice and expression.

"Peter, my friend... The dinner you remember? That happened when you were almost 25. Not 27, like you think. That was 23 years ago."

Peter's excited and animated expression froze. This had to be some kind of sick joke. But Marcus wasn't the type to joke—at least not about something like this.

"What the hell are you saying? Marcus, you're not a man who jokes around. This isn't funny..."

"Peter, this isn't a joke. My friend... Your life over these past 23 years hasn't been easy. I can tell you what

I know about the next three years after that dinner, but... there's something else you need to hear." "What?!" Peter shouted in frustration.

"After Mary married your brother,

they divorced three years later. I only know bits and pieces, and there's no point in going over the details again. What I do know is that you fell in love with that woman. And from what you told me back then you were serious about her. You even pushed Katherine aside for her."

"But as harsh as it sounds... you and Mary... well, you couldn't stay together."

"Why?"

"I need to be completely honest with you... She goes by Valerie now. And... she's my wife."

"Whaaat?! What the hell are you saying?! Say that again! Explain to me what happened! I would never go after one of your women, so why the hell are you married to the woman I was going to marry?!" Peter nearly shouted at Marcus.

It was obvious-Peter wasn't okay with what he'd just heard. He wanted to know everything. Everything his friend could tell him.

"Listen, I know it sounds bad, but let me tell you everything exactly as it happened."

"Then say it already! Stop pausing-do you think that helps? Do you think it makes it easier for me to sit here imagining I did something wrong? Or... was it you who did something wrong?" Peter asked, his eyes burning with suspicion.

"No... You didn't do anything wrong. I was the one who let you down," Marcus said, his voice heavy as he lowered his head.

"Marcus... I don't understand," Peter said, staring at him intently.

"After Mary divorced your brother, you were about to marry her. She was pregnant with Maximus's baby, but you wanted to take responsibility for the child. I didn't even know the baby was Maximus's at the time... But then... you had a car accident. A really bad one. And for nearly 20 years, everyone thought you were dead," Marcus said hesitantly, unsure how Peter would react.

"Twenty years?! How the hell does someone just get declared dead?!"

"Peter, I need you to calm down. If you can't, I'll have to call the nurses. We can't keep talking about this if you're like this," Marcus said, watching as Peter's frustration became more and more obvious.

"What happened? What kind of accident was it? Why didn't you look for me? How the hell did you end up

married to the woman who was supposed to be my wife?! Speak, for fuck's sake!"

"Peter... I need you to calm down and listen to everything that happened."

"Then for the love of God... Talk"