My Love Until the Last Goodbye (Mary and Maximus)

After one last glance at the cemetery where he had laid his wife to rest, Lucius got into his car and cried a little more. He allowed himself to remember some of the moments he had shared with Amanda. When he looked over to the passenger seat, traces of her were still there.

A hairbrush, rose-scented perfume, hair ties she used to wrap around the gearshift. And that's when it hit him-he couldn't keep living like this.

Every little thing he had, everything he saw, reminded him of her. Every day he woke up, if it weren't for the baby sleeping next to him, he simply wouldn't want to get out of bed.

Angela and Anthony were doing their best to support him, to be there and to understand him, but everything was unbearably hard.

Not a day went by when he didn't ask himself, 'What went wrong? What didn't I do?' He kept replaying that argument with Amanda's father, cursing himself inside. If they hadn't given that man the time of day, maybe she'd still be alive.noveldrama

After crying in his car for a while, he felt it was time to head back to the Moriarty house, where he'd been staying since the baby had been discharged—just two days after being born.

Lucius had gone back once to the home he had shared with Amanda, just to gather the baby's things. But being there broke him completely, so he locked up the house and decided never to go back.

After a long drive, he arrived at the Moriarty residence. He saw several cars parked out front and wasn't surprised-Moriarty had taken some time off to stay home, so it was normal to see people coming and going.

But when he stepped inside, he was surprised to find his entire family there. Amanda's babbling made him turn toward her-Maximus, Diana, Laura, and his brothers were all present. Laura was holding the baby lovingly. Everyone turned to look at him, visibly nervous. Lucius had asked to be left alone, but Angela, seeing the state he was in, had asked them to come anyway.

"What are you all doing here?" Lucius asked, confused.

"Lucius... Brother, you're not alone. We're your family too. We want to be here for you. Please, let us," Laura said, almost pleading.

Lucius looked at his little girl asleep in his sister's arms and felt an ache in his chest. She was supposed to be the weaker one-he was supposed to protect her, not the other way around.

"Has she eaten?" he asked, glancing at the baby.

"Yes, Lucius. She's eaten, I changed her diaper... She doesn't need anything but you," said Angela, coming up behind him and hugging him.

"Angela..." Lucius said as he turned to face her.

"Lucius, we all love you. We know you're not really my brother, but I love you as if you were. You can't keep pushing us away. We're your family-and that's not going to change."

"Amanda, wherever she is, I'm sure she's watching the amazing job you're doing with your daughter. She probably wishes Anthony had been half as dedicated with Valentina as you are with our little princess."

"This baby girl has proven she's strong-and she always will be. That's the power of love. The power of knowing that, even if we're not physically close, the people who love you will always be there when you need them most..."

Lucius looked down at the floor, tears welling in his eyes. He turned and wrapped

his arms tightly around the woman who, in that moment, spoke more like a mother than a sister.

Maximus, seeing the scene, came closer and hugged his son tightly. It broke his heart to see Lucius like that. He knew it wasn't easy. In.

some way, he understood the

pain his son for the woman he had lost, and he himself for the child he now held in his arms.

"I miss her... I miss her so much... I wish it had been me. She shouldn't have died. She had dreams, ambitions... She never should've met me. I did this to her..." Lucius sobbed.