GETTING THE HEART OF THE CEO

“What kind of game is this, Maximiliano? I want an explanation! Why am I married to you? When did I get married? I haven’t signed anything,” she quickly grabbed the other paper and also started reading. Her gaze focused on the part that said: “Stefany Daniela Gutierrez de Miller, mother of the minor Max Miller Gutierrez.” The documents fell from their hands due to the shock.

Maximiliano approached, picked up the documents, and put them away. He sat beside her and began to explain.

“I’ll start from the beginning. Since I arrived in Manhattan, I haven’t slept with any woman because, believe it or not, I fell in love with you. Have I been promiscuous? Yes, I have! When I was 23, I was about to get married, but my fiancee left me standing at the altar. She never showed up, and later, I found out she was seeing two men at the same time. At that moment, I didn’t hate her for leaving me for someone else; I hated her for not telling me before the wedding and for leaving me standing there like the cuckold of the year.”

Stefany felt compassion for him.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that with a heartless woman. I think she must have had second thoughts at the last moment. It’s better that she left you standing there than being married to her while she sleeps with other men behind your back; that would have been worse.”

“Since then, I don’t believe in marriage, and I started going out with women whom I used to satisfy my manly needs. I’ve always taken precautions to avoid diseases by using protection.”

“How do you justify Max? Because, as far as I understand, you didn’t know the mother,” she observed him with reproach.

“I apply the same reasoning as Kyle, with the difference that I was semi-conscious that we were having sex. The next day, I regretted not taking precautions, but she swore to me that she was a famous model, showed me evidence, and claimed she was careful. I won’t deny that she is a beautiful woman, but it was just sex. We spent a week together until I returned to Los Angeles, and the rest, you already know.”

“That’s another bad woman who used a baby to end a marriage,” she shouted furiously, recalling what her friend went through because of that trap.

“The only good thing about that trap is my son, and since then, I don’t believe in a pretty face.”

“Are you calling me ugly?”

“You are a special woman, with many qualities that have captivated me.”

“You haven’t told me how I ended up married to you.”

Maximiliano lowered his head, looked at her from the corner of his eye, remembered the first time he saw her, found her sweet and naive, and watched her care for and pamper his son with a motherly warmth. That’s why he didn’t let her go.

“The day I had you sign the authorization for Max’s school, you also signed the marriage contract and the paperwork to become Max’s official mother. I did it all for Max because if I didn’t justify that he lived in a family home, that woman might have won custody.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Tears rolled down Stefany’s cheeks. The man beside her had put her in a big mess. She didn’t know whether to kill him at that moment. Fury was growing inside her. She glared at him with her head down, about to unleash her anger, but then she closed her mouth. Someone came to her mind, and her aura changed.

That child has suffered a lot. Since birth, he hasn’t had his parents by his side. There were days when he asked, ‘Why isn’t Mom with me? Why doesn’t she love me?’ She had no answer; she just hugged him and tried to make him laugh. Other days were filled with questions like, ‘Why doesn’t Dad live with us? Why doesn’t he come to visit me? Doesn’t he love me either?’ These were the words of a nearly 5-year-old child, breaking her heart. For that child, she stayed as a nanny, giving up her job as a nurse and her dream of becoming a doctor. That child didn’t ask to be born to irresponsible and heartless parents.

“You know, if it weren’t for Max, I would kill you right now. I never understood how you, being his father, would leave him abandoned, visiting him only two or three times a year, with few phone calls. There were days when that child cried for his parents, and it broke my heart not to have an answer for him. His grandmother was there, but you know the health condition of your mother. I guess that’s the fear you have, right? That they’ll take custody away from you for being an irresponsible father.

“I…,” she interrupted him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Let me finish. I gave up my medical career for that child, and I’ll continue to be connected to you for him. I accept being his mother because I held him in my arms two days after he was born, and I feel like his mother. But with you, things will stay the same until you win the heart of that angel. We can’t talk about us until then,” she stood up from the bed. “I’m leaving. My feelings are all mixed up, and I don’t want to keep listening to you.”

Stefany took quick steps towards the door, unlocked it, and left the room. She found her friend Luan, without explaining or saying goodbye to anyone; they left the mansion. In the car, she was distraught, telling Luan everything that had happened.

Maximiliano, upon seeing her leave the room, cried like a little child. He didn’t realize that his son was suffering so much due to his own bad behavior and immaturity. He loved his son in his way, thinking that the love of his grandmother and the care of the woman he desired were enough. He decided to turn his life around and be a better father. He has been living with his son for almost two months and still doesn’t know his likes, fears, and joys. Additionally, it torments him that his now-wife has the worst opinion of him as a man.

“Now I have to do things right and regain my two loves.”

After a few minutes, he wiped away his tears, left the room in search of his mother.

Cecilia, upon seeing Stefany leaving almost running and the expression on her son’s face, guessed that things between them were not going well.

“Mom! I’m taking Max home because I want to be with my son.”

“I’ll join you. I think you and I need a mother-son conversation.”

“Yes, Mom, let’s go. First, I’ll take care of my son, and then I’ll tell you many things because I’m going to need your help.”

“Of course, my love. You know you can count on me. Let me say goodbye to the people, and we’ll leave.”

Maximiliano watched his mother walk with a cane, and his heart shrank even more, knowing that she suffered from arthritis and paresthesia.