"Maximus? W-w-wait, the same Maximus who betrayed dad and destroyed our lives? The Maximus who enslaved us? He was your boyfriend? The one you loved?" Ishtar interjected, her voice filled with shock and disbelief. It felt like the night held more surprises than she had ever anticipated. As she sat there, listening to her mother's revelations, she couldn't help but wonder how she had been unaware of all this for so long.
"You might find it hard to believe, but trust me, Maximus was never like that," Athaliah replied, her voice laced with nostalgia and regret. "He was one of the sweetest people back then, even more innocent than your dad, and that's what made me fall deeply in love with him. But everything changed after he married Grace. She had always been in love with him, though I didn't
