As Carmela woke up, she reached for her phone, only to find that it was off. She was confused, and she tried to remember when she had turned it off. But her mind was blank. She turned it on and a flood of messages came in, most of them from Sarah."Where have you been?" Sarah's texts read. "I've been trying to reach you for days. Are you okay? Hannah and Noah don’t like your sudden disappearances every now and then."Carmela's heart sank. Had she really not checked her messages for that long? What had she been doing?Carmela sat up in bed, still in a daze. She scrolled through her messages, reading them one by one. Sarah was worried, asking over and over if Carmela was all right. But there were other messages, too. Some were from her boss Pedro, and some were from Andrew. She had missed so much. And in all of the messages, there was a common theme: Where had she been? What had she been doing?Carmela felt a knot in her stomach. She had no idea how to explain it to anyone.As she k

Max sat on the beach, his eyes closed and his mind wandering. He was lost in thought, his thoughts drifting from one thing to the next. But then, his phone rang, and he saw that it was Nichole. He answered the call, his voice brimming with anger."What do you want?" he snapped. "I told you I don't want to talk to you right now.""Max, please," Nichole said, her voice sounding desperate. "Your father wants to see you. It's important."Max gritted his teeth, his frustration growing. "What is it?" he demanded. "Tell me what it's about!"Nichole paused, and Max could hear her taking a deep breath. "I can't tell you," she said. "But you need to come back. Your father is waiting for you."Max let out a roar of anger and threw the phone to the ground, stomping on it until it was nothing but pieces of plastic and metal. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but he could feel his rage boiling over.Max sped down the road, his grip on the steering wheel tight and his foot heavy on

"If you ever come near Max again, I'll make you regret it," Nichole said, her tone threatening. "He's my husband now, and I won't let you ruin that. I will do whatever it takes to protect my relationship."Carmela's heart sank. She couldn't believe that Nichole could be so cruel, so ruthless. She thought they had been friends, that they had cared about each other. But now, she saw that Nichole had only ever cared about herself.But before Carmela could say anything else, she heard the click of the call ending. Nichole had hung up on her, ending the conversation as abruptly as it had begun. Carmela felt like she had been punched in the gut, like the wind had been knocked out of her. She dropped her phone to the floor, the sound of it hitting the ground echoing in the empty room.As Carmela sat there, numb and reeling from the conversation, she heard the sound of the front door opening. She looked up to see Andrew standing in the doorway, a look of concern on his face."What's wrong?

“Max, I don’t care.” Carmela breathed. “It’s time you head back to your *To be Wife* She might come looking for you.” Carmela wanted Max to leave that instant, she couldn’t bear to look at him for a second.“Carmela, you have to hear me out.” Max pulled her by the hand, however, she bruised it off. “Max, you’re crazy to think I’ll come back to you.” She shouted. “Leave, or I’ll call the cops.” Max was perplexed he couldn’t believe that Carmela wouldn’t want to hear him out. Instead, she planned on calling the cops on him.He stopped pulling her and begging. He turned and started to walk away. Carmela on the other hand was feeling her heart break as she shouted at Max. She felt bad for what she said, nevertheless, she made the right decision. It was time she let Max go. She rushed inside the house, slamming the door from behind as she tried to catch her breath. She couldn’t believe she just rejected Max! “Who was that?” She heard a feminine voice and she flinched. “I thought I he

“You did what?!” Carmela asked, “Max took my kids and you didn’t bother telling me?” Carmela who was sitting in the dinner room, with a laptop right in her front, when she rose to her feet in haste. “Well…I’m telling you now.” Carmela could feel deceit in Claudia voice and she couldn’t help but contain the fire burning inside of her. “Where did he take them to?” Carmela spoke, fervently, “Did he mention any?”“No…I’m sorry.” After the call was hang off and Carmela fell back on the chair, her hands on her head as she panicked. How could Max take the kids, without telling her?Carmela was furious. Her ex-husband Max had taken her kids without her permission, and she didn't know where they were. She felt like her heart was breaking, and she couldn't understand how he could do this to her. She was trying to do her best for her children, and she thought that Max understood that. She felt betrayed and hurt, and she didn't know what to do next.She paced back and forth in the living ro