Chapter 3

• The proposal
• Madison, confused by what the man was telling her, shook her head and looked down at her mother's casket sadly.
• "Sir, I don't know who you are and right now, I swear I don't care to know." A tear rolled down Madison's cheek "I'm burying my mother, and I'm going through the worst time of my life, tell me, what are you really doing here?".
• Maximilian lowered his head and denied.
• "Excuse my discourtesy, I am very sorry for the moment you are going through. But I swear that what I must tell you will be interesting".
• Susan squeezed her friend Madison's arm to get her to answer something, but she was kind of blocked, the man bore the same last name as her ex-fiancé, and that only implied pain, possibly Francisco had sent him to intercede for him, after having discovered his betrayal.
• "Lord, I ask you to please leave, interrupt a very sacred moment in my life, goodbye". Madison turned back to her mother, but Maximilian cleared his throat to get her attention.
• "I'm waiting in the limousine that's there outside the cemetery, let me take you out for coffee, I look forward to talking to you, I have a proposal, and I know that, in your position, you won't want to refuse it, if you're excuse me".
• "How about this idiot?" Madison grumbled angrily, because she felt invaded, even in the cemetery she had no privacy.
• Maximilian turned around and left for his limousine, he was a man too cold, expressionless, no woman caught his attention, not even tentatively, all the women who passed through his hands, only did it for one night, most gave themselves to Maximilian for pleasure and others for money, in either of those two positions, he was unable to consolidate a stable relationship.
• Francisco swore war on him, and it was obvious that his little nephew would not stay with that, so he would also play dirty, and what better, than marrying his ex.
• The minutes passed, and Madison's mother's burial was finally over.
• Susan and Madison began to leave the cemetery, walked along the path, until they saw Maximilian's large limousine. Susan opened her mouth in surprise, and in an exaggerated way shouted:
• "It can't be true! The angel is still waiting, this must be a joke, Madison."
• "Susan, stop fooling around, it's not the time, I don't know, that man doesn't have a good thorn in my side."
• "Friend, I have something to tell you," Susan stopped. "I talked to my father last night, and you can't stay at my house anymore, just forgetting to say it, but you know how he is, besides I'm unemployed, you too, we're in a bad situation, please forgive me."
• Madison lowered her head and swallowed whole, she had only a little money left over from the sale of her apartment, Francisco forced her to leave her job to give herself only to him and promised her that he would make her happy. But that dream ended when she found him in his bed with another woman.
• "Don't worry Susan, I'm going to a hotel".
• Susan hugged her, but at that moment for Madison, there was no comfort.
• They continued their way, passing by the side of the limousine, both stared, and at the precise moment they crossed the side of the last window, it suddenly opened.
• "I'll take them!" Please come up," Maximilian told them".
• Madison opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, but her friend was already giving the answer.
• "Yes, thank you very much, we are far from the main avenue.
• The door of the limousine opened to let in the women, Madison smiled nervously, and sat in the chair in front of Maximilian, the limousine inside was spectacular, the chairs were lined with the finest of leathers, there was a minibar and beautiful lights decorating it.
• "Really, I'm very sorry for what's happening to you, Madison," Maximilian approached the minibar and poured himself a drink.
• Susan jumped in at first and shaved off his cup.
• "I do, thank you, everything has been strange".
• Maximilian smiled amused.
• "And you, Madison? Want a drink? ".
• "I don't, I don't want anything," Madison turned her head to the window, she didn't want to be there.
• Maximilian sighed and bluntly said to him.
• "Madison, what I have to tell you is going to sound very strange to you, I am the uncle of your fiancé, Francisco".
• "Ex-fiancé," Madison clarified, "I already knew that idiot had sent him! Drop us off. "
• Maximilian hissed and sighed.
• "Of course not, he has not sent me, on the contrary, I have come because I found out what he did to you, especially at this precise moment in which you are going through a hard pain. "
• Madison stared at him.
• "Has it done? So, what with that? Has he come to revive my mother? Or to defend that asshole?. "
• "Oh Madison," Maximilian took a sip from his glass, "neither of us, I came here because my father has asked us, the asshole and me, to get a spouse to be able to inherit, Francisco, convinced that he is going to marry you, has already secured the inheritance, and I swear that he will go after you until I get you to forgive him".
• Madison salivated and blinked quickly to prevent more tears from coming out of her eyes, deep in her heart, she still loved Francisco.
• "I'm not going to forgive him, he hurt me a lot, on the contrary, I'd like to see him suffer, and let him pay for all the pain he caused me," Madison was speaking with pain, and those words were melody to Maximilian's ears.
• "Well, very well, my proposal is this, I want you to marry me, a marriage contract for three years."
• Susan was drinking the drink, and when she heard the proposal, her cheeks swelled, and she spat out the drink.
• "What? He's crazy? Is he making fun of my friend?."
• "No, of course not," Maximilian urged, "He declared war on me, well, I'm going to give him the war he wants, and what better than for his ex-fiancée to look apparently happy."
• Madison was petrified, in complete silence.
• "And what do I have to do or what?" "Madison at that moment was presented with the opportunity to take revenge on her beloved, because the pain he caused her was irreparable.
• "You just have to pretend that we are in love, give me a kiss from time to time when we are with the family, and that's it, I will pay you a monthly salary of one hundred".
• "A hundred dollars?" Susana grumbled, "This man is crazy, let's go my friend, he just wants to abuse you."
• "One hundred thousand a month," Maximilian clarified. "Besides, I'll give you everything you ask for, absolutely everything"
• "Everything?" Madison asked.
• "Yes, everything," replied Maximilian.
• "I don't know, this must be a joke, a trap, let us go down sir," Madison asked nervously. And she looked at her friend, who was also incredulous and scared.
• "Don't worry Madison, it's not a trap, give me your email and I'll send you all the information about the proposal, it will only be for three years, I swear there will be no intimacy between the two, I'm not interested, I just want to fight dirty like Francisco will do. That's all!"
• The limo stopped and Madison got out next to Susan.
• "It was a pleasure, Mr. Ferrer, goodbye". Madison banged on the door and left quickly.
• "Wait Madison, don't go," Susan took her arm. "Yes, this is all crazy, but is it real?" It would be a good opportunity for you, you would manage to get the money for the boutique that you have wanted so much, and in the process, you would take revenge on that damn Francisco, he would bite his ass when he saw that you are happy.
• "I don't know, Susan; this sounds pretty strange. They don’t give away so many wonderful things."
• "Well, you should try it, darling."
• The two women went on their way, while Maximilian, determined to inform Madison about the proposal, didn't need her email. He had the means to find out everything he needed. However, Madison continued to ignore his messages. His principles wouldn’t allow him to accept something like that, especially not for money.
• Days passed, and Madison's misfortunes grew worse. Her money was running out, and she couldn’t find a job. The worst came when she turned on the old television in her hotel room and saw a large advertisement in the entertainment section that broke her heart:
• "Famous Francisco Ferrer announces his engagement to the internationally renowned model Abril Anderson. Are wedding bells on the way?"
• Madison let all the tears she had accumulated while away from him roll down her cheeks. She lay down on the hard bed and cried inconsolably. The man with whom she had imagined a home, two small children, a dog, and maybe a cat was slipping away. In her delusion, she had imagined that he would come back asking for forgiveness, but she was wrong. Her fiancé was no longer hers; instead, he was about to marry another woman, and not the blonde who had been with him the day he was unfaithful.
• After crying for a couple of hours and feeling as if she had no tears left, she opened her laptop and went straight to her email. She opened the inbox and reread the proposal Maximilian had sent her. She clicked "Reply" and sent a message:
• "I ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL"
• Maximilian was in his office when a notification flashed on the screen of his large laptop. He was surprised to see who it was: Madison Fiorency...
• He opened the email anxiously, though without much hope. It had been a while since she had said no, and it seemed she was still reluctant. But his expression changed as he read the message.
• Satisfied, he smiled, poured a glass of alcohol, drank it in one gulp, and replied to the message:
• "I'll be waiting for you at my mansion tomorrow. I’ll send the details. Please arrive by 8:00 a.m. and be punctual."
• He closed his laptop and poured himself another drink. At that moment, Geronimo burst into his office with a terrified expression.
• "Sir, we've lost a shipment."
• Maximilian slammed the cup onto the floor and stood up furiously.
• "What? Who was the imbecile responsible?."
• "We don’t know yet, sir, but there are no signs of the merchandise. It seems the Feldman’s are behind this. We need to be cautious."
• "Let’s find the managers. This situation won’t be left unresolved," Maximilian said, grabbing his overcoat and pulling on his leather gloves. Though he appeared to be a refined gentleman, he was, in fact, cold and calculating.