Episode 2

Hacienda "Los Santos"

The interior of the Santos mansion was a bit busy. The patriarch, Maximo Santos, had requested a special dinner that night to share some news. He was pleased that his two sons were finally under the same roof, with the arrival of the eldest, Maximiliano Santos, 26, and Joseph, 22. The eldest had gone abroad when he turned 18 and had finished university in Architecture and Business Administration, undoubtedly a source of pride for Maximo. Joseph, on the other hand, had decided to study veterinary medicine there. The personalities of the two brothers were different. The eldest was characterized by his strong character and workaholism. Since starting his own architecture firm abroad, his popularity had increased much more than when he was just the eldest son of the wealthiest rancher in the city, which led to many women being after him, not only for that but also for his spectacular physique. He was almost six feet tall and had every muscle of his body defined, with blue eyes like the sky itself, which contrasted perfectly with his tanned skin and dark brown hair. The youngest had a docile character, was very friendly with everyone, and dedicated himself much more to the care of the animals on the hacienda. The physical difference was also more noticeable; he was shorter than his brother, with fair skin and dark blond hair.

The Santos family was the most important in the area, dedicated to the export and import of the best breed of cattle. They had a large company producing different products. Money had never been a problem for them. The Santos mansion was enormous, with a large extension. Despite having a white stone facade with different shades of brown, the interior was luxurious but cozy, with a very large living room and many rooms. The kitchen was beautiful, in white and gray marble.

The last renovation was done by Maximiliano himself a couple of years ago. His father had been delighted with the result, so he asked his son to work on the other structures of the hacienda, which was why he was there at that moment.

"The table is set, Mr. Maximo," the housekeeper informed, entering the man's office.

"Tell my sons, Claudia," he said calmly as he stood up.

The man was wearing a custom-made black suit. Maximo was fifty years old, but because of his good looks, he could appear younger. His hair was still not covered in gray, and his blue eyes and a big smile that was always on his face made him seem attractive still, perhaps because of his life on the hacienda, it could still be said that he was in very good shape.

Upon arriving at the dining room, the man showed a big smile when he saw his two sons there.

"Max, my son!" he exclaimed with a smile, approaching him. "Welcome."

"Thank you, Father," he replied with his peculiar deep voice.

"We missed you a lot, brother," Joseph assured.

"And I you," he replied.

"Let's have dinner," said Maximo. "Then I'll give you a couple of news," the man informed with a smile.

Dinner was served and everyone ate peacefully. The dining room was extremely large for only three people to be there, well, the house in general was.

A while later they finished dinner, the two boys looked at the man with enthusiasm and curiosity.

"And well, Dad, what news do you have for us?" Max asked.

"Alright, sons," the man began to say. "I wanted to inform you that soon we will be four in this house." The look of both boys was different.

"Be clearer, Father," Max growled.

"I'm going to get married, sons," he said without further ado, the expression of surprise was immediate.

"Dad," Joseph whispered.

"Is this a joke, Father?" Maximiliano asked in a bad way. "This is absurd," he growled.

"It's not a joke, son," the father replied. "Tomorrow I will bring my future wife home, she is a good woman, I know you will get along well," he assured.

"This is idiotic, Father," Maximiliano complained. "After so many years?" he asked, running his hands repeatedly through his hair.

"I hope you respect my decision, son," the man said more seriously.

"Well, I don't agree," he blurted out, hitting the table.

Maximiliano was angry, it seemed very absurd to him, even the simple fact that his father gave them that news as if it were something meaningless, the eyes of that one had clear bewilderment.

"I have always stayed out of your personal affairs, son," the man blurted out with annoyance at his attitude. "I don't need your approval to do so, I'm just informing you," that man spoke with determination, the character of both was very similar. "So I hope you know how to behave tomorrow when I bring her home."

As the man seemed that he would not stop to listen to opinions of either, Maximiliano turned around and left.

Max felt so angry that to release the tension that was suffocating him, he went to do some exercise in the fields, the man ran from one end to the other without stopping, despite the fact that a small drizzle was falling, he did not seem to care, the water soaked his dark hair.

"If you weren't so stubborn, I would explain it better, son," Maximo exclaimed, seeing his son from a distance.

The following morning the sun rose in the high sky, it was so radiant that it seemed that rain would not fall that day, Max got up very early and after looking for Sultan his horse, he went to the grounds where the new construction that his father had asked him to carry out would begin, it was a fertilizer plant for cattle, a project that Max showed him a couple of months ago, leaving his father delighted.

While he was heading to the area, a group of workers was there, one of them approached Max who was still on his horse.

"Good morning, Mr. Max," Fernando, the foreman of the hacienda, greeted him.

"Likewise," said Max in a neutral voice. "Any news?" he asked as he surveyed the grounds.

"Your work team has arrived in the early morning, I have already installed them in one of the houses in the urbanization, sir," the man reported, on the hacienda there was an urbanization where some of the hacienda's employees lived with their families.

"Perfect, I'll stop by to see them in the afternoon," he said, and without further ado, he took the horse's reins and left.

When Max was passing by a group of cattle that were next to the lake, a voice called him, when he realized who it was, he ignored it and continued on his way.

A good while after riding through the different areas of the hacienda, Max tied the reins of his horse to the branch of an oak tree that was next to the crystalline stream that was in the farthest area of the ranch.

The sun and the clouds were reflected perfectly on the crystalline water, Max approached the shore and when he put a hand in he realized that the water was cold, Max took off the black hat he was wearing and wiped the sweat from his forehead before leaving the hat aside and splashing some water on his face.

Max sat on the bank of the stream, the grass was somewhat grown and very green, without a doubt that was the best place on the hacienda, the silence there was something blessed, far from the sight of others, on one side there was a small cut of red rose bushes perfectly flowered.

That was Max's favorite place, he had even asked the employees of the place to take care of it in his absence, therefore every time he was visiting no one dared to go to that place since that was Max's personal sanctuary, sometimes he stayed to take a nap on the grass in the middle of the afternoon, and that day had not been the exception.

Max was just falling asleep when someone interrupted in his place, He opened his eyes and found the body of a completely naked woman in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing, Cynthia?" he asked, quickly sitting up.

"You've been ignoring me before, Max, but I know you won't now," the woman affirmed confidently as she adjusted her blonde hair to one side.

Max looked her up and down without saying anything. His body did not react until a moment later when she knelt right in front of him and began to lower the zipper of his pants.

"Remember not to break the rules," Max whispered just when she began to make those movements right there with her mouth.

The girl looked at him and nodded.

A while later Max was already fixing his pants when he stood up and the woman was fixing the dress that had been lying aside since she arrived.

"When are you going to come see me?" the woman asked pouting.

"I don't know, Cinthya," he replied coldly, as it bothered him to have to explain again that what he offered her was only sex and only that, in his plans there was no commitment.

Without saying more, Max got on his horse and when he was returning to the big house the sun had almost completely set.

Just when he opened the door he heard a voice, that voice was different from the ones he had heard before, it was soft and tender, it seemed like the voice of an angel, Max felt something run through his body.

Upon entering the room three pairs of eyes turned towards him, he immediately understood who that voice was.

Honey-colored eyes framed by thick and long eyelashes, with a deep gaze, caught his attention enough for him to ignore the other two.

Max felt his hairs stand on end at that slim but well-formed figure of five foot seven, a skin so fair that it seemed very delicate, pink cheeks as well as pink and plump lips, despite the fact that she was wearing an out-of-fashion dress and even below the knees and her hair gathered in a high ponytail he felt how his body reacted immediately.

It was impossible for him not to imagine those eyes looking at him from below his body in another circumstance and with many emotions reflected in them, Max brushed those thoughts aside abruptly when he realized who that girl of no more than 22 years old was, Max's expression quickly became fierce and he looked away towards his father who had moved closer to the girl holding her hand in his.

"It's good that you've arrived, son," he began to say. "I present to you Eda Gazmey, my future wife."

At that mention, Max felt nauseous, it was so unpleasant to him that he did not hide his disgust at all.

"I'm tired, I'm going to sleep," he blurted out without further ado, but when he was about to leave, his father stopped him.

"Where are your manners, Maximiliano?" the man asked, somewhat displeased.

"I still have them, Father," he affirmed. "But not for certain people," in saying that he glanced sideways at Eda who remained silent and with her head down next to Joseph who looked at his brother with disapproval for his behavior.

"Well, get used to the idea that you have to put them into practice, Max," the man warned.

Max left without saying anything else, he threw a last look where he made direct contact with Eda and left quickly upstairs.

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