It's really entertaining to read all the theories here. :lol: Crazy that some of you have had such strange and bad encounters with Max. He's an absolute sweetheart in my game. :open_mouth: Since one of my sims eventually marries Max and becomes part of the Villareal family in my current save, I've developed quite some extensive theories about Mrs. Villareal's disappearance.
I've never had great experiences with Jacques; he's horrible to his children and has always made me uneasy. His name also means "supplanter" or "usurper", so I'm led to believe that his name was chosen purposefully as a way to indicate that he stole the power and figurative throne from his wife. On top of this, Villareal (and various spelling variations) is a Spanish surname with ties to royalty and nobility. I think that this would make Jacques very concerned about his reputation, social status, wealth, and power. Since he's in the criminal career, dastardly and insane, I think he's more than likely the culprit. Max is a child and in my mind, he most likely developed the evil trait after the loss of his mother and puts on the "bad boy" persona to protect himself and to irritate Jacques, who he believes killed her. I highly doubt a child sim would be able to take down an adult, and Hugo and Luna are almost certainly innocent. I imagine that Mrs. Villareal may have found out that Jacques was involved in the criminal career and threatened to either expose him to the public and ruin his reputation or to take the kids and leave. He had no choice but to get rid of her to protect his reputation and societal standing, and to ensure he had complete control over the kids. It's also possible one of his co-workers found out that she knew too much and killed her. There's another possibility that he became insane with guilt over the bad deeds he's done over the years and killed her in a fit of rage or while unstable. I also think it's telling that the estate has absolutely no trace of her. If Max had done it (which I don't think is physically possible), I highly doubt Jacques would have erased all evidence of her unless he had done it himself. The estate seems to have been remodeled to suit Jacques's tastes, and without a single sign a woman ever lived there. Also, that basement has always creeped me out. :cold_sweat: It's dark, looks very cold, and has shelves with urns (decorative, but urns nonetheless) on the wall. :sweat: He's the murderer in my eyes.
As for Max, there's no denying he's got a temper. I think all three kids' personalities show how they've coped with the loss of their mother. Hugo is very socially awkward and finds solace in cooking and reading. He doesn't make friends in game, and seems to stay in his home most of the time. Luna is obsessed with being popular and accepted by others, and in my game, later goes on to date around and look for love in all the wrong places. Max, who as the youngest was most likely the closest to their mother, was devastated when she disappeared and developed the evil trait and uses the "bad boy" persona as a defense mechanism. He greatly resents his father and knows that reputation and social standing mean more to Jacques than almost anything else, so he created Renegades and attempts to ruin his own reputation as a way of rebelling. In my own game, Max has been the best sim husband and father I've ever encountered in TS4 and aside from a few occasional temper flare-ups, he's extremely loving and protective of his spouse and family. Jacques has always set off the alarm bells for me, but maybe it's just me and my crazy imagination doing all the talking here. :lol:
Edit:
I edit excessively because I'm a bit strange...don't mind me. :lol:
