Chapter 2: Maddy

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Maddy's hand was unconsciously hovering over her stomach as she stared at the scene below her balcony. By the pool was her sister and her friends, sipping ice-cold juices, heralding their last summer before senior year.

Maria had changed while Maddy was at college. Though Maddy had seen her during holidays, she had missed a good chunk of her sister's life. Who was once warm and adorably awkward was now cold and cool, her smile one that could slice you in two.

It had all come from a broken heart. Boys ruined everything, and Piers Lockhart's brother had ruined hers.

Maddy sighed, adjusting her position on the chair so her feet were resting on the rungs of the railing.

"Minha flor, why aren't you down there telling your sister about college before she leaves for Spain and forgets why it is so important," her mother said, peeking her head out of the sliding door.

If her mother were not a model, she'd have been a police officer, or a debt collector, or someone else who got to boss people around and demand things. But, with the beauty she carried, Maddy knew she was truly destined for the world of fame.

"Because Maria doesn't care about college, mamãe. I didn't at her age, either."

Besides, why would she be one to lecture her sister about college when she wasn't even going herself?

Of course, after being offered a place at one of the most prestigious schools in America, Maddy couldn't not take it, even if it were for all the wrong reasons. After a summer that ended with the only thing she'd ever truly loved being taken from her arms, she packed up her bags for Connecticut. They'd bought her an apartment and everything. Anything to ensure the Greene's treasured prince never discovered the truth.

She started classes at first, plastering on a smile and some designer brands, but she'd lasted one week. Then, she just stopped.

After that, it was a month before she left her apartment again.

It had been dark times. Times that had grown so lonely that she wasn't quite sure if what was around her was even real. She was a prisoner to a lavish apartment and a silent agreement, exiled from her home and forgotten. She was doing great. She was going to Yale. She was destined for success.

She was dying.

Her mother sighed, jolting Maddy from her thoughts. "Well, at least take her to New York at some point this summer, make a trip over to the campus and get her interested."

Maddy gave a tight smile. "Sure."

She could only hope her sister didn't have to get knocked-up by a Greene and forced to flee to the other side of the country to get to college too.

One thing had saved Maddy. And it wasn't money, or clothes, or a boy. It was hope.

Somewhere, perhaps not even that far from her apartment, was a baby girl. Her baby girl. A girl she mourned for every day. A girl who was getting a better life than Maddy could ever have given her.

She wiggled her toes, embracing the warmth from the sun that was hitting her skin. Below her, the girls laughed and giggled, and she wondered if they were anything like she had been. She desperately hoped not.

While she was away, all she wanted was to come home. But now, being here, everything was coming back. And it only made her want to run.

***

It was late afternoon when her phone rang, the first time anyone had called since she'd returned. Maddy was hesitant, rolling over from where she'd fallen asleep on the downstairs couch.

Her face flickered into a smile when she saw the caller ID.

"Chloe!"

"Calm down, Danton, I might get the impression you actually missed me," she said with a chuckle on the other end of the line.

"I did miss you."

"It's been what, two weeks since we last spoke?"

"That's a reasonable amount of time to start missing someone." The smile was still on her lips as she fidgeted with the tassels of the throw strewn over her lap.

"Well, I missed you too," Chloe said with feigned reluctance. "So... I've just bought flights for next week."

"Flights?" Maddy said, frowning. Her heart was already thrumming, but she couldn't get her hopes up.

"I'm coming home," Chloe said, her tone a little off. "Surprise!"

Maddy straightened, pulling a cushion to her chest. "You're coming home? Seriously?"

"Yep. I mean, you know I wasn't planning to but... my parents are getting a divorce. I should probably be there."

"Well, shit." She'd known Chloe's parents were on rocky ground, but divorce? "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This will probably be good for them."

Maddy hesitated. "Will... you know..."

Her unfinished sentence hung in the air, but luckily Chloe picked up on her tone. "Yes, he's picking me up. I'm staying with him, actually."

"In the Bishop family home?"

She scoffed. "No. His apartment near college. But I'll be visiting you all the time, I promise."

Out of all of them, Will had been the only one to stay close. Maybe it was his strong stake in the family business or his reluctance to give up lacrosse – he was still coaching Arlington's team – but he never strayed far from home, living a mere thirty-minute drive from town.

"I'm so happy you're coming back," she said, and then she felt tears pressing against her eyes. If it hadn't been for Chloe – and God, Chloe had been there for a lot – she was sure she would have crumbled into pieces a long time ago.

"Me too. Well, not happy to be coming back, but so happy to be seeing you."

Maddy had almost forgotten how much Chloe hated it here. Like the rest of them, she'd lost a lot. Everyone had in the end.

"Call me as soon as you land. I mean, I'd tell you to see me immediately, but if he's picking you up..."

There was a giggle on the other side of the line, and Maddy would have barfed if she hadn't waited so long to hear it. Though Chloe and Will had been speaking on and off ever since she'd reunited them by surprise, she knew they'd both been hesitant. She didn't know what secrets were hidden between them, and what had pushed them to the point they were at, but she knew deep down they couldn't have just given up what they had.

Maddy had always been one to believe in true love, despite how nonchalant she'd taken relationships. She never wanted to feel too deeply, just in case.

But, she'd been hurt in the end anyway. Torn apart from the inside out, literally. A piece of her taken, never to be returned, an ache that would never leave.

Long after the phone call ended she was still reminiscing in what had been. There had been two turning points in her life. One had been the moment things had gone too far, and someone she'd considered a close friend died from a drug overdose. The last person Monica had ever – would ever – talk to was Maddy.

After that, she'd become care-free. After all, caring was what ended in hurt. She loved parties, and she loved people. All she wanted to was to have fun, to enjoy life and never pause. To be free.

The second turning point had been winding up pregnant. Now she didn't quite know who she was anymore. It didn't matter. She was living each day just trying to stay afloat in the sea of emotions threatening to drag her down into their depths.

One of Maddy's finest talents was putting on a front. She was an expert at acting bubbly, which is part of what kept her family from freaking out when she stopped going to college. They never knew, of course, and she couldn't let them suspect anything was wrong.

She was a spoilt princess, granted a spot at the most prestigious of schools, only to be a brat and run away.

She hated herself deeply. For giving up, for giving in, and for losing her.

"Maddy, can you take us shopping?"

Maddy's head whipped around to look over the back of the sofa. Maria was standing at the threshold of the door, a puppy-dog look on her pretty face.

"Why can't Mom take you?" she asked softly.

"Mom is next door having coffee with Ms. Maxwell. In other words, she's day drinking next door. I don't have my permit, and by the time a driver can get here we'll only have an hour before the mall closes."

"And why can't you wait until tomorrow?"

"Because we want to go now," Maria whined. She crossed her arms over her chest. "We leave for Spain in five days."

"I can't take you, Maria."

"Why not?"

Maddy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She couldn't leave the house. She couldn't face seeing anyone, not even a glimpse. "No, Maria. I'm not feeling well."

"More like you're just too scared to go out in public because you gave up your baby. Just face the fucking music and move on."

Maddy closed her eyes. She couldn't let it get to her. She couldn't let it get to her. She counted to ten, and in that time her sister had stomped away, her heels clattering against the tiled floor.

She couldn't let it get to her.

Maria had called the driver. She and her group of divas had left the house, and Maddy was left in peace. Her Dad was in the UK to star in some talk-show, and her mother was – as Maria put it – day drinking next door.

She took deep breaths. She didn't want to be home. She had half a mind to book a plane ticket right now.

Pulling out her laptop, she began looking up flights. She needed to escape, here was no longer home. Ever since she'd been shunned by a clever team of lawyers and a scandalous secret that was her's to burden, she knew she was an outcast. She always would be.

At least in Connecticut, she could blend in with the endless stream of strangers and pretend to be someone else. She ran a hand over her stomach again. Once she had felt a connection in doing that, in cradling the bump ballooning from her body. But now, she was empty.

She booked the first flight back after next week, just so she'd have just enough time to see Chloe. And then she cried and cried until nothing was left.

It was evening by the time Maria returned. Maddy heard her car pull into the driveway, and after an abnormal length of time, the doorbell rang.

"Of course you forgot you damn keys like the dim-witted little girl you are," she muttered, ready to lash out at her evil sister. After her previous words, she wouldn't hold back on the little brat.

But it was not her sister on the other side of the door.

Maddy had met a lot of people who she deemed evil, but one towered above all others. He'd ruined her reputation, and he'd ultimately ruined her life. To keep him oblivious of his secret child, Maddy's lips had been stitched shut with contracts and riches. But that didn't matter. He was still here.

Francis Greene was standing on her doorstep.

It took all of her strength not to faint. Or maybe even scream. Because suddenly, in one simple moment, all of her nightmares had been brought to life.


does anything in this chapter surprise you? are you ready to get into Francis' head?

thanks for reading, love ann

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