Chapter 24
Rico s frustration bubbled over and he growled, his words cutting through the tense air. “Maddie, don‘ t you understand? I’ve always-”
Before he could finish, Maddie cut him off with a cold, humorless laugh.
“Heh,” she scoffed, her voice sharp as a blade. “Why is it that you‘ re allowed to have a girlfriend, but I’m not allowed to have a fiancé?”
Rico froze, his expression faltering. “I don‘ t-”
Before he could defend himself further, he took a step forward, his hand reaching out toward Maddie as if to pull her into his grasp. But Andrew was quicker. He stepped between them, blocking Rico’s path
without a word, his stance protective but
calm.
Maddie glanced at Rico briefly, then turned
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Chapter 24
her full attention back to Andrew.
“You don’t?” she repeated, her voice icy. “Then maybe you should listen to what you‘ re about to hear.”
Rico’s eyes were filled with desperation. He wasn’t ready to let go, not yet.
“Maddie, please… Jane isn‘ t my real girlfriend. We re just pretending for the promotion of a new movie. It’s all just… for the publicity. But you–you‘ ve always been in my heart. I thought… I thought you‘ d wait for me…”
“Wait for you?” Emma interjected harshly, his voice steady but filled with disappointment. “You should have thought of that a long time ago. Do you know how much Maddie has endured for you?”
He turned to face Rico directly, his tone turning stern, cold. “We found Maddie when she was a senior in college, but she chose to stay away from the Evans Family for you. But what did you do? You let your
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fans drag her through hell, cyberbullying her day after day. If you really cared about her, you would have stepped up and cleared her name long ago! But instead, you let her suffer.”
Rico’s face paled and the anger drained from his expression, replaced with regret. He had never considered how much pain. Maddie had gone through. He hadn’t been there for her when she needed him most. His silence was deafening and he could feel the weight of his actions pressing down on him.
Behind him, Jane had been standing in shock, piecing everything together in her mind. So, Maddie was actually the sister of Emma? The sister she had been unknowingly targeting all along?
Her face twisted into a mixture of guilt and self–preservation. She was the most
popular female artist at the Evergreen Agency and despite her past mistakes, she still had opportunities here. Emma had
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li hellways been lenient with her. Even if she at read clashed with Maddie before, there was steppo reason to ruin everything now.
12
Bage!
ane slowly took a couple of steps
ackward, distancing herself from Rico, as ad the retreating into the shadows of the room. replace
ered ho
rough
co, still caught up in his emotions, tried gain, his voice breaking. “Maddie, this is my fault… I didn’t think about you,
hen she
is deafe
t of his a
id been
out what you ve been through. Please, e me a chance to explain.”
- m. Maddie wasn‘ t having it. She shook
erhead, her voice firm. “There’s no Ted, Rico. I don’t need your explanation thingt
ause I stopped caring about you a long e ago.”
as actua
he had
ing allar words hung in the air and for a brief ment, Rico looked as if he might apse under the weight of them. His ulders slumped, his fists unclenched
o a mix
1e was
st at the
all he could do was stare at her in her pastier
belief.
les here
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words were final. She turned away, gently taking Andrew’s hand. “Come on andrew, let’s go.”
As they walked away, she glanced up at him, her voice quieter now. “I’m sorry, Andrew. I never wanted to drag you into this mess.”
Andrew paused for a moment, looking down at her with a warm, reassuring smile.
“Maddie, you don’t need to apologize. It’s an honor to be here, to be with you. Besides,” he added with a slight chuckle,
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
Maddie blinked, surprised by the sincerity in his words. “You‘ ve been waiting for me?”
Andrew nodded, his expression softening. He took a deep breath before speaking again. “Honestly, from the moment I found out about you, when you were still a child lost to the family, I saw your photo. You were exactly the same as when you
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ter 24
She tun young and it never felt strange to me. s hand ore than that–when I heard you were
I cried. I thought I might never meet
And I’ve had dreams, so many
0.”
away, she
quieterno
wanted to
as, where you were found… and we together.”
die’s heart skipped a beat. She had
s felt like an outsider in her own life, ere was Rico, speaking of her like she
for a mom
th a warm
Jon the
to be here be
e missing piece of something he had d for.
dded with erew, I-” she began, but words aiting forth her. How could she explain what she
eling? How could she understand
he was offering, when everything had
1, surprissur chaotic?
You retu
w smiled softly, his hand finding nce more. “You don’t have to say d, his ethis
- ng. I just wanted you to know. I’ll or as long as you need.”
breath breat
aly, frenly, from
if you w you
e famile famil
ly the sty thes
