Page 114 of Insta Bride

It hadn’t taken long for Maddox to fuck up my life.

It had taken half a fucking nanosecond for him to hand over the voice recording to someone. On my way home from work, it had been all over radio stations. Except, they only got half the truth.

Fuck.

Yes, the whole world—Elena—had heard his offer before my silent pause. They’d cut off the recording after five long seconds of silence.

They didn’t even give me the chance to show my side. No one seemed to want to know or hear the missing piece of the recording when I’d told him no fucking way. Okay, in nicer words—but the intent had been clear. My wife was not a negotiation or bargaining chip.

No, that part had been omitted.

I’d already rung everyone I had contact info for from the production company.

Apparently, it would be fixed in the edit. That I needed to understand this was the way the show was played.

“It’s an illegal recording. He recorded me without my consent,” I’d raged but fallen on deaf ears. Yes, they’d be happy to lend me a lawyer to take action but it would have to be filmed.

This was my life on the line.

This was my relationship with Elena on the line.

And nobody gave a fucking damn.

“Elena talk to me, please.” I left yet another message.

“Elena, come on. This is, this is—just call me. Please.”

I’d never pursued a woman before Elena.

This time, I hadn’t done anything wrong. I hadn’t been an asshole. This time, I was the innocent party.

For the first time in my miserable fucking life, I wanted to man up and for the relationship to work.

To hell with the money.

I had just politely told Maddox to screw money and my career. When asked to choose, I’d done the unthinkable—I’d chosen my wife.

Did that make it to air? No. My company and every other client, including Softli, only heard my silence.

I’d been willing—and was still willing—to screw over my career for my wife and she hadn’t even given me the chance to explain.

Would it have helped if I told her?

But, how could I tell her when I knew she didn’t feel the same? I didn’t know why she’d even agreed to the marriage, but it sure as hell wasn’t because she loved me.

In her eyes, I would only ever be a failed version of Maddox 2.0. Even on the island, she’d been willing to watch me hook-up with any of the cast or crew. She’d never decided to take a chance on loving me.

She married you, asshole.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Danielle Stone, my favorite of all the journalists had left me half a dozen voice messages. Yeah, no. The media were part of my problem and I couldn’t imagine a scenario where Danielle had good news. If it wasn’t good news, it would be bad news.

What was the worst thing that could have happened? Easy. Elena had given a statement ending our marriage. She’d already moved out and was about to move on with her life—without me.

In desperation, I rang Olivia’s husband, Hunter.

“Oh, not using text! This is very old school.”

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