Page 1 of Sweet Madness

Space Note

“The Moon is getting farther away every year. Just like your love.” – E

Prologue

ELLA

“Is there still a place in your heart to keep mine safe?” – E

Venice, Italy

“One star, two stars…” I exhale, feeling my entire body shake with the effort.

Not even the magnificent sky above me, filled with twinkling stars, can lift my spirits tonight. Not even this wondrous city, rich with magic and history, can put a smile on my face. I’m starting to believe there’s something seriously wrong with me.

The reminder that I am privileged and so very blessed nags at me, but I push it away. Just for tonight, I let myself feel it all. Just for tonight, I let dark thoughts and sadness take root in my heart instead of pretending that everything is fine. After a while of pretending for the world, for my parents, it gets exhausting. So very tiring.

All is not fine, and it hasn’t been for a while now. It has nothing to do with the fact that I just found out my boyfriend of two years cheated on me with someone I considered a friend. What makes matters worse is that the world found out about it at the same time I did. If it weren’t mortifying enough to be betrayed by people I thought I knew, I had to go through it in the public eye. It is humiliating.

I have to smile through the disappointment and the hurt.

I’ve gotten so good at it that sometimes I even fool myself.

I know from a young age that privacy is something I would have very little of. My parents are public figures, and the world is fascinated with our family. Their fascination with my parents I understand, but I haven’t done anything extraordinary for the world. Nothing that really matters, yet I have millions of people following me on social media.

Millions of strangers.

They all want to know what I’m doing, who I’m dating, and all the juicy gossip.

Don’t get me wrong. I choose not to hide from the world and expose myself. I am not a victim, but for me, posting on social media is different from how it is for my siblings.

I love posting for myself and keeping in touch with my family. It also gives me the opportunity to help others. When I post about a charity I believe in, it gets thousands of likes and shares, which helps the cause. I also love promoting small businesses, and the exposure makes a difference. That’s why I do it.

But the media spins everything to make me look like a spoiled and vain heiress.

They don’t really care about all the good deeds I want to do for the less fortunate. We live in a world that values scandals more than good deeds. Sad but true.

Now my face is plastered all over the internet, with speculation about where I went wrong to make them betray me like they did. Typical.

The blame is placed on the one being cheated on instead of the lying jerk who cheated with someone else. Anger simmers in my stomach as their betrayal replays in my mind.

I slowly exhale, staring up at the sky with unshed tears in my eyes. How could you, Remi? I try to wrap my mind around the fact that someone I’ve known since middle school—someone I confided in and spent beautiful moments with, someone I let around my family—could have betrayed me like that for a fun time.

Does loyalty mean nothing to people anymore?

I guess not.

I knew this would happen, though.

I guess it was at the forefront of my mind throughout our relationship. I gave him my time and friendship, but I never truly let him have my heart, not in the way he craved. Maybe that is where I went wrong. I should have ended things when I realized I couldn’t love him the way he wanted me to.

I don’t truly think I’m to blame. He chose to betray me and hook up with someone who called herself my friend. They’re the ones to blame, not me.

And as if it weren’t hard enough for me to make friends, now I’ve lost two. Were they really my friends? I don’t know anymore.

Most people want to get to know me just because of my parents, my wealth, or sometimes to get to my siblings. It’s never been genuine. This should be a lesson not to trust so easily.

Life keeps reminding me that the only people I can trust are my family—my siblings and my cousins. Speaking of cousins, my younger cousins Raiza and Willow have been blowing up my phone with uplifting messages all day. Willow even sent me pictures of things I love: fun facts about galaxies and stars, baking videos, and photos of her making funny faces. All things I adore.

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