Page 52 of Sweet Addiction

I turn to leave only to stop. “Whatever you say. I love you Mom. But I’m leaving. I can’t be here right now.”

She grabs my arm so painfully, I wince. “No, you’re not. You owe me Madison. And to make up for what you have done, you will sign the contracts for our show without argument. Don’t think I don’t know about your NYU college application and the internship.” She flashes me a vile smile. “You were accepted to the school by the way. The letter came in the mail before the holidays. So not only have you been a deceitful cunt by fucking Knox, now you want to hurt me further by following inthat woman’sfootsteps.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I pull my arm out of her grip, shaking my head with a sad smile. “You hurt me every day by forcing me into something I don’t want. I guess we are even.”

She sucks in a breath, but I don’t wait for her to respond. Climbing the stairs, I make quick work of filling a duffle bag with clothes and ordering an Uber. I promised Knox I would see him but after my conversation with Mom what is the point? It’s clear that he lied to me and now he is going to be a father. News that will be splashed across the tabloids tomorrow. I can’t be around that. I can’t be around him. And I definitely cannot be around my mother.

Grabbing my stuff, I rush down the stairs, only to find her standing at the bottom waiting for me. Her eyes narrow in on my bag, anger contorting her face. “Where are you going you selfish brat? If you go tohimthen I am done with you.”

Blinking, a stray tear rolls down my cheek. “I’m not going to Knox. But we need space from each other,” I mumble, pushing past her to the front door. Flinging it open, I make my way outside and stride down the drive. I ignore Mom screaming my name as I head down the road to the guardhouse.

It doesn’t take long and when I reach the gates, I make my way through the side gate. Coming to a stop, I crouch down sucking in a deep breath. “Fuck,” I curse softly as I run a palm down my face. That was intense and too much for me to handle right now. I did the right thing leaving. It gives Mom and Knox time to sort things out without me as a distraction.

A car pulling up, snaps me out of my thoughts. After checking it’s mine, I climb inside, instantly falling back against the seat and turning my phone off.

“You, okay?” My gaze shoots to the mirror meeting my driver’s kind dark eyes.

I swallow as a tear falls down my cheek. “I will be.”

* * *

“Not that we are not happy to see you, sweetheart. But...” my father trails off before finishing. “Well to be frank, we are worried.” Dad and Vanessa stare at me as I sip a cup of coffee, concern in both their eyes.

I caught a 10 p.m. flight from LAX last night and arrived at my father’s penthouse just after 8 a.m. this morning. When I finally turned my cell on, so I could call my dad and tell him I was in New York. It was to find hundreds of missed calls and messages from my mother and Knox. “I’m fine Dad. I just needed to get away from Mom.”

He eyes me before sighing. “This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with her announcement in US weekly this morning, would it?”

I stiffen, blood turning cold at the reminder of why I fled my home in LA for the safety of my father’s. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

His eyes soften. “Honey, please talk to us. What happened?”

My lip trembles. Tears spring to my eyes. My father and Vanessa are rounding the breakfast counter, pulling me into their arms before I can stop them. “Madi, honey. Don’t keep it bottled up; it’s not healthy for you. Talk to us,” Vanessa pleads.

“You will think I’m disgusting.” My shoulders rack with my sobs.

“Sshh, there is nothing that you can say that will make us think that. We love you and that will never change,” Dad rasps, his voice filled with emotion.

And I don’t know what comes over me, but I have the urge to tell them the truth. “I fell in love with Knox,” I blurt, my words muffled. They both tense and my heart hammers in my chest. Chancing a glance at them, I look up and am surprised when I don’t find the repulsion, that I thought I would in their eyes.

Dad grimaces before inhaling a deep breath. “Let’s go get comfortable in the lounge and you can start from the beginning.”

I nod, sucking in a breath. “Okay.”

We get situated on the couches, my father on one side of me and stepmother on the other. Then I tell them everything that has happened. By the time I am done, I’m exhausted but feel lighter. There is something to be said about getting your secrets off your chest.

It’s cathartic.

And exactly what I needed.

Now I just have to deal with the fallout.

Which if Knox’s messages and voicemails are anything to go by is going to be harder than I thought.

Something tells me that Knox won’t let me go.

No matter how much I want him to.

ChapterThirty-Five

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