Page 94 of Madden

I clench my jaw and force myself to breathe.

“I have no idea what you think you know about me, but this is all a huge misunderstanding.”

She chuckles and shakes her head. “You’re not gonna sit here and lie and think it’s all going to be swept under the rug. It’s over. He’s done. He left and doesn’t want to see you. I owe him a favor, so when he asked me to see to gettin’ you back home, I told him I’d take care of it. So you’re left with me.”

Kyla smirks, dropping her arms to her waist.

“I understand you’re not feeling well after what happened, so I’ve made arrangements to put you up at a hotel. You can stay there if you’d like until you fly back to New York. If you’d like to move your flight up, I can take care of booking you a new one instead.”

My mouth drops open. Is she serious?

I shake my head. “I’m not leaving until I talk to Madden.”

I reach for my phone and pull up his name.

“Don’t bother wasting your time. He doesn’t want to see you, and he doesn’t want to speak to you. Don’t you get it? He’s done.”

“No, I don’t get it because he’s wrong. It’s not what he thinks.”

“So the email he saw from Clive Teller, talking about his offer still stands if you ever decide you want to come back to Hollywood Tea, is all a big misunderstanding? I don’t know, Brielle, but it seems pretty clear to me.”

The email I sent to Clive.

I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. There’s no holding back the tears filling the brim of my eyes. After everything that’s happened over the past couple of weeks, I don’t even bother trying to reason with her.

It’s clear Kyla’s already made up her mind about me, and I don’t have the energy to fight with her right now.

“I’ll just get my things, and I’ll be out of your way.”

She doesn’t say anything as she watches me circle the bar to grab my laptop.

“Just tell me one thing,” Kyla retorts. “Were you behind all the articles printed about any of us on Hollywood Tea?”

I glance up at her. No, I wasn’t. I’ve never written a bad thing about any of the guys, and I meant what I said the day I showed up here for the interview, when I told Madden I had no intentions of doing anything to hurt them.

“No. I never have, and I never will.”

She nods slowly, glancing over at Tysin and shrugging. I don’t think either of them believes me, but at this point, I don’t care anymore.

After I’m back home in New York and all the shit settles down, and I’m left with picking up the pieces, I’m sure this falling out with his sister will hurt too. Right now, though, I can’t let myself focus on the ache in my chest.

“From the moment I came in here, I know you all expected the worst. I overheard you talking to Madden after we first met the day of the interview. I even heard you and Brix warning him to be careful after he invited me out to Whiskey Barrel,” I say to Tysin. “There’s no point in me sitting here trying to explain or defend myself, when you all have been set on thinking the worst of me from the moment I stepped through the door.”

“Were we wrong, though?” Kyla scoffs. “I mean, I think it’s safe to say our suspicions were correct, wouldn’t you agree?”

I shake my head. “No, in fact it’s the furthest from the truth. I have no idea what you think you may know about me or what lies you’ve filled your head with as to why I was talking with Clive at Hollywood Tea. What I will tell you is I was doing it to try to protect Madden. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do. It doesn’t matter, though. Like I said, I’m not gonna sit here and try to defend myself to people determined to only see me from their point of view.”

Kyla nods her head and watches me pack up my things.

It isn’t until I climb the stairs to Madden’s bedroom that I let the emotions hit me. There’s no holding them back now.

I pull up my messages with Madden, reading the last one he sent me saying “I love you” when I was in the hospital. I quickly type out a text to him before I think better of it. Who knows if he’ll see it, and if he does, if he’ll bother to read it.

Me: What happened to not pushing me away and us getting through anything? You couldn't even give me a chance to explain?

I force myself to quickly pack up my things in my suitcase while I order an Uber to pick me up. Kyla offered to put me up in a hotel, but the last thing I’m going to do is accept anything from them.

I’m going to collect my things, head straight to the airport, and fly back to New York. All I want right now is to get home and as far away from here as I can get.

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