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Chapter 22 - Marcus: Paparazzi
You know that saying that goes,‘if you play with fire you are going to get burned?’Yeah, I was playing with fire, and that fire was called Maddison Vandlewoods, well, Anderson now.
It was still so surreal to think that she actually had my last name. If someone would have told me six months ago that I would be married to Maddison, I would have told them that they were smoking crack.
This past week had been heaven on earth, but now it was our last day, and we were back in the city after our week away in the Hamptons.
I knew that Maddie and I came from two different worlds, but I didn’t realize how different until I came to the Hamptons.
I often forgot that she was an heiress the majority of the time because she just seemed so normal. She knew who she was, and she didn’t take crap from anyone, least of all me. She held her own, and she never looked down on anyone.
This week, I had started seeing her in a new light. I found myself laughing more than I ever had. There was a light about Maddison that just drew me in. I was a moth to a flame when it came to her, and that was how I knew I was in dangerous waters.
I couldn’t ignore it anymore even if I had tried. I liked Maddison and, even now, it felt like a betrayal to Sarah to say that.
The ring on my finger felt like it weighed a ton. The expensive metal burned my skin. I had plunged into this with Maddie without fully thinking everything through. I had made a vow to her, and I intended on keeping that vow.
Maddie and I were at some café that she loved to go to. It was the first time in days we had surfaced from our rooms. The last five days had been a whirlwind.
“This is diabetes in a cup,” I said, as I placed the drink down which she had ordered for me. The name of the drink was too long for me to remember. It was so sweet I could feel it at the back of my teeth.
“No, it’s not Anderson, you are just uncultured,” she teased me while she took a sip of her own coffee. “Plus, you need some sweetness in your system.”
“I’m plenty sweet, Mads. In fact”—I grabbed her chair and pulled it toward me—“some would argue I am one of the sweetest people on the face of this planet.”
She snorted. Her face split into a smile, and I couldn’t help but lean down and capture her lips. She tasted sweeter than my coffee had, but I didn’t mind. She was the kind of sweetness that I didn’t mind getting addicted to.
She melted into my side and hummed her approval. It had become second nature to pull her in or reach for her.
It scared me how comfortable I felt in my role as her husband even though I knew it was only temporary. In a few months, we would annul our union as if it never happened.
When we pulled away, I tried my best not to let the emotion show on my face. I didn’t want my inner turmoil to ruin the last few hours we had left in this blissful bubble.
“I think we should shower before we leave for home,” she whispered. I heard her secret message loud and clear.
I stood up and threw a few bills on the table and grabbed my wife’s hand. We walked out of the café hand in hand, the anticipation of what was about to come making me move faster.
As we walked to the car with the awaiting driver, someone called Maddie’s name. We stopped and looked to our left and saw three men with cameras pointed at us.
“Maddie, how do you feel about Richard not being your real father?”
My blood ran cold. What had he just said?
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said as she took the lead and pulled me to the car.
“Maddie? Is it true that you have been removed from the board?”
“Does Richard still think of you as his daughter?”
“Is it true your mother whored herself to a farmer?”
"Is this the man you married? Are you pregnant?"
Maddie dived into the car, and I followed after her. The driver shut the door and got in and drove.
I turned to face my wife who looked like she was in shock. She just stared ahead, no real emotion on her face. I reached over and grabbed her hand in mine. I kissed her hand gently trying to draw her back to me.
Her head turned slowly in my direction.
