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“What are you trying to tell me?” I clip out.
“There is no delicate way to say this,” he replies. “My daughter hasn’t been well in her mind for a very long time. She has a skewed relationship with the truth, to put it lightly. We don’t know why. The therapists don’t know why. But something inside her makes her do these things. What she told you is not even close to her reality. We don’t have money problems, and I’m not sick. And as far as Adam goes, it was always her choice to be with him. It’s still her choice to be with him.”
I swallow the knot in my throat as I study her dad’s face, looking for signs of deception. Some indication that what I just heard can’t be true. But I don’t see any. All I see is an exhausted father. And when I look out the window again and find Bianca pressed against Adam’s side with a smile on her face, it feels like someone just sucker punched me. Could I really have been that fucking blind to her?
“I’m not telling you these things to hurt you,” Luis says. “I want to clear the air and offer my sincere apologies for any pain Bianca has caused you.”
I let out a harsh breath. “Does Adam know?”
He shifts and gives a subtle nod. “He does, and he accepts her for who she is, just as she accepts his flaws.” He pauses to emphasize that part, letting me know he’s aware of Adam’s emotional baggage. “She loves him, and I know you do, too. So whatever thoughts you have when you look at them together, you need to set them aside and ask yourself one simple question. Can you give her the life she deserves? Can you give her the life Adam can?”
I bite back my bitter response because I have nothing to offer Bianca, and we both know it. Not now. Maybe not ever. But even if I could, his disclosure changes things. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea that everything she told me could have been some twisted fucking story she invented.
“I know this must be a lot to take in, and I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” Her father removes an envelope from his pocket and slides it across the counter. “But I’d like to give this to you, Madden. I understand you aren’t Stefan’s son, and things are different for you. You don’t have the same opportunities as Adam, but I’m offering you one now.”
“You’re trying to buy me off?” I snort.
“I’m giving you a chance to remove yourself from the equation,” he answers. “Before you do something we’ll all regret. Before you break your brother’s heart, along with my daughter’s.”
I stare at the envelope and then lift my gaze to his. “I don’t want your fucking money.”
“Madden.” He grimaces. “I know what it’s like to be in your shoes, believe it or not. I’m not trying to insult you. I’m trying to help.”
“Like I said, I don’t want your fucking money.” I tear the envelope in half and hand it back to him. “When I leave here, I’ll do it on my own.”
Chapter 35
Lyric
“Come on.”
I glance up at Madden as he gestures for me from the doorway, and my stomach caves in. “Why?”
“We’re going to the clubhouse.”
I eye him suspiciously, but he’s not even looking directly at me. We haven’t spoken since I left his room last night. After I came back here and collapsed on the couch with the evidence of his hate still leaking down my thighs, I fell into a tormented sleep, feeling emptier than I’m sure I’ve ever been.
There’s no doubt in my mind he really does want to hate me for who he thinks I am, but I also know he still cares about Bianca, too. He has the undeniable evidence plastered to the wall in his bedroom. And it’s been eating at me, this sinking feeling whenever I think about them together. I don’t know why I care. All I know is I’m sick of him calling me by her name. I’m sick of him wishing I was someone else. His mind can’t separate us, and mine can’t share an identity with a girl I don’t even know.
I’m exhausted and irritable, and I didn’t even bother to eat the cold Pop-Tarts he left me on the bar this morning. I’m weak and depressed, and the last thing I want to do is move, but the only thing that drives me forward is the chance to see Eden.
“Why are we going to the clubhouse?” I ask.
He turns away and doesn’t answer.
I follow him through the house, allowing the silence to engulf us as he leads me to the front door and punches in a code that he doesn’t let me see.
