“Do you even realize how ridiculous you look, clinging to Rico like this?” Jane sneered, her tone cutting through the silence like a blade. “What do you even bring to the table? Me? I have the backing of the most powerful company in the industry. Rico gets access to countless resources because of me. And you? What do you have? An entire orphanage?”
Jane laughed, covering her mouth delicately, as if the insult amused her.
Maddie froze, her heart pounding in her chest. This wasn’t the same Jane Harper who appeared so poised and gentle on screen. This was someone cold, calculating and cruel.
“I… I didn’t mean…” Maddie stammered, trying to explain, but Jane waved a dismissive hand.
“Save it,” she snapped, her patience wearing thin. “I don’t care what your intentions were before, but here’s the reality: Rico is my boyfriend now. Do yourself a favor—pack your things and leave. Otherwise…” She paused, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t blame me for being unpleasant.”
Without waiting for a response, Jane turned on her heel and strode into Maddie’s bathroom, leaving her standing there in stunned silence.
Maddie sighed deeply, fighting back tears. She told herself it didn’t matter. She was leaving anyway. Soon, Jane’s harsh words and accusations wouldn’t matter anymore.
***
As Maddie sat on the edge of her bed that night, her thoughts drifted back to the past.
During high school, she had leaned heavily on Rico’s support. At the time, Rico was just starting his acting career, taking small roles that barely paid the bills. Money was tight, but Rico had never hesitated to make sure Maddie had everything she needed.
When Maddie entered college, she wanted to ease his burden. She started writing novels, earning a modest income that gradually grew. From $200 a month to $2,000 and eventually tens of thousands, Maddie became fully self-sufficient. But even then, Rico insisted on sending her money every month. She had tried to refuse, but he always found a way to ensure she accepted it.
Quietly, Maddie saved every penny Rico gave her, including what he spent on her during high school. The money sat untouched in a separate account, ready to be returned to him if he ever needed it.
After graduating college, Maddie planned to pursue a job as an editor. But Rico asked her to stay.
“I’ve never had a real family before,” he’d said, his voice soft and vulnerable. “Now that I finally have one, I don’t want to lose it.”
Moved by his words, Maddie stayed. She took care of him, managed the house and wrote her novels. For a time, she thought she had built something unshakable with Rico—a warm, unbreakable bond.
But now, as Jane’s voice echoed in her mind, Maddie realized how naive she had been.
***
The next morning, Maddie woke late. She glanced at the clock—it was already ten. Panicking, she rushed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Rico.
She cooked millet yam and red date porridge, made fluffy egg cakes and fried two simple vegetarian dishes. Rico had a sensitive stomach and Maddie always took care to prepare meals that wouldn’t upset him.
As she finished setting the table, Jane sauntered into the kitchen wearing one of Rico’s oversized shirts. Her bare legs and confident smirk made Maddie feel even smaller.
“Good morning!” Jane chirped, her voice syrupy sweet. It was a far cry from the venom she’d spewed the night before.
Maddie forced a polite smile. “Morning.”
Jane scanned the table and pouted theatrically. “Oh no, it looks like someone forgot about me. No breakfast for the guest? Is this how you treat Rico’s girlfriend?”
Maddie blinked, realizing there were only two bowls of porridge on the table—one for her and one for Rico. Forcing herself to remain calm, she walked back to the kitchen and ladled another bowl for Jane.
As she turned to bring it to the table, she bumped into someone.
“Ah!” Jane shrieked, stepping back dramatically.
The bowl slipped from Maddie’s hands, crashing to the floor. Hot porridge splattered everywhere and the ceramic shattered. Maddie gasped as the scalding liquid splashed onto her feet. A sharp pain followed as a shard of porcelain sliced into the back of her foot, blood pooling instantly.
***
Jane’s scream drew Rico into the room. He rushed to Jane’s side, his eyes wide with concern.
“Jane, are you okay? What happened?”
“She just… bumped into me,” Jane said, her tone laced with accusation. “It’s fine, though. I’m not hurt.”
Rico turned to Maddie, who was crouched on the floor, clutching her bleeding foot. His brow furrowed as he noticed the injury. “Maddie, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Maddie murmured, her voice strained as she fought back tears. She tried to stand, but pain shot up her leg, making her wince.
Jane’s gaze flickered to Maddie’s foot, but her expression remained indifferent. “I mean, accidents happen,” she said breezily, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “But Maddie, you really should be more careful.”
Rico helped Maddie to a chair, his concern genuine, but Maddie could see the way his attention kept drifting back to Jane. The dynamic was clear: no matter what happened, Jane would always come first.
Maddie crouched on the cold kitchen floor, her injured foot stinging with pain. She glanced up at Jane, catching the fleeting glimmer of triumph in her eyes. Jane had done it on purpose—of that, Maddie was certain.
“What’s going on here?”
Before Maddie could respond, Rico walked into the kitchen. Jane’s expression shifted instantly, her red-rimmed eyes glistening with unshed tears. She rushed toward him, her voice trembling with feigned distress.
“Rico! I just wanted to help Maddie in the kitchen, but I ended up making a mess.” She lifted her foot slightly, revealing a few rice grains stuck to her pristine, unblemished skin. “Look! I even burned my foot. It hurts so much…”
Rico’s face softened immediately. He knelt down, gently cradling Jane’s foot in his hands, his voice thick with concern. “Jane, are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?”
Maddie’s stomach churned as Rico shot her a sharp glare.
“Maddie! How could you be so careless? Apologize to Jane!”
Her breath caught. Apologize? Maddie blinked, her tears spilling over as she stared at Rico. Did he truly believe she was the one at fault? Did he even care about what had happened?
It was Jane who had bumped into her on purpose. Maddie bit her lip, swallowing her retort. This wasn’t the Rico she had grown up with—the boy who had once fought off bullies for her, who had promised to always protect her.
Her tears dripped onto her injured foot, mingling with the blood seeping from the cut. The pain was unbearable, but not nearly as deep as the ache in her chest.
***
Rico’s frown deepened as he glanced at Maddie crouching on the floor. “Maddie, did you hear me? I told you to apologize!”
But before Maddie could muster a response, Jane tugged on Rico’s arm, her pout firmly in place.
“Rico, don’t be so hard on her,” she said in a singsong voice. “She’s been cooking for you all morning, after all. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.”
Jane led him out of the kitchen, turning back to cast Maddie a victorious smirk.
“Go eat, Rico,” Jane cooed. “You’ll need your strength for that interview later.”
Rico hesitated, his gaze lingering on Jane’s foot. “Your burn needs to be treated. Change your clothes and I’ll take you to the hospital before the interview.”
“Okay, Rico,” Jane replied sweetly, glancing at Maddie out of the corner of her eye.
Rico’s voice turned cold as he looked back at Maddie. “Clean up this mess. Someone else could get hurt.” Without another word, he left the kitchen, his concern wholly reserved for Jane.
As their laughter faded, Maddie broke down. The sobs she had suppressed poured out in ragged gasps.
It hurt.
It all hurt.
She wasn’t sure if the burning pain from the porridge or the cut on her foot was worse—or if it was the ache in her heart that consumed her the most.
***
After wrapping her foot with a makeshift bandage, Maddie hailed a taxi to the hospital. The doctor cleaned her wound and stitched it carefully, offering advice about avoiding further strain.
As she stepped out of the hospital into the crisp morning air, her phone buzzed. It was her mother.
“Maddie,” her mother began, her voice warm but tinged with concern, “how’s the packing going? I bought you a plane ticket for six days from now. Your sister will come to pick you up in New York the day before.”
Maddie leaned against a bench, staring at her stitched foot. “Mom, I can handle the flight myself. Just have him meet me at the airport. I haven’t packed much yet, but I need to visit the orphanage before I leave.”
There was a pause on the line before her mother spoke again, her voice softer now.
“It’s important to go back, Maddie. That place raised you. Your father and I donated some money recently—I wanted the children there to have a little more, to live a bit better than before.”
The kindness in her mother’s voice cracked something inside Maddie.
“Mom… I don’t blame you or Dad,” she said softly, sensing her mother’s unspoken guilt. “I know you did everything you could. It was hard back then… transportation, communication… everything was harder.”
Her mother’s voice broke slightly. “We searched for you everywhere, Maddie. We never stopped. But the years…” She trailed off, unable to finish.
Maddie closed her eyes, her thoughts drifting to her childhood. Her earliest memories of the orphanage were cold and lonely, but she had always wondered—if circumstances had been different, would she have stayed with her family in Haichester?
***
Her mother’s words brought back painful memories. When Maddie was three, her family had been torn apart by greed and betrayal. Her uncle had demanded a split of the family inheritance, creating rifts that couldn’t be mended. In the chaos that followed, Maddie was separated from her parents, lost in the bustling streets of Haichester.
For years, she clung to the hope that they were searching for her. Now, after so many years apart, the ache of those lost years was still fresh. Maddie had found her parents, but the void in her heart remained.
And now, as she prepared to leave Rico’s home, she realized she was once again stepping away from a life she had fought so hard to build.
The turmoil in Maddie’s life began long before Rico came into it. As a child, her family had been torn apart by greed and betrayal. Her uncle, desperate to force Maddie’s father into splitting the family fortune, kidnapped her one night. His plan unraveled quickly. Maddie’s uncle, drunk and reckless, died choking on his own vomit in a dingy bar, leaving her abandoned in a hotel.
Terrified and alone, Maddie wandered the streets until a childless couple found her and took her in. They renamed her “Lana,” hoping the name would bring them luck. Their prayers seemed to work—six months later, Maddie’s foster mother became pregnant.
One crisp autumn morning, her foster father packed a small bag of her belongings and brought her to a train station. They rode for an entire day until they reached New York. He left her in front of an old brick building.
“This will be your home now,” he said flatly, handing her the bag. Without waiting for her reply, he walked away, his steps hurried and final.
Maddie stood frozen, clutching her bag. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the looming building that would become the orphanage she called home. She was on the verge of crying herself to sleep on the cold steps when a boy’s cheerful voice startled her.
“Hey! What’s your name? Did your mom and dad not want you either?”
She looked up to see a boy with messy hair and an oversized shirt peeking through the iron fence.
“My name is…” Maddie hesitated. She didn’t like the name Lana. Somewhere deep in her heart, she remembered being called something else. “Maddie. My name is Maddie.”
The boy tilted his head, grinning. “I’m Rico. My mom and dad don’t want me either. Don’t worry! I’ll go get Mrs. Walker!”
Before she could respond, Rico darted off. Moments later, a kind man with graying hair led her inside. Rico was waiting by the door, a proud smile on his face.
“Maddie, don’t be scared,” he said, reaching out to hold her hand. “My parents don’t want me anymore, either. But now we can be a family.”
***
Life in the orphanage wasn’t easy, but Maddie found solace in Rico’s unwavering protection. The staff tried their best and occasionally, donors would visit, bringing toys or supplies. But with so many children and limited resources, fights and bullying were common.
Whenever Maddie was teased or cornered, Rico would appear, fierce and unrelenting, to defend her. Over time, no one dared to bother her anymore.
As the years passed, Rico became her rock, her safe place. But somewhere along the way, things changed. The warmth between them faded, replaced by a distance Maddie couldn’t understand.
She couldn’t pinpoint when Rico began to drift away. All she knew was that the boy who once promised to protect her was now a man whose heart belonged to someone else.
***
Maddie sat beneath the golden ginkgo tree outside their shared apartment complex, her gaze fixed on the balcony of the 23rd floor. The plants and flowers on that balcony were her pride and joy—each one nurtured with care. But soon, they wouldn’t be hers anymore. Perhaps they never truly had been.
As the midday sun burned her skin, Maddie let her tears fall freely. She reached up to wipe them away, only to be interrupted by the buzz of her phone. A message from her editor appeared on the screen:
[Maddie, why didn’t you update yesterday? The readers are begging for the next chapter. You can’t miss another deadline!]
She stared at the message for a long moment before typing a curt reply.
[Okay.]
Standing with a wince, Maddie limped toward the elevator. Writing had always been her escape. Her current novel—a story of two children who grew up relying on each other—mirrored her own life in many ways. But unlike her story, the heroine in the novel was the one who saved the boy and the boy had fallen in love with her.
***
At her desk, Maddie opened her laptop and pulled up the comments section beneath her latest chapter.
[Maddie, when will the two of them finally get together? I can’t take the suspense anymore!]
[Please don’t break my heart. Let them be happy. They deserve it.]
[Don’t let the hero leave with his real parents. The heroine needs him!]
[If you write a sad ending, I swear I’ll send you a razor blade!]
Maddie stared at the screen, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. Readers poured their hearts into the story, rooting for her characters to have the happy ending she had always dreamed of. But how could she give them something she didn’t believe in anymore?
With trembling fingers, she began to type. Her thoughts wandered as the words appeared on the screen. Was she writing for her readers, or was she rewriting the life she wished she could have?
