Maddie’s voice trembled with fury as she glared at Jane. “Jane, stop with the innocent act. Are you seriously going to tell me that leaking those photos from the orphanage wasn’t intentional?!”

“Maddie!” Rico’s sharp tone cut through the air like a whip. His eyes narrowed and his voice carried an edge Maddie had never heard before. “How can you talk to Jane like that? She didn’t mean for this to happen. She was just curious about the photo, sent it to a friend and it got passed along. It was an accident! The hot search has already been taken down. What more do you want?!”

Maddie clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as she fought back tears. “And I’m supposed to just forget it? Those words people wrote about me, all that abuse—does taking down the hot search erase it? So if I accidentally hurt someone, does that make it okay as long as I say I didn’t mean to?”

“That’s completely different, Maddie,” Rico snapped, his frustration mounting. “Why do you have to be so unreasonable? Just let it go!”

***

Before Maddie could unleash the retort bubbling in her chest, her phone rang. She took a deep breath to steady herself before answering.

“Hello?” she said, her voice still taut with emotion.

“Hi, Miss Evans. I’m with the clothing donation service. You scheduled a pickup for today? I’m at your building now—may I come up?”

“Yes, I’m home. Please come up to the apartment,” Maddie replied, grateful for the distraction.

After hanging up, she dragged three large bags of clothing from her room to the front door.

Rico watched her with a frown. “Why are you giving away so many clothes?”

Maddie shot him a cold glance. “They’re my clothes. What does it matter to you?” Her gaze shifted to Jane. “If you two don’t want to be seen, I suggest going back to your room before the donation staff gets here.”

Jane flinched at Maddie’s tone but quickly masked it with a polite smile. She tugged on Rico’s arm and they retreated to his bedroom.

***

After the donation staff left, Maddie reluctantly joined Rico and Jane at the dining table for breakfast. Under Rico’s insistence, she picked up a bowl of cereal and forced herself to eat.

Jane had prepared simple milk cereal and sandwiches, but Maddie hesitated before taking a bite. She eyed the sandwich cautiously, remembering the past few days of tension.

“Rico,” she began, breaking the silence, “do you have time to go back to the orphanage with me tomorrow?”

Rico looked up, surprised. “Why do you want to go to the orphanage?”

“I want to see Mrs. Walker,” Maddie said simply. “It’s been a while.”

Rico sighed. “I can’t tomorrow. Jane and I are heading to the beach for a few days to celebrate wrapping up the drama. I’ll go with you when I’m back.”

“And when will that be?”

“Five days.”

Maddie froze. Five days later, she would already be gone—flying back to Haichester to start a new chapter of her life. Rico wouldn’t even notice until she was already out of reach.

She swallowed hard, her throat tightening with disappointment. “Never mind,” she said quietly, picking up the sandwich and taking a small bite.

***

The moment Maddie bit into the sandwich, her eyes widened in shock as a fiery heat exploded in her mouth. She coughed violently, her eyes watering as she scrambled to spit the bite into the trash can. Grabbing a glass of water, she gulped it down, trying to douse the burning sensation.

Jane’s voice was soft, laced with feigned hurt. “Rico, is my cooking really that bad?” A single tear slid down her cheek, accentuating the tear mole beneath her right eye.

Rico frowned, glancing at his sandwich and taking a bite. It tasted perfectly normal. His brows furrowed as he turned to Maddie. “What’s your problem now? Are you just trying to make Jane feel bad?”

Maddie’s patience snapped. She slammed the sandwich onto the table and pulled apart the slices of bread. A smear of spicy mustard coated the inside, far more than anyone would ever use. She held it out toward Rico, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Here. Why don’t you try this version of her ‘cooking’?”

Rico froze, his eyes darting between Maddie and the sandwich. For a moment, doubt flickered in his expression, but Jane quickly stepped in.

“I must have made a mistake,” Jane said, her voice trembling. “I didn’t mean for it to be too spicy. I was trying to add a little flavor…”

Maddie’s laugh was humorless. “Of course. You didn’t mean to.”

The sandwich was warm and inviting, but the red chili sauce spread thickly in the middle was anything but. Maddie wrinkled her nose, the pungent aroma making her eyes water.

“Why is there so much chili sauce in my sandwich?” she exclaimed, setting the offending meal back on the plate.

Jane glanced up from her cup of coffee, looking puzzled. “Wait, chili sauce? That can’t be right. I made the sandwiches with ketchup!”

“You sure about that?” Maddie asked, her tone sharp, eyebrows raised. “Because this looks—and smells—like chili sauce.”

Jane scratched the back of her head, a sheepish smile spreading across her face. “Maybe I mixed them up? I swear it looked like ketchup.”

Jane, standing awkwardly by the counter, let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, I’m always so scatterbrained in the kitchen. No harm done, right?” She turned toward Maddie, attempting a playful smile.

Maddie wasn’t amused. Her lips curled into a tight smile, masking her irritation. “No harm? Jane, even if you can’t cook, surely you can tell the difference between chili peppers and tomatoes. I mean, the bottles are labeled. Or don’t you bother reading?”

Jane’s face flushed red, her embarrassment evident. “I—I didn’t see any labels! Both bottles looked exactly the same and they didn’t have any packaging. How was I supposed to know?”

Maddie shot to her feet, leaving the table as Rico frowned. “Come on, Jane, Maddie didn’t mean it like that. It was just a mistake,” he said, trying to smooth things over.

“Mistake or not, I’m checking,” Maddie muttered, storming into the kitchen.

Sure enough, two nearly identical bottles of red sauce sat on the spice rack. Their labels had been ripped off, leaving no clear indication of what was inside.

“When did this happen?” Maddie murmured under her breath. “Yesterday, the ketchup bottle still had its label…”

Rico followed her into the kitchen and picked up one of the bottles. After inspecting it, he chuckled softly and reached out to ruffle Jane’s hair. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Jane. Without the labels, I can’t tell the difference either.”

Maddie crossed her arms, glaring at them both. “So why is it that your sandwiches don’t have any chili sauce and mine is practically drowning in it?”

Rico looked taken aback. “Hey, there’s no need to be aggressive. Jane even asked me what you like and I told her you love ketchup. She just tried to make it special for you. We don’t care for ketchup, so we skipped it.”

Maddie clenched her fists at her sides, biting back a retort. She knew Rico was too enamored with Jane to see through her clumsy excuses. It didn’t matter anymore—none of it did. After all, she had already made up her mind.

***

The day after Rico and Jane left for their trip, Maddie packed her things and went back to where it all began: the orphanage. She carried a bag full of gifts for the children, hoping to leave a part of herself behind in the only place that had ever truly felt like home.

“Maddie!” Mrs. Walker, the headmistress, called out, rushing to embrace her. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again! But where’s Rico? Didn’t he come with you?”

Maddie offered a small smile. “He’s been busy. Didn’t have time to visit.”

Mrs. Walker sighed, her expression turning wistful. “Busy with that actress he’s dating, huh? I saw the news. Such a shame. I always thought the two of you would end up together.”

Laughing softly, Maddie shook her head. “There’s no shame in it, Mrs. Walker. Rico’s always seen me as a little sister. Now he has his own life and I have mine.”

“But he took care of you for so long. When he finally had enough to support himself, he brought you home. That boy has always put you first.”

Maddie’s voice softened. “That was a long time ago. Things change. We’ve both moved on.”

Mrs. Walker nodded, but her expression brightened. “Your mom donated another two million dollars to the orphanage last week. She said it was in your name! You’re so lucky to have found your family after all these years.”

“Yeah,” Maddie murmured, a bittersweet smile on her face. “It’s about time I went back to them.”

***

Back at Rico’s house—soon to be just his house—Maddie began packing up the remnants of her life. Every day, she dragged bags of her belongings down to the trash. With each trip, she discarded more than just clothes and trinkets; she let go of the past, of the memories, of the part of her that had clung to what could never be.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, Maddie made one final trip to the trash bin, her arms full of discarded dreams. This time, she didn’t look back.