Chapter 3Breaking The Script For My Love

Morning came, and Madeline was still a no-show.

I couldn't figure out the angle. They had fought so hard for her, and now she was just... here. I woke Sophie up, got her dressed, and hailed a cab to take her to school. Her preschool was an hour away in the city, a place for the children of the elite.

Before getting out of the car, she made me promise ten times that I’d be there to pick her up. She was clingy, rambling about nothing, until she saw a specific car parked near the school gates.

Her eyes lit up. she dragged me out of the cab, but as we got closer to the gates, she slowed down. She purposefully marched over to a chubby little boy who had just stepped out of a luxury SUV.

She held my hand tightly, swinging our joined arms so he couldn't miss it.

"Daddy," she said, her voice loud enough for the entire sidewalk to hear. "You'll be here to pick me up later, right?"

It was the first time she had called me "Daddy." Even when she’d shown up at my door, she hadn't used the word.

The little boy stared at me, skeptical. "If you have a dad, why hasn't he ever brought you to school before?"

Sophie lifted her chin, her expression one of pure disdain. "My dad is an executive. He’s incredibly busy, but he took special time off today just for me."

She put a heavy emphasis on "special."

She paraded me to the entrance like I was a trophy. Before she went inside, her bravado flickered. She leaned in and whispered, "You... you are coming, right?"

When I didn't answer immediately, she glared at me, her voice trembling. "You promised in the car! Adults aren't allowed to lie!"

I knelt down, adjusted her crooked collar, and ruffled her hair. It was soft, just like I remembered.

"I’ll be here. I promise."

A smile tugged at her lips before she forced her face back into a mask of regal indifference. "Fine. I’ll be waiting."

I watched her until she disappeared inside. Then, I found her teacher. I wanted to know how she was doing.

The teacher hesitated, then sighed. "Look, I know the Jackson family is powerful, and maybe it's not my place... but Sophie’s father? Even if you're busy, you can't just ignore her."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Nobody has ever come to a parent-teacher conference. Not once since she enrolled. The other kids have started saying she doesn't have a father. It’s affecting her, Mr. Sterling."

My heart sank. Not even an assistant? Madeline couldn't even be bothered to send a proxy?

I felt a surge of regret. Maybe I shouldn't have signed those papers. But back then, I was a bankrupt ghost with two dying parents. How could I have raised a child?

I pulled out my phone and dialed Madeline’s number. I needed to talk to her. If she didn't want Sophie, I would take her. I wasn't rich, but I could give her a life.

As the phone started ringing, a ringtone sounded right behind me.

I turned around.

Madeline was stepping out of a sleek black sedan. Six years had passed. She looked different, yet exactly the same. She was looking down at her buzzing phone, then she looked up and met my eyes.

"You've been hiding from me for a long time," she said. "Don't you think it's time we talked?"

Unlike my haggard, worn-down self, Madeline was the picture of composed power. She looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine. I’d heard rumors—that she’d taken over the entire Jackson empire, that her brand was a global powerhouse, that she lived a quiet, solitary life.

Seeing her felt like a physical blow. The memories I had tried to starve out came rushing back, filling my chest with a dull, aching heat.

I thought I was over her. I wasn't.

This was the girl who used to make me rings out of twisted grass. This was the girl who pushed my bullies into the pool. How did we end up as strangers in a parking lot?

She hadn't changed. She just didn't care about me anymore.

"Long time no see, Madeline."