37 || Right Choice

1.2K 38 12
                                    

Chapter 37: Right Choice

I stood there, almost frozen in time as I watched Mr Malik, his cold demeanour, standing before me.

He adjusted his tie. "Am I interrupting something?"

I turned back to my desk, beginning to pack up, the desperate urge to leave finally settling in me. "We're closed," I said casually without a glance.

"I see!" He said as he leaned against the wall, his voice holding no care in the world at what I'd just said. "I take it you're enjoying the five minutes of fame from the interview?"

I sighed, zipping up my back. "What do you want?"

He smiled, his eyes slowly lingering at the decorations before finally falling on me. He made his way to my desk, shoving a hand into his suite to retrieve two sealed brown paper envelopes.

"To make you an offer!"

He placed both on the desk before me. I could feel a surge of uneasiness as he stared at me, his gaze an icy cold replica of Ashton's.

"I take it you're aware of the price of statue you'd broke earlier."

My gaze fell to his hand as he picked a single envelope, a sudden knot forming in my throat. "Vaguely," I replied.

"Well, in this envelop contains a million dollar lawsuit for damages," he paused, letting his words and the dread sink in. Watching as my lips quivered.

He smiled. "Now, we can settle this outside of court but we both know you'll never be able to pay up."

I stood, feet shaking as I stared at this man, a man who was supposedly the father of my boyfriend yet acted nothing like him.

I asked, with shaky breath, "why are you doing this?"

"Maddison," he called, his voice low and almost friendly as he looked at me, a hint of pity in his eyes. "I don't want to do this either… and we don't have to."

He took the second envelop. "This can save you… we can happen all that never happened… but first, apologize!"

I was stunned, a brow raised in disbelief. "For what?"

"The damage you caused on my reputation at that interview, it's going to take weeks, if not months, for my PR team to fix… you put my entire family in the spotlight… in the wrong way possible!"

His eyes were narrowed, his hand squeezing unto the envelop as he spoke, with more emotion this time, "apologize"

I could feel hot tears building up in my eyes. I'd thought I was ready, I'd practiced for weeks just to be able to stand up for myself and this man was going to take that all away from me.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, letting out a sob.

"Louder!"

"I'M SORRY OKAY?" I yelled, tears slipping out.

He smiled, like a predator, getting some sick fulfillment watching me. He reached into his pocket, retrieved a tissue and handed it to me to clean my tears.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

I glared at him. "What's in the second envelop?"

"Ah yes! This is a five hundred thousand dollar cheque… for you," he said almost gleefully. "It's all yours for the taking, under one condition of course…"

He stared at me, waiting for a reply but I simply kept quiet. So he continued.

"You'll end whatever you have going on with my son!"

I took a step back, his words sinking as I just calmly started, trying to compose myself. "We're already broken u–"

"Don't lie to me Maddison, I know he comes over to your place frequently, you two aren't as clever as you'd think… I see the way you look at him."

I felt completely defeated, we'd been playing into this man's game all this while. "I love Ashton," I said.

"Then if you love him, you'd let him go…" he said, almost pleadingly this time. "Can't you see, you're holding him back, he has his whole life ahead of him. After the final match next week, Ashton would be an eligible Pro boxer, he could face a career in boxing like he's always wanted… but you're holding him back, he won't want to leave you."

I let out another tear, I hated feeling like a burden, I hated it so much.

"Look, I'll give you some time to think… we can do this the easy way," he gestured towards the cheque, "or the hard," he gestured towards the lawsuit.

He smiled, adjusting his cufflinks as he left the envelope lying on my desk, making his way out the door.

He paused. "You're a promising girl Maddison, you have your whole career and life ahead of you, don't ruin everything for him… I trust you'll make the right choice. Goodnight!"

With that, he left, jumping into his car and driving off into the night.

I sat there, frozen as I stared at both envelops, letting the tears fall freely, my mind replaying a single thought.

Why me!

Joey had blackmailed me last year and here I was, stuck in another blackmail. This time, one that threatened my whole life.

I leaned against the wall, letting myself slid to the ground as I sobbed, my tears keeping me company through the night.

•••

Something's never get old!

Yet again, she's pushed to choose between the man of her dreams and her whole life as she knows it.

I really would like to hear you guys thought? What do you think she'll pick? What do you think you'll pick in that situation?

The book is almost over, with approximately ten chapters or less to finish this off…

Hope you guys have your seatbelts on cause the next couple of chapters is going to be a bumpy ride, with Maddie dealing with a lot of stress and deflecting.

Can't wait to see you guys in the next chapter. Bye
-Thea

FracturesWhere stories live. Discover now