Page 102 of The Encounter
“Are you in a relationship with Jace for money?”
She hit the end button on the call only for another one to come through a minute later from a different unknown number. She declined the call. A few minutes later, a different call came through from yet another unknown number. This went on for an hour before she shut her phone off and shoved it into her purse so she wouldn’t look at it again.
“What’s going on?” Kailynn asked.
“Reporters,” Maddie whispered.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Maddie shook her head.
“I’m here when you’re ready,” Kailynn responded.
“Thank you,” Maddie whispered.
Her stomach dropped, and she struggled to focus the rest of the day. Is this what it would always be like being with Jace?
Would she repeatedly receive phone calls about whatever scandal Samantha would drum up? Was that Samantha’s plan all along? Throw as much bullshit out there that Maddie would be nagged nonstop until she left Jace?
If that were the case, Maddie wasn’t sure she could handle it. This article took things to a completely new level.
When the day finally ended, she said goodbye to Kailynn and slid into her car. Steeling herself, she powered on her phone and waited. The messages pinged in one-by-one. Her breathing came out ragged with every ping that came through, and soon she had forty-two voicemails and eighty-six new text messages. She looked at the texts to see who they were from and not one was from someone she knew. They were all from random numbers. Some texts at first glance were people, presumably reporters, asking for interviews. But other messages were vulgar.
Slut.
Tramp.
Gold digger.
Leave Jace alone, whore.
And some were downright aggressive.
I will kill you if you hurt him.
You’re a monster. You will regret using him.
She leaned back in her seat and shut her phone off before dropping it into her purse. Tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed into her hands. No matter how much she loved Jace, being called horrible names would never be something she’d be able to get used to. All over what? Lies?
After several minutes of taking deep breaths, she wiped the tears off her face and straightened up, and steeled herself for the drive over to Jace’s place. They needed to talk, and she knew it would not be easy.
32
The issue of Celebrity Status that laid out before Jace had him covering his mouth with his eyes wide. He knew Maddie had come back from New York and there was likely more to the story, but he hadn’t expected this.
Samantha had somehow found a man who Maddie used to date. Jace knew this Brad guy had to be paid a hefty sum for airing Maddie’s dirty laundry. Samantha had interviewed this guy that Maddie supposedly dated. The kicker was, the guy was married. Jace knew Maddie didn’t know. She wasn’t the type to date someone who belonged to someone else. And he knew without a doubt that the gold-digging comments were completely false.
Jace’s phone pinged with a text from Maddie.
We need to talk. Are you home?
The dreaded words that no one ever wanted to hear in a relationship. He took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart before shooting off a text.
Of course. Come as soon as you can.
I’ll be by when I get off work.
It would be another three hours before she was done for the day. Jace read and re-read the article. His hands ached, and he realized he was clenching the paper so much so that the newspaper was nearly torn in half. He slammed it down on his table and picked up his phone, immediately dialing Samantha’s number.
