Chapter 17
The moment Priscilla got away from the people she couldn’t stand, she quickly slipped her arm out of Maddox’s.
“Thanks for earlier,” she said a little awkwardly.
It seemed like he still had a lot of work to do.
Maddox glanced down at his now empty arm, and a flicker of disappointment passed through him. It
“It’s nothing. L‘
But after running into Josiah, Maddox suddenly didn’t want to keep playing the slow, passive game. He wanted to stand beside Priscilla with a name and a rightful place to be someone who truly belonged at herside
“Priscilla, L.”
She wasn’t oblivious. In the time they’d spent together, Priscilla had clearly seed Maddox’s feelings for her. After all, no one would treat someone else that
well
forno reason.
At first, she thought about turning him down directly. But Maddox had always played it casual, never saying anything outright. And after everything, she found that she could no longer reject him as easily as before.
It was not like she didn’t feel anything. There was something there, but she thought that it was all happening too fast.
She wanted to take her time. That was why she had allowed Maddox to step into her life, bit by bit, slowly
However, she still wasn’t ready then, so she interrupted him before he could go further. “Let’s get something to eat, okay? We’ve been walking forever, and I’m
starving”
Maddox felt a pang of burt at being cut off so deliberately, but he wasn’t the type to hesitate or drag things out. Since he’d made up his mind to say it, he wouldn’t stop hallway.
He had already lost many years with Priscilla. He didn’t want to lose any more and wanted to be with her.
“Priscilla, I like you.”
Hearing Maddox’s confession, Priscilla froze in place, ,sturned into silence. She stood there quietly for a long time.
Maddox went on when she remained silent
“I fell for you at first sight during the freshman welcome party. I was planning to talk to you, but at the time, I was taking over my family’s company. Things were hectic form.
“By the time I had a moment to breathe, someone else was already by your side. I thought that college relationships wouldn’t last, so I kept waiting for the breakup and my chance.
“But then you accepted his proposal. You looked at him with such intense love in your eyes t
that it made me back away.
“I cold myself that it was fine. As long as you were happy, that was enough. So after you got married, I stopped keeping track of your life.
“But this time, you walked into my world on your own. And when I found our you were divorced, I was so happy. That’s why I’ve been sticking close to you these past few weeks, pretending not to understand your rejections and always staying by your side.
“I thought that maybe just being near you, even just as a friend, would be enough. If you could see me, that was already something
“But people are greedy. Now I want mone, I don’t want to just be your friend. I want a place in your life.
“I want to be with you, Priscilia. I like you. In fact, I love you.”
However, Maddox wasn’t tefting the whole truth.
He had never intended to stay in Priscilla’s life just as a friend. Even after leaming she was married, he never let ge. Instead, he quietly planned to break them apart.
If not for the car accident and the long recovery that followed, he would’ve stepped in much earlier. With Brittany showing up and causing the divorce, it felt like fate was handing him everything he wanted.
Although he knew that he was taking advantage of Priscilla when she was vulnerable, he didn’t care much about it.
Meanwhile, Priscilla’s long silence made him uneasy.
“It she rejects me, then I’ll just keep her somewhere she can only see me,” he thought darkly.
“I thought you were just I didn’t low you liked me for that long.”
Maddox’s words had caught Priscilla off guard. She was both sumpsised and juved. All those years she’d been chasing after Josiah, she never realized that someone had been quietly watching her from the shadows
Hearing the motion in her voice, Maddox felt a twinge of heartache. He gently pulled her into his arms,
In that moment, all the dack thoughts in his mind wandshed without a trace ie tlungi, “rorget As long as she’s happy, I can take it slow “
“I admit that I do like you a little, but I just came out of a tailed marriage. I’m scared to start something new. Do you understand what I mean?” she asked.
The second Maddox heard her say she liked him, joy burst inside in. As for the part about how deep her feelings were, he chose to ignore it completely. As long as she liked him, even a little, he law he could turn that into something mchmerr.
“It’s okay. As long as you feel something toward me, just stay where you are. Don’t run away, and let me come to you. ”
When Maddur wrapped his burning–hot palm around her cold fingers, Priscilla suddenly felt something shatter deep in her chest. It was like a glacier cracking apart witha rOJE
Just then, her phone buzzed violently in her pocket. A string of missed calls frum unfamiliar numbers lit up the screen
Chaster 17
She powered off her phone, letting the red glow vanish into the bush between them, dissolving into the calm Maddox had wrapped around her.
