Chapter 18
1677 Words
{AIRPORT~8AM}
Emily stood in the crowd of people waiting for Madison. She was surprised to see a lot of people in the airport by this time of the day.
Emily was still looking around when she spotted Madison. She smiled and waved at her.
Madison saw her and smiled too. She walked up to her, but Emily noticed there was a pretty lady with Madison.
She wondered if Madison made a new friend on the plane. She definitely wouldn't be surprised by that.
"Finally back in New York," Madison exclaimed as she tried to hug Emily, who turned away from her and walked towards the lady Madison came with.
"Who is this?" Emily asked, and Madison sighed.
"Nathan's sister, Ava," Madison answered.
"Hi, I'm Ava, you must be Emily. Nice to meet you, Madison has said a lot about you." Ava smiled at Emily.
"Nice to meet you too, Ava." Emily smiled and turned to Madison for an explanation.
"I would tell you about it on the way to my apartment," Madison said as if reading Emily's mind.
"My ride is here, I have to go, bye." Ava smiled at them before walking towards the man in suit waiting for her.
"Seriously, Madison, does Nathan know you brought his sister with you?" Emily asked.
"Well... No, but that's the way she wants it, " Madison shrugged as they walked towards Emily's car.
"Why?" Emily asked.
"I don't know," Madison replied.
"Really, Madison Shaw didn't press for more information. Did I hear right, or did you hit your head in Australia?" Emily asked as she opened the trunk.
Madison put her luggage in the trunk, and they entered the car.
"Even if I press for more information, she won't budge, okay?" Madison replied.
Before Emily could speak, Madison's phone rang. It was her brother calling.
She sighed and turned off her phone, Emily looked at her curiously.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"Nahh," Madison replied, and Emily didn't pressure. She, of course, knew something was wrong.
Madison is way quieter than usual.
_
{CADEN'S OFFICE}
Caden was trying to think of what his father's next plan would be, that old man is cunning and he needs to be a step ahead of him.
What bothered him the most was who Anthony wanted to make the new COO.
Who his father wanted to replace him with.
His office doors opened, and Anthony walked it with a rather bright smile on his father.
"What do you want?" Caden asked.
"Is that a way to talk to your father, Caden?" Anthony asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Get straight to the point," Caden frowned.
"You must be stressed with the reelection. It's all over your under slept face," Anthony chuckled. "Don't worry, your position would be given to someone befitting, someone who actually listens to everything I say," Anthony said.
"If that's all you want to say, you're welcome to leave," Caden replied calmly.
"Aren't you curious to know who this person is?" Anthony asked.
"It doesn't matter, I won the election the last time, and I am going to win again," Caden shrugged.
"I won't be so sure," Anthony smirked. "How's your wife? I haven't actually met her since the wedding. Send her my deepest apologies, " Anthony said and walked out.
Caden gritted his teeth, and his phone pinged. It was a company email.
The list of candidates for the election has been released, and it's just two names.
Caden's grip on his phone tightened when he saw the other name.
_
{MADISON'S APARTMENT}
Emily parked her car in front of the apartment, and they got down.
"I'm going to pretend you haven't been literally quiet throughout the ride, I am pretty sure you have a lot to say about Australia," Emily said.
"I told you I was mostly confined in Nathan's penthouse, I didn't even get to see the beautiful place," Madison replied as she took her luggage from the trunk.
"You really did hit your head in Australia," Emily replied.
"I didn't!" Madison said, and Emily scoffed.
They walked into the apartment and were surprised to see a man standing in front of Madison's door. He looked like he was trying to get inside.
"What the hell?" Emily screamed, and the man turned towards them. "This isn't your apartment, sir," Emily said.
"Madison," he called, and Emily turned to Madison, who looked like she was poured a bucket of ice water.
"You know him?" Emily asked.
"Why wouldn't she, am I brother?" Ambrose replied.
"What? I didn't know Madison had a brother. " Emily blinked in surprise.
"Thanks for driving me here Ems, you should go to work. You know how Liam is," Madison said to Emily, who blinked in confusion.
"Are you seriously sending me away, I just found out you have a brother," Emily replied.
"There are other opportunities to meet him, I don't want you getting in trouble with Liam," Madison persuaded.
"Erhmm, alright, if you need anything, call me," Emily replied. She took a glance at Anthony before leaving the building.
"I shouldn't get involved with family issues," she muttered to herself before entering her car.
_
While driving, Emily couldn't wrap her mind over Madison's behavior. Something is definitely wrong with her, but what is it exactly?
And she had a bad feeling it had something to do with that brother she never mentioned.
Emily made a mental note to call Madison later to make sure she was perfectly okay.
Emily was so deep in thought she almost didn't collide with another car. She was quick to hit the brakes, though.
Emily removed her seat belt and hurried out of the car. The other driver came out too, a man.
He is a very handsome man.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Emily apologized quickly.
"I should be the one apologizing. Your headlights are damaged," the man replied with an awkward smile.
"Don't worry about it, it's totally fine," Emily said.
"I should pay for it, I would give you my number and you just tell me the price when you go for repairs," the man offered.
"Ohh, it's no problem," Emily replied.
"No, please, I have too," the man insisted, and Emily gave him her phone.
When he was done, he gave her phone back to her.
"I'm really sorry about the headlight," he apologized.
"No problem," Emily replied and got back into her car.
_
{CADEN'S HOUSE~7PM}
When Emily came back, Caden wasn't at home. He was definitely still at the office.
She knew something was wrong with him. He had been acting really weird for a while, especially this morning, and she couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with him.
Emily was still deep in thoughts when the door opened, and she turned to see Caden looking even more tired than ever.
"You're back," Emily said, getting up from the couch.
"Obviously," Caden let out a light chuckle before walking towards the stairs, and Emily frowned.
"àsshole" she muttered and walked into the kitchen.
She thought they had gotten past that stage, but she guessed not.
He is always annoying.
She prepared warm milk, which took her a while to get it done.
Emily took it to Caden's room and knocked on the door softly.
She stood behind the door for quite a while before Caden opened the door. His hair was wet, meaning he had just finished having a bath.
"I brought warm milk, it helps you sleep better," Emily said, and Caden's eyes dropped to the glass in her hand.
"I didn't say I needed to sleep better," Caden said, the words from that morning rolling off his tongue.
"You don't have to tell me, you look like you haven't slept in ages, I think your fever is acting up again," Emily said and walked into the bedroom. "Sit, and drink the milk," she ordered him while pointing to the bed.
Caden sighed before walking towards the bed and sat down. He took the glass from Emily and drank the milk.
Emily sat beside him on the bed. "What's going on? I know something is wrong, " Emily started.
"Are you worried?" Caden asked, and Emily rolled her eyes.
"Is it about your father? Did he do something?" Emily asked more seriously this time.
Caden paused. "Why are you asking that?" He asked.
"I know you don't have the best relationship with your father. It's quite obvious, everyone knows it, but I just don't know to what extent," Emily said.
"I hate him. He hates me, mutual relationship. That's what we have, " Caden replied and drank the milk again.
"My dad and I aren't close, but I don't think I can say I hate him," Emily said. " Hate is a strong word," she added.
"And that's the perfect word for what I feel for my father," Caden said through his teeth. He didn't enjoy talking about his father.
"Would it be okay if I asked why? I have always been curious, " Emily asked.
"Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" Caden asked instead.
"Just wanted to know your relationship with your father, and no, I'm not asking as a journalist," Emily quickly said.
"He is a diçk who deserves worse than death, that's all," Caden replied simply, and Emily sighed.
"So why have you been stressed recently?" Emily asked.
"You're asking a lot of questions today, Emily." Caden turned to her, and Emily pressed her lips together.
"I just want to know what's wrong with you. Maybe I can help," Emily replied shyly.
She really couldn't believe she was saying this. If someone told her she would be having this conversation with Caden a few months ago, she would have buried that person alive.
A wide smile formed on Caden's tired face. "You want to help?" Caden asked, his face drawing closer to hers, and Emily nodded stiffly. "You can help by not sitting that far away from me," he added softly, and Emily felt the butterflies in her stomach run wild.
- Writer
