Maddison's POV
“Explain?” The word was a rough, unbelieving sound at the time in Maddison’s ears.
Her trembling hand pointed to the papers, to the plan of her life that he had laid out in secret.
“Explain what? What part? The part about paying for my education? Or the part about watching me when I was only seventeen and deciding that I needed to be your project?”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said. His voice was starting to sound hopeless. “It wasn’t a project. It was… respect. Just respect.”
“I’m telling you what happened,” Grant leaned forward, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the desk.
“I was no more than a guest judge at the State Engineering Competition as I had been each year. I was doing a favor for a former teacher…A friend. I was bored. I couldn’t wait to get out of
