All Chapters of Falling For My Ex’s Dying Billionaire Dad: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

••~~MADDISON~~•• I didn’t plan to end up here. But there I was, sitting in the icy glass lobby of The Billionaire Escort house, legs tapping nervously.I’d run straight from Chad’s humiliation. No bags. No charger. Just my cracked phone and the card.“You’ve got something rare, darling.” Ms. Sinclair had said, with a little smirk. Call that number when you’re ready to stop struggling.Everyone who worked downtown café shifts had heard the whispers. About Mrs. Sinclair. About the girls who vanished and showed up months later in Chanel.Now I was one of them.Two hours after dialing, I was matched. No interview. No waiting list. Just one call. I signed the Escort Agreement.And I got him. Corian Van Halen.Didn’t even know who the hell he was.But he came with a contract and a million-dollar payout.Six zeros.A nurse in pink scrubs appeared, beaming like she’d just won the lottery. "Congrats, Ms. Summers. Blood’s clean."I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to

••~~MADDISON~~•• My heart was pounding. Like, visibly. Like it didn’t know how to calm down as he led me through his stupidly massive mansion. I followed him, Up those ridiculous stairs, down a short hallway, and finally, To a door. He turned the knob and it felt like my heart turned with it. And when he pushed it open, my breath froze like my lungs forgot how to do their job. “Welcome to the Van Halen Complex,” he said like he was welcoming me into the British castle. My entire body locked in one spot. Mirrors instead of walls. My eyes couldn’t keep still. They spun, circled, and tried to make sense of it. Two walls… floor-to-ceiling mirrors, faced each other. Mirrors that reflected different versions of me. Of him. Of us.  The rest of the room was matte black fading into shadow and a low black couch stretched along the wall. A large bed sat in the center like a stage, I hate mirrors. I tried to look down, tried to avoid the mirrors like that would save me. But they wer

••~~MADDISON~~•• I bit my bottom lip, pacing the bedroom, phone pressed to my ear, heart in my throat. The empty bottle of spilled pills twirled in my fingers as I tried to reach Sydney. “Syd…” “Madds? What the hell?! Where have you been? I’ve been losing my mind! One second you’re crying on the phone, the next… crickets. Fucking crickets, Madds!” Of course, Sydney launched into full freakout mode before I could get a single word in. I cringed, biting my tongue, waiting for a break in the hurricane. “Say something, MADDISON!” she shrieked so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “Jeez, Syd. Can you stop screaming and let me talk?” A beat. “Then talk.” I dropped onto the edge of the bed like my bones couldn’t hold me anymore. “Okay, here goes…” I walked her through everything. The “SOLD” sign outside Dad’s studio. Ms. Blake cutting me from the Art program. Pete changing the locks and dumping my stuff on the front porch. “WHAT? That’s illegal!” “Not when you’re

                          ••~~MADDISON~~••My eyes caught him in the mirror, a stunned, self-satisfied smirk pulling at his lips. Like seeing me this way, kneeling on his bed, in nothing but a cream-colored silk robe, was some kind of reward for whatever brutal day he’d had.Somehow, it felt like he knew me. Really knew me. He couldn’t. Of course not. But the illusion of it made me more open to whatever he had planned."I’ve been waiting for you," I whispered, breath spritzing.His eyes tracked me as he moved closer with that wild look, like trouble just found its target.When he reached me, his hand wrapped firmly around my throat, his voice low against my hair."Maddison Summers... you have occupied my mind all day."All day? I wanted to scoff, but the tremble in my body betrayed me."Have I?"“You’ve got this….. strange effect on me." His breath was hot. I clenched my core, resisting the urge to melt into him."Do I?" I whispered, barely able to form the words."

••~~MADDISON~~••Sydney used to say I would feel different after losing my virginity. And never mind the stinging ache between my thighs after my shower, she was right.I felt different.I couldn’t even remember the last time I felt good. Not just okay. Not just pretending I was fine when really I was crumbling. But good.Usually, I’m parked somewhere between bad and worse. That’s my lane. That’s home.But this morning? My skin buzzed. Like I had been plugged into something electric. Like every part of me had woken up after being asleep for years.I woke up craving Grandma’s pancakes. The real ones. The ones she used to make when life was still soft and warm and not full of shadows.So fresh out of the shower, I wandered into Corian’s giant kitchen, wearing his robe, my hair still damp at the ends. His fridge was hopeless.... like, almost nothing in it but water bottles, leftover takeout containers. But I still managed to scrape something together.I pulle