“It’s not like that,” Walker said. “And look, I honestly still don’t understand everything that happened here, but don’t just leave, okay? Maybe we all need to sit down and…”
“Oh God, no,” Maisie interrupted before focusing on Axel again. “I’d really like to explain everything to you.”
“Why? Why now?” he asked with a mirthless laugh. “Because you finally got outed? Because you want to let me down easy now that you can go back to your life as an heiress?”
She tried not to roll her eyes and failed. “No one’s an heiress, okay? Not exactly. And…” Pausing, she glanced around at everyone before looking at him. “Can we please discuss this without an audience?”
“What’s the point? They all know everything now, or…however long they’ve been helping you,” he said with disgust. “For all I know, Connor’s known all along who you are, so why keep secrets now?”
“You’re not even going to try to be reasonable here?” she asked miserably. “I get that you’re mad, but…you have no idea what my life has been like.”
“Yeah, I’m sure being from an ultra-rich family makes things super hard for you,” he murmured.”
“I once asked you what would happen if it turned out I wasn’t the person you thought I was. And you told me that there wasn’t anything that would change how you feel. Was that a lie?”
All he did was shrug.
And for some reason, that just pissed her off. “You know what? It has been hard for me, okay?” And yeah, she was bordering on shouting. “I don’t expect you to understand, but I do expect you not to judge. I am really sorry for the way this all happened, but I’m not sorry for keeping the truth from you. And do you know why?”
He didn’t answer.
“For exactly this reason. The way you’re treating me. So, go ahead and be mad. Hate me if you must. But don’t you dare stand there and judge me!” She was breathless and shaking and hated arguing with him like this.
They stood there facing each other for a solid minute before he simply turned and walked out. She heard the door slam in the distance and jumped at the sound.
“I’ll go after him,” Walker said as he went to follow.
It wasn’t until they all heard the door close that Connor and Milo came and guided her back to the stool to sit down. With a shaky hand, she picked up her bottle of water and took a sip. “What a shitshow.”
They both laughed quietly.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Connor told her. “I never imagined Bryce coming here.”
“Me neither,” she replied quietly.
Milo gently cleared his throat. “Axel just needs a few minutes to calm down. Things got a bit crazy, and I can’t remember the last time he’s gone off on anyone like that. I know he didn’t exactly seem open to talking to you, but…he’ll come around.”
Connor agreed. “He was surprised, and he’s mad at all of us. Not just you.” He let out a long breath. “I know I said he would react this way when he found out, but I was really hoping I was wrong.”
She nodded. “Me too. I just don’t know how to convince him I’m not looking for a way out. I’m so damn relieved that this complete nightmare with Bryce is over, and now I can have control over my life. And relationships.” She shook her head. “And I want a relationship with Axel.”
Beside her, Connor straightened. “Are you sure?”
This time she nodded. “I am. I really am. I want to see where this can go now that I can be myself. I’m in love with him.”
In the distance, they heard the back door open, and her heart rate sped up because she figured it was Axel coming back.
But it wasn’t.
Walker strolled in and joined them. “Everyone okay?”
“Where’s Axel?” she asked.
He looked super uncomfortable, and she didn’t take it as a good sign.
“Um…” Walker looked at his two friends before meeting her gaze. “Yeah, so…he left.”
“He left? Where did he go?” she asked almost frantically.
