For the rest of their short trip in New York, Madeline felt haunted by Hunter. She was afraid they might run into him; New York sometimes felt like the smallest city on the planet. They had even run into a few people Madeline had known—someone she used to casually jog with in the park, the ex-boyfriend of her friend’s old roommate, but not Hunter.
She was relieved when they got on the flight to Italy. It would be the perfect honeymoon they had planned out so diligently. The kind that would be perfectly captured through pictures of them kissing as they tossed coins into the Trevi fountain or gorging over handmade pasta and aged red wine. The week in Italy went exactly as expected, even the trains they took between cities all seemed to run as close to on-time as possible. Madeline didn’t even think about Hunter once in the entire trip. She was too busy asking the tour guide questions about the acoustics at the Colosseum, or staring at their map to ensure they didn’t get lost.
On their flight back to LA, they stopped over in London with only an hour window between flights. The couple returned home looking refreshed and as in love as any newlyweds could be. They were now officially the power couple each of them had dreamed of being a part of. The world was in front of them and they were ready to help each other up to the top.
Chapter 24
“Were you attacked?” Brandon asked with the picture in his hands. After Madeline had opened the envelope, she had clutched it to her chest, hoping to bury it inside. Her grip only made Brandon more determined to see the contents of the envelope and he stood in front of her beckoning her to hand it over. She had no choice. She couldn’t refuse to show him—how would that end up? Yet showing him seemed like just as terrible of an option. If only she could make the picture disappear by holding it tighter to her chest, but eventually, she handed the picture over with her eyes down in shame.
Brandon studied the image, his face not knowing how to respond. To him it was like finding out your spouse was a mermaid before you met her, something so impossible that there must be some other explanation.
The image showed a white woman up against a door with a black man pressed up against her. The picture was taken from far away, through a window, but the image was unmistakable. It was an embrace—or an attack—and the woman was most definitely Madeline. Her profile was clearly visible, as was her perfectly styled hair. Seeing the picture made Madeline’s chest warm as though she were still experiencing the moment the image had captured. The photo had clearly been taken the previous night when Hunter had followed her to her hotel room. Madeline knew this by the suit she was wearing.
Who took this picture? Was all Madeline could think. She was sure she wasn’t followed. Her team had done a security sweep of the Langham before she checked in and had monitored the hotel closely. How could anyone have seen her and Hunter together? Had someone been waiting in the nearby building? Watching for when she would come back? Could they have known she wouldn’t be alone?
“Do you want to tell me what this is?” Brandon continued, as though inviting Madeline to give a reasonable explanation. “Where was Jane? Security? Were you….were you raped?” Brandon whispered the last word as though saying it out loud would make it true.
Now, Madeline was in a tight position. She had kept Hunter a secret for the last thirteen years. She reasoned to herself that he just never came up, but that was because she never brought him up. It wasn’t until this moment that her omission felt like a lie. When her omission had no consequences, it didn’t seem like a betrayal. Why should Brandon care that she had been in love before? But now, with her previous love being accused of rape by her husband, her omission felt sinful.
Madeline looked at Brandon, her eyes begging for understanding, for a sign of how she should approach this situation. Should she tell Brandon everything? Should she tell him half of the story? Should she continue to feign innocence? Her mind quickly began turning, reviewing her options and the possible consequences for each one: she could lose her family. She could end her career. She could…
“Madeline, whatever happened, you could use this to your advantage,” Brandon said. He placed his hand on her cheek and looked at her lovingly. Madeline knew what he was thinking, it had crossed her mind as well, but she wasn’t sure she could do that. “I’ll support you if you want to come out with this.”
While Brandon had left the political atmosphere for his company, his mind still worked like a politician, which meant trying to turn around a situation to gain sympathy (i.e., votes) from the public. Did you once smoke pot? You’re a friendly person voters can relate to. Did you fail a few classes in high school? You’re an inspiration for all those struggling in school. Were
