Accidental Fiancé (Unintentionally Yours #5)

31. Maggie

Chapter 31

Maggie

M y heart pounded louder than the thud of my suitcase against the polished wood floor. Ornate chandeliers above flickered in the midday light, casting pale shadows that danced across the walls of the mansion. It felt surreal, the opulence surrounding me now. A strange reminder of the chaos that had unfolded.

As if I needed to be reminded that this was not my world.

This was the world of people like Chloe. People like Julian. The ones who never had to struggle for a damn thing in their lives.

With one last deep breath, I tightened my grip and lifted the luggage, feeling the handle dig into my palm. I began my descent, each step feeling like another farewell. A final goodbye to the life I had wanted to cling to.

I couldn't believe I was leaving, but after everything with Julian, I knew it was time. It was beyond time. No more playing pretend. No more lies. Bryant’s lived in reality.

As I reached the foyer, alert faces lingered near the grand entrance. Chloe stood at the center, her arms crossed, an imperious smirk plastered across her face. Eager to brag about her triumph, no doubt. Marcus leaned casually against the wall, his expression unreadable. Apollo fiddled with his phone, pretending not to notice the tension brewing in the air.

The dead would have noticed it.

“Look who's finally leaving,” Chloe said, her voice dripping with mockery. “I was starting to think you'd never get the hint.”

I was done backing down from her. I set my luggage on the floor and raised an eyebrow. “Always full of nice things to say, Chloe.”

“Always good to see the trash taking itself out.”

“Oh, are you leaving, too?”

She looked me up and down. “That’s a nice outfit. What’s that old saying about putting lipstick on a pig?”

“Unsure, but I remember the word for women like you thought it’s impolite to use outside of a kennel.”

Marcus and Apollo snorted and smirked but said nothing.

Chloe snapped, “You never belonged here, you know. You can dress up and pretend to be one of them, but we all know the truth.”

I took a steadying breath, feeling the weight of her words but refusing to let them crush me. “I might not belong here, but you definitely don't.”

Her smirk faltered for a moment but she quickly regained her composure. “Oh? And what makes you say that?”

“You're as much of an outsider here as I am.” I stepped forward, a fire igniting within me. “You hide behind your designer clothes and your snide remarks, but we all see you for what you are. You think you're better than everyone else, but you have nothing but cruelty to back that up, and cruelty is the weapon of the weak. I only wish I had realized that sooner.”

“Now you listen here?—"

“No, Chloe, I’m done listening to you. You're pathetic, and you’re small, and when you get what’s coming to you, I’ll be there to make sure it sticks.”

The space between us crackled with friction, my declaration clinging to the air itself. I glanced at Marcus, who looked as if he were about to step in, but I held up a hand to stop him. This was between me and Chloe.

“And by the way,” I continued, my voice steady. “I finally figured it out. You started that rumor about me and Mr. Poundstone.”

Chloe's eyes widened for a split second before the mask slipped back into place. “What are you talking about?”

“I believed all this time that it was Grant who started it. But he had nothing to gain from creating such a specific rumor. You, on the other hand, had everything to gain. You wanted the solo that I got. You were angry with Mr. Poundstone that he didn't give it to you, just like you'd been given everything else. So, you created that rumor for your petty revenge. Did Grant know that it was a lie? Did he get Mr. Poundstone fired on accident? Or was he in on it too?”

Chloe's heart-shaped mouth opened and closed like a guppy a few times before she spoke again. “What if I did? What does it matter now? Mr. Poundstone moved on. Why won’t you?”

As far as I was concerned, that was as good as an admission. But I pressed on. “Why would you do that? Why would you try to ruin me? What did I have that you didn't already have, Chloe? I had next to nothing back then, and you knew it. My mom and I were practically homeless. I wasn't cheer captain, that was you. I wasn't a popular girl like you. That solo was the only thing that I had going for me and you tried to take that away, too. Why?”

Chloe sneered, glaring. Her face flushed red with anger as her jaw worked. She growled, “You brought it on yourself.”

“How? By being your punching bag for twelve years?”

“You thought you could just walk in there, sing marginally well, and take what was mine. You’re selfish, Maggie.”

I laughed in disbelief. “You’re joking, right? Have you any self-awareness?”

“If you thought I’d just roll over and let you do it, then you had another thing coming,” she spat. “You're a nobody. A nobody trying to be a somebody. There's nothing sadder. You'll never be one of us.”

“I don't want to be you!” I shot back. “You don't get to decide who I am or what I'm worth. That upsets you, doesn’t it?”

Chloe's expression darkened, and for a moment, I thought she might lash out again. But instead, I saw a flicker of something else. Fear, perhaps? The realization that she had lost her hold on me? She remained silent, scanning me as if she were hunting for a new crack to pry open.

But I had filled my cracks with the truth. Funny how being ripped apart was the thing that fixed me.

I took a step back, my heart racing. “You keep trying to break me, Chloe Foster, yet I'm still standing. I never deserved your hate, but I realize now it was never about me. It was about you. What you say about me says more about you than it does me, and that eats you alive, doesn’t it?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she hissed.

I shrugged. I was done with Chloe, with feeling like an asshole for lying to Julian’s family, with all of it. There was nothing here for me. Not anymore. Time to start a new chapter of my life story.

I’d rebuild myself from the ground up.

As I stood there, staring Chloe down, I saw it in my head. I’d move back in with Mom and Dad, get a job, and save up my money until I could open another bakery. Maybe I could even write a cookbook while I worked toward my new bakery. It would take years of work, but the time would pass anyway, so I might as well work toward something good.

A life I could be proud of. The world was my hard-earned oyster. I just had to seize it.

Chloe’s shoulders heaved with her angry breaths, charging up like a weak battery. “If I were you, I’d?—"

“I’m not interested in your advice. Save your breath. It’s just hot air, anyway.” With that, I grabbed my suitcase and pushed past her, knocking against her bony shoulder and not bothering to look back.

Marcus' expression was a fresh appraisal of me like he was seeing me for the first time. Apollo gave a nod of respect as I passed him. But then he glanced down at his phone, once again acting like he wasn’t paying attention to anything else.

I wondered how many times he'd done exactly that. Play pretend. I understood the urge. It was easier to pretend than to acknowledge anything uncomfortable. It was the one reality that a Bryant never liked to face. But I faced it today.

Maybe I wasn't like the others in my family, after all. Or maybe it was a new day for the Bryant’s. Hard to say. As of today, though, I was done eating my words or swallowing my feelings. No more biting my tongue. That chapter was closed.

I told Julian the ugly truth—he didn’t love me. He was confused, and pity was not a foundation to build anything on. Even though I thought I might choke on the words, I got them out. I said my piece and left it at that. To my surprise, I was still breathing, and better than that, I was proud of myself.

Walking away, I felt lighter. The burden of Chloe's cruelty and the remnants of my past were finally behind me. The path ahead was uncertain, but it was mine to shape. No more playing someone else's game or by someone else’s rules. I was ready to find my own way, free from the shackles of a life I never truly belonged in.