The Quarterback’s First Love – Episode 32
Linda placed both briefcases on the dining table and opened them. Neat stacks of currency filled each one. “Five hundred thousand dollars per case,” she said, as calmly as if presenting a scholarship package.
Maddie stared at more money than she had ever seen. A fraction could pay tuition, replace her car, and secure housing for years. Linda watched her calculate, mistaking practical awareness for greed.
“You can’t buy me,” Maddie said. Linda smiled. “Everyone says that before choosing a number. Girls with your background simply require fewer zeros.”
The contempt clarified the offer. Linda did not want consent; she wanted proof supporting the story she had already written about Maddie. Taking the money would allow her to tell Cameron his first love had abandoned him for cash.
Maddie closed the first briefcase. “I’m not leaving Cameron, and I’m not with him for money.” Linda opened it again and asked whether another million would make honesty easier.
“No amount changes my answer.” Maddie’s voice remained steady, though the two men by the door made the room feel smaller. She reached discreetly for her phone.
One guard moved first and removed it from her hand. Linda claimed they only wanted a civilized conversation, then instructed the men to grab Maddie when she demanded they leave.
She fought, knocking a chair aside and driving her heel into one man’s shin. The second pinned her arms. Linda watched without emotion, calling resistance evidence that Maddie needed professional help.
“I have a facility prepared,” she said. “Somewhere people like you can recover from unhealthy attachments.” Maddie understood the threat beneath the language: confinement disguised as treatment.
The guards dragged her toward the elevator. Maddie shouted for neighbors, but Linda said Cameron had already told the building staff that his unstable guest might cause disturbances. The lie had been arranged in advance.
Downstairs, a dark SUV waited at the curb. Maddie caught the doorframe and screamed Cameron’s name. A guard pried her fingers loose one at a time.
Cameron returned from practice early after noticing missed calls from the apartment’s security system. He rounded the corner just as the guards forced Maddie into the back seat.
“Mom!” His shout stopped Linda before she entered the passenger side. He ran toward the vehicle, demanding that the door be opened.
Linda lowered the window. “I’m doing what any good mother would. I’m protecting you from a gold digger who has destabilized your life.” Cameron struck the locked door with his palm.
“She refused your money, didn’t she?” Linda’s silence confirmed it. Cameron ordered the guards to release Maddie, but the driver started the engine.
His mother called Maddie an unwanted orphan who ruined everything she touched. Cameron’s face went cold. “I was an orphan too. Did I ruin your life?”
Linda insisted he was different because the Carters had chosen him to complete their family. “Nobody chose her,” she said. “Nobody loved her.”
Maddie struggled behind the tinted glass. Cameron looked directly at the shadow of her face. “That’s not true. I choose her. I love her.” It was the first time he had spoken the words aloud to anyone.
Linda’s expression flickered, then hardened. “Drive.” The SUV pulled into traffic while Cameron ran beside it, pounding on the window until speed forced him back.
He sprinted toward his own car, calling campus police and emergency services as he moved. The childhood nightmare had returned with adult machinery and money behind it, but this time Cameron swore he would reach Maddie before anyone could take her away.