Flashbacks come in at full force.
“Your dad has shady business dealings.”
“She’s a civilian!”
“She’s no civilian and you know it.”
“Do you know anything about us?”
“Have you been to The Hamptons before? And be honest with me!”
“Fuck your dad!”
“Trust me, Madison. Your father is no innocent in this!”
“He recognized her! Fuck!”
And then finally, Bishop’s words from the cabin. “Just promise me that you will always know we’ve done everything for your safety.”
All the secrets. The questions, the empty answers and promises. The lies!
My mouth drops open and my chest freezes as realization becomes clear. “Oh my God,” I whisper, my hand coming to my mouth. I look up at all the Kings and then look to my father, whose shoulders are slack in defeat. I look over his shoulder to see a strapping man in a tailored suit. His jaw is square and tense, his eyes dead and emotionless. He flicks the cufflinks on his wrist and glares right through me.
“I’m the Silver Swan,” I murmur to myself, searching the floor for some sort of clue that I’m overreacting. Everyone pauses, no one correcting me. “You all lied to me!” I launch off the floor and point to them all. Hate builds up in force. Tears stream down my face as I turn to face Bishop. “You lied to me. Oh my God!” I step backward, Tatum, being Tatum, following my back. “Who the fuck are you?” I whisper to Bishop, then turn to Dad. “And who the fuck are you, too?” I shake my head.
“Madi, wait!’ Bishop yells as I run through the door, clutching the book in my hand.
“Leave her, son.”
“Don’t talk about my daught—”
They all cut out as I pick up my pace, Tatum chasing me down the driveway. We reach the fence, and it slides open instantly as we get there.
“Madi!” Bishop yells, running down the steps of his house.
“Hurry, Tatum!” We run through the gates, and she beeps open her car. The gates slowly close behind us, and I quickly slide into the passenger seat, with her getting into the driver’s.
“Drive,” I hiss, my heart breaking when I catch Bishop’s eye, his hands curled around the bars of the fence.
“Where to?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“Okay. Are we running, Madi? ‘Cause I’m with you all the way.”
“Yeah, Tate, we’re running, and we’re not coming back.”
They are not the boys I suspected they were. They’re the kind of monsters you warn people about. Not naïve children, but adults. The kind who lie, cheat, manipulate, seduce, and kill, just to get what they want. They’re the kind you run from.
I’m Madison Montgomery, and I thought I knew who I was. But I was wrong. I’m not just some average girl whose mom killed herself after killing the woman my father was having an affair with.
I’m the Silver Swan.
And now? Now I’m just the remnants of the broken puppet they all used me as. Everything human inside of me has been taken out and replaced with nothing but cotton and fake love. There’s no coming back now—not ever.
The End
(For Now)