Page 34 of Unapologetic Obsession
“How do you mean?”
“I processed all the checks for this event. This payment came from Caden’s account.” She pulled up something on her phone and turned the screen to me. It was a receipt slip for a large donation, signed by Damon Maxwell. “He donated money but signed it under Damon’s name. He has been doing this since we were kids. Whenever he does something nice, he credits Damon for it.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s so fucked up.”
It was awful that Professor Maxwell didn’t want credit for his good deeds because someone had ingrained it in him that he was bad. I couldn’t help but notice the similarity in our situation. My family thought I resembled a monster after seeing my scars and begged me to consider plastic surgery. Meanwhile, Professor Maxwell’s family had convinced him he was a monster because of his unconventional personality. We had more in common than I realized—we were monsters in the eyes of others.
His situation was worse. I could cover up the superficial marks on my body, he couldn’t cover the ones scarring his soul.
“Okay. So, Mrs. Maxwell decided that Caden was the devil. But what about his dad?”
She gave me a small smile. “Damon was also Mr. Maxwell’s golden boy. He did everything asked of him and agreed to join the family business. He was groomed to take over the company, but Caden had no such aspirations. He was interested in medicine. It caused a lot of tension in their relationship, and Mr. Maxwell often told Caden his mother was right about him being evil.”
“Oh God.”
Was it possible for your heart to shatter for a person you barely knew? His parents labeled him as a monster since birth. There was no one to protect him or tell him otherwise. Sophie’s story made me want to reach out and comfort the curious, lonely young boy.
“How did Professor Maxwell react to all this?” I asked weakly.
“He was hard to read, even as a little boy. But everyone assumed he brushed off his parents’ rejection.”
“Do you believe it?”
She sighed. “Every year, Mrs. Maxwell went all out for Damon’s birthday and bought him buttloads of gifts. One time, she even rented an amusement park and invited everyone they knew. Caden’s birthday was the next day, but he already knew she’d never make such a fuss over him. I remember seeing him that day. He was sitting on a bench, watching Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell drag Damon to one of the rides. She never included him in their family moments, and he never tried to fit in. He just watched from afar. I always wondered if it bothered him.” Sophie maintained a half smile. “Does that answer your question?”
This was more painful than Mrs. Maxwell’s refusal to hold her newborn. I staggered over to a nearby cocktail table and perched myself on a stool. Sophie followed suit, settling onto the stool beside mine.
“His mother was a bitch.” The words slipped out before I could catch them.
Sophie seemed amused that I had said the word,bitch.To the best of my memory, I had never used that term, but she deserved to be the first. Making your son feel unwanted was bad enough, but flaunting how much love you had to give and deliberately withholding it was a new level of cruelty. How do you come to terms with a mother who never loved you? I hated her for it, even though she was long deceased.
“Why didn’t Damon ever call out his mother for being so mean?” I asked.
“Honestly, Damon didn’t see the cracks in their so-called happy family because Caden never voiced his complaints. He thought everything was fine when Mrs. Maxwell was still alive.”
“But he must’ve noticed that no one celebrated his brother’s birthdays. Why didn’t he, or even you, organize something for him?” I tried to keep a neutral tone, but a hint of accusation slipped through. Sophie claimed she was close to the twins. If she noticed the disparity in how the parents treated the boys, why didn’t she do something nice for Professor Maxwell?
She scoffed. “Have you met Caden? He’s not exactly approachable. Still, Damon rounded us up one year later to surprise Caden for his birthday. We showed up at his bedroom at midnight with gifts and a cake. And what did he do? Slammed the door right in our faces.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Would you want to be on the receiving end of a pity party? He might’ve been young, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew his parents didn’t care for him and nearly bit our heads off fortrying to supplement that affection. In any case, he never seemed like the kid who wanted or needed a party. Can you blame us for letting it be?”
I nodded in understanding. I had encountered similar instances with Poppy. Those two were cut from the same cloth—reserved and guarded. It was challenging to do nice things for people who reacted poorly to it.
“So, every year, only Damon had a birthday party?” I asked, feeling defeated.
“Pretty much.” She rotated her head from side to side. “Mrs. Maxwell would exhaust her resources on Damon’s birthday, and the next day, she’d make endless excuses about being too tired to celebrate Caden’s. She’d insist one party sufficed for both boys. She never even baked Caden a cake, and instead, served him leftover slices from Damon’s party.”
I couldn’t bear to hear more and stood from the cocktail table, surprising Sophie with the sudden movement.
“What’re you doing?” she asked, perplexed.
“I have to go.”
She frowned. “What?”
“I have to go,” I repeated. “I’ll see you later.” I turned to leave but bumped into Matt. He held a champagne bottle with a hopeful look on his face.
