The Girl He Couldn't Save

I was Maddy, once a folk singer with a heart full of songs, now just Ryan Scott' s trophy, living in a gilded cage to pay my mother's medical bills.

Then Ethan Lester, the boy who promised me forever before vanishing, reappeared at Ryan' s party, his eyes cold, judgmental, and engaged to the daughter of a music dynasty.

Just as I reeled from that shock, my phone rang, a chilling call from Sledge demanding five thousand dollars by nightfall or my mother would pay.

Ryan, my supposed protector, ignored my desperate pleas, leaving me to face a brutal attack on my mother and myself, all while Ethan' s fiancé, Gabrielle, held the ultimate power over my father' s wrongful imprisonment.

With Ryan proving useless and Ethan trapped by his family, Gabrielle offered me a sinister deal: my father' s freedom in exchange for my death.

So I made a choice, sacrificing myself in a fiery crash with Ryan, finally free, or so I thought.

Now, haunted by my past and consumed by vengeance, Ethan built a new ghost of me, a rising star who looks just like me, tormenting his wife and becoming the very monster he once fought.

The air in Ryan Scott' s penthouse was thick with the smell of expensive whiskey and cheap desperation.

I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the lights of Nashville, a city that had promised me everything and given me nothing but this gilded cage.

Four years ago, I was Madisyn Jenkins, a folk singer with a guitar and a heart full of songs about the Appalachian mountains I called home. Now, I was just Maddy, Ryan Scott' s girl, a decoration he moved around his lavish parties.

"Maddy, get over here."

Ryan' s voice cut through the party chatter. He was already drunk, his arm slung around some record executive. I turned, my smile practiced and empty, and walked toward him.

That' s when I saw him.

Ethan Lester.

He stood across the room, a glass of bourbon in his hand, talking to a blonde in a dress that cost more than my mother' s hospital bills for a month.

Four years. Four years since he' d held me in the back of his pickup truck, promising me a future under a blanket of stars.

Four years since he' d vanished without a word, leaving a hole in my life that I' d been trying to fill with Ryan' s dirty money ever since.

Our eyes met. For a second, the noise of the party faded.

I saw a flicker of something in his expression-shock, maybe regret. Then it was gone, replaced by a cold, detached smirk that cut me deeper than any insult.

He looked me up and down, taking in my too-short dress and the way Ryan' s hand was possessively on my waist. His smirk widened. He was judging me.

The boy who had sworn to love me forever was now looking at me like I was something he' d scraped off his boot.

"Sing for us, Maddy," Ryan slurred, pulling me closer. "Sing that little song my Ava used to sing."

He was talking about his dead girlfriend. The one I looked just enough like to be a convenient, living ghost. The crowd quieted, their eyes on me. It was a test, a public humiliation he enjoyed.

"You know the one," Ryan pushed, his fingers digging into my arm. "Get on your knees and sing it for Mr. Henderson. He' s thinking of signing you."

It was a lie. He was never going to sign me. I was his pet, not his protégé.

Ethan was still watching, his face a mask of indifference. That look, that cold smirk, broke something inside me. Fine. If he wanted to see a cheap party girl, I' d give him a show.

I didn' t get on my knees. Instead, I leaned in close to Ryan, my lips almost touching his ear. I whispered, loud enough for those nearby to hear, "Only if you make it worth my while, baby. My time isn' t free."

I ran a hand down his chest, my eyes locked on Ethan' s. I saw his jaw tighten, the smirk finally faltering. Good.

Ryan laughed, a loud, obnoxious sound. He grabbed my face and kissed me, hard and sloppy. It was a performance. I was just playing my part.

The party swirled on, but the air had changed. Later, as I was trying to get a moment of peace on the balcony, a hand clamped down on my arm, spinning me around.

It was Ethan.

He pushed me against the cold glass of the railing, his body trapping me. The detachment was gone, replaced by a raw, furious anger.

"What the hell was that?" he hissed, his voice low and dangerous.

"I don' t know what you' re talking about," I said, my voice dripping with false sweetness.

"Don' t play dumb with me, Madisyn," he spat my full name. "Letting him touch you like that. Selling yourself for a record deal that' s never going to happen. Have you no shame?"

His words were a punch to the gut.

"Shame?" I laughed, a bitter, ugly sound. "That' s rich, coming from you."

"I' m engaged to Gabrielle Hughes," he said, as if that explained everything. "You think this is easy for me?"

"You disappeared, Ethan. You left me with nothing. Now you show up four years later, engaged to the daughter of a music dynasty, and you have the nerve to judge me?"

I shoved him back, needing space to breathe.

"You want me?" I asked, my voice hard. "You want to reclaim what you threw away? Well, get in line. Ryan Scott pays my bills. He pays for my mother' s doctors. What can you offer me, Ethan? A back-alley affair while you plan your wedding to Nashville royalty? No, thank you."

He looked stunned, as if he expected me to fall into his arms.

"It wasn' t like that," he started, his voice strained. "I had to leave. My family... there was a crisis."

"A crisis that lasted four years and ended with an engagement ring on another woman' s finger?" I scoffed. "Save it. Your excuses mean nothing to me now."

I pushed past him, my heart hammering against my ribs. I needed to get back to Ryan. He was a monster, but he was a predictable monster. Ethan... Ethan was a ghost who had come back to haunt me, and I couldn' t afford to let him break me all over again.

I walked back into the party, straight to Ryan. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a kiss that was all for show, a public declaration. I felt Ethan' s eyes on my back the entire time.

"There' s my girl," Ryan mumbled, pulling a wad of cash from his pocket and stuffing it into my purse. "For your mom."

I just nodded, my throat tight. This was my reality. This was the price of my mother' s life.

The drive home from Ryan' s party was a blur. The city lights smeared past the window of the town car he' d sent for me. The cash in my purse felt heavy, dirty. It wasn' t enough. It was never enough.

My phone buzzed. A text from a blocked number.

He' s just using you. He' ll never help you with your father.

Ethan. It had to be. I deleted it without replying.

The next day, the real world came crashing back in. My phone rang, and the caller ID just said "Sledge." My blood ran cold.

"Maddy-girl," his greasy voice oozed through the speaker. "Time' s up. The boss wants his money. Five thousand. By tonight."

"I don' t have it," I said, my voice shaking. "I just paid for my mom' s medication. I need another week."

"A week?" He laughed, a horrible, rattling sound. "Your mom' s a tough old bird, but stress ain' t good for that heart of hers. I' d hate for something to happen. I' m at the hospital now. She looks so peaceful when she' s sleeping."

Panic seized me. "Don' t you touch her. I' ll get the money. Just give me a few hours."

"You got one hour, Maddy-girl. Clock' s ticking."

He hung up.

I called Ryan. It went to voicemail. I called again. Voicemail. My hands were trembling so badly I could barely dial. I had no one else. I had no other options.

I grabbed my keys and raced to the hospital, praying I wouldn' t be too late. When I burst into my mother' s room, my worst fears were realized.

Sledge was there, along with two of his thugs. My mother was awake, her face pale with terror, her breathing ragged on the oxygen machine. One of the thugs was holding her arm, his fingers digging into her frail skin.

"Look who it is," Sledge grinned, showing a row of yellow teeth. "Came to pay your respects?"

"Get away from her," I snarled, my voice shaking with rage and fear.

"Pay me, and we' ll go," he said simply.

"I told you, I need more time!"

"Time' s up." He nodded to the thug holding my mother. The man tightened his grip. My mother cried out, a thin, weak sound that tore my heart out.

"Stop! Please!" I begged, tears streaming down my face. I fumbled for my phone, my fingers slipping on the screen. I hit Ryan' s number on redial, putting it on speaker.

"Leave a message," his automated voice said.

"Ryan, please!" I screamed into the phone, my voice cracking with desperation. "He' s hurting my mother! At the hospital! Please, Ryan, help me!"

Sledge laughed. "Your rich boyfriend ain' t coming, sweetheart."

He backhanded me across the face. The world exploded in a flash of white-hot pain. I fell to the floor, my head hitting the linoleum with a sickening crack.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Sledge' s boot coming towards my face, and the faint, hazy image of Ethan, standing under the stars, smiling at me.