Abandoned

Chapter 16

Miles POV

The ringing of my phone woke me up.

I groaned and turned to my right.

“Pick it up.” I heard Max mumble. “It will wake Maddie up.”

I opened my eyes and looked to my left. Maddie was sleeping peacefully between Max and me. I smiled and wanted to caress her cheek when I was hit with a pillow.

“What?!” I whispered angrily.

“Pick up your damn phone or turn the fucking thing off.” Max said, grabbing another pillow and lying back down.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my phone from the nightstand.

It was Sam.

Shit.

I stood up and answered the call.

“Why the fuck aren’t you two in school?” Sam started yelling before I could even speak. “And where the fuck are you? I’m outside your house, and no one is opening the door.”

Fuck.

I turned around and looked at Max.

“I swear to God, if you two got into some shit again...” Sam continued, but I interrupted him.

“We are home.” I said. “Wait a second.”

I approached Max and shook him.

“Not interested.” Max mumbled.

“It’s Sam.” I whispered. “He is here. Get the fuck up.”

Max opened his eyes and looked up at me.

“Why the fuck is he here?” he asked, making me roll my eyes.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know that?” I whispered. “Get up.”

Max mumbled a curse, threw the blanket off, and sat up. He turned around to look at Maddie.

“Check her temperature.” I told him as I put the phone back on my ear.

I watched as Max put a hand on Maddie’s forehead and frowned.

Shit.

“We will be right downstairs, Sam.” I told him as I hung up.

“She still has a fever.” Max said quietly.

“Fuck.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Let her sleep. Let’s go see what Sam wants before he breaks in and comes upstairs.”

I didn’t want him to see her. Not yet. She still had to get used to us. I wasn’t going to let him near her.

Max kissed her cheek and got out of bed.

Both of us kept our eyes on her until Max closed the bedroom door behind us. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“She won’t leave, Max.” I told him, putting my arm around his shoulder.

“I know.” he mumbled. “It’s hard being away from her.”

“Let’s just get rid of Sam, and we can come back to her.” I mumbled, trying to force myself to move away from the door.

I wanted to go back in there.

A loud knock on our front door made me roll my eyes.

“Come on.” Max sighed as she walked away.

I followed him, trying to calm myself down.

She was okay. She was sleeping. She couldn’t leave. We would be back with her in just a few minutes. We would get rid of Sam soon.

Max opened the front door, and Sam burst inside.

“Okay, what the fuck, man?” Max mumbled, closing the front door.

“Can you explain to me why you asked for your DNA to be compared to the DNA of some girl?” Sam asked, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes at us.

Fuck.

Max ran his fingers through his hair and looked at me.

“How do you know about that?” I asked Sam as I walked toward the couch.

“A friend of mine works at the lab.” Sam said, following behind me. “He recognized your name. He said that you offered him a lot of money to get it done by today.”

Fuck.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to send the samples to the hospital where Sam works.

“Why?” Sam asked after neither Max nor I answered him.

“You should know why.” Max said as he sat down next to me. “You are 12 years older than us. You should remember her.”

Of course he remembered her. Why didn’t he tell us about her? Did my parents forbid him to?

Sam flinched.

“What are you talking about?” he mumbled.

Max raised an eyebrow. “Cut the crap, Samuel.”

Sam gulped and sat down opposite us. He buried his face in his hands.

“She died, guys.” he mumbled, not moving his hands from his face.

“You are either lying to us right now, or you’ve been lied to as well.” I said, making Sam look at me.

“I am not lying.” he said, his voice breaking. “She died. It was the worst fucking day of my life. I adored that little girl. I protected her. I loved her like she was my own baby. I loved her more than her own par…”

His voice broke, and he stopped talking. He bent his head and took a deep breath.

“How did she die?” Max asked, making Sam look up at him.

“She fell from a swing and hit her head.” Sam mumbled. “I didn’t even get to see her. Your mom and dad took her to the hospital. She died there.”

The anger exploded inside me. I saw fucking red.

I would kill them. I would fucking kill them.

“How do you guys even know about her?” Sam asked, wiping his cheeks. “Did you remember her? I mean, you were only four at the time. Your parents never wanted to tell you because they were afraid it would hurt you.”

I chuckled darkly. Max snorted.

Sam furrowed his eyebrows.

“We started to get suspicious when a girl who looked like us came to our school.” Max said.

“Guys, it’s a coincidence.” Sam sighed. “Look, I know it’s hard learning that you had a triplet who died, but…”

“She isn’t dead.” I interrupted him. “She is upstairs, sleeping in her bed.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “You brought the girl home?!”

“Of course.” Max said. “She is our sister.”

“Max…” Sam sighed, but I interrupted him again.

“The girl upstairs is 17 years old.” I said. “She has the same birthmark as Max and I on the same fucking place as us. She looks like us. Oh, and the best of all, her name is Madeline.”

Sam’s eyes widened and he looked toward the stairs.

“You are not going upstairs.” Max told him.

Sam looked at him and gulped.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” I asked him. “You saw how much we suffered without her. You saw how fucked up we were. Why didn’t you tell us?”

Sam looked toward the stairs again.

“I was 16, guys.” he mumbled. “Your parents told me not to tell you anything. I couldn’t go against them. I wanted to tell you when you were older, but then my dad got involved as well, and it all went to shit.”

“Does Ryan remember her?” Max asked.

“Of course.” Sam nodded. “He talks about her all the time.”

Sam never looked away from the stairs.

“Did your friend finish the DNA test?” I asked him.

“Not yet.” Sam mumbled.

He finally looked at us.

“I know you want her to be your sister, but she isn’t.” Sam sad, making me so fucking angry. “Why would your parents lie? Why would they fake her death?”

“Maybe because they never wanted a girl.” Max said, and I could hear the anger in his voice. “We both know what our fathers think about having female children.”

Sam gulped and took a deep breath.

“We don’t know why they waited until she was four, though.” I said, making Sam look at me. “We will ask them when they come to pick up their fucking bags.”

Sam glanced toward the stairs again.

“They left her on the side of the road.” Max told him.

Sam turned his head toward Max so fucking fast that I thought he would snap his neck.

“What?!” he asked, and I could hear anger in his voice.

I tightened my jaw and glanced at Max.

How the fuck would he react when he found out that she was living in a tent?

How would all of us react when we found out why she ran away from home?