SIDDHII

Title: The Maddox Misconception
—a rich, messy, slow-burn drama soaked in secrets, obsession, and the kind of love that ruins and redeems.



Sky Maddox is thirty-two, filthy rich, drop-dead gorgeous—and a single mom to the most unattainable boy in school. Everyone assumes she’s Sebastian’s sister, his sugar mama, or his way-too-young stepmom. But the truth? She’s his mother. The kind who still asks if he’s eaten, sends him “I love you” texts mid-class, and believes her baby boy is the sweetest soul on earth.

But Sebastian Maddox—eighteen, six-foot-two, emotionally unavailable and devastatingly hot—is living a secret double life. He smokes. He rides a bike. He clubs. He hooks up with a new girl every weekend. And behind Sky’s back, he's becoming the one person she never recovered from:

Rain Chen.

The man who left her the moment she got pregnant. The man who taught Sebastian everything he shouldn’t be. The man who just walked back into their lives like a storm, aged like sin and dangerous as ever.

And Rain? He doesn’t want redemption. He wants Sky. He wants control. He wants to shatter the bond between mother and son just to prove that he still can. Because nothing infuriates him more than seeing Sky love Sebastian the way she once loved him.

As secrets spill, old wounds reopen, and love is twisted into rivalry, Sky must confront a brutal truth:

The boy she raised may be the shadow of the man who broke her.

And the biggest misconception of all?
That the Maddox family isn’t already falling apart.

The Maddox Misconception

She doesn't scream when she sees me.

Keys still dangling from her fingers. Groceries in her arms. Mouth slightly open like she forgot how to breathe.

"Missed me, sweetheart?" I murmur.

I don't wait for permission. I step inside like I own the place—because once, I did. I still do. In ways she'll never outrun.

The penthouse hasn't changed much. Still smells like vanilla and warmth. Still too white, too clean. Too Sky. Except now, there's a second pair of shoes at the door—Sebastian's. Scuffed. Size eleven. Mine.

I set down the roses I brought on her marble counter.

I turn to her, taking the grocery bags from her hands like a gentleman. She lets me.

"Still drinking that overpriced tea?" I ask, glancing at the boxes in her bag. "You always liked pretending you weren't high-maintenance."

Her voice finally breaks out. A whisper. "What do you want, Rain?"

I walk closer. Slowly. One step at a time.

Her breath catches. I reach out and brush her hair back, gently, like I used to in the dorms when we were sixteen and playing at forever.

She shakes her head and turns—but not fast enough. I catch her wrist. Pull her back. Press her against the counter with a touch that's careful. Calculated.

"You're shaking," I murmur, brushing my thumb across her pulse.

I lean in, lips grazing the shell of her ear.

"I did let you go. And you ran—like you always do. But you can't run from this. Not when our son has my fire in his bones."

"I saw the photos," she breathes. "You took them. You stalked him."

"No," I say smoothly. "I watched. Like any father would. Like any man would when he sees his legacy being twisted by a woman who thinks she can erase him."

And I hate how pretty she still looks like that.

"Shh." I place my finger on her lips. "Good girls don't beg like that. Not unless they want to be kissed."

Her tears spill over. I wipe them with my thumb like I care. Like I ever stopped caring.

Instead, I stroke her jaw. Lean down. Breathe her in like it hasn't been years. Like I haven't spent every second since missing this.

"I don't want to hurt you," I whisper, voice laced with false mercy. "But I will if you make me."

"I won't let you near him," she says.

I kiss her temple before stepping back. Her hands clutch the counter like it's the only thing keeping her upright.

And she's left behind in silence, heart pounding in a penthouse that suddenly doesn't feel like home.

Love Like Poison