Madeline Baker had always been the quiet one. The youngest of the Baker triplets, she grew up in the shadow of Max’s boldness and Marcus’s charm. Where they were loud, she was soft. Where they were seen, she was invisible. Madeline carried everyone’s weight on her shoulders, always putting others before herself — and no one ever noticed how heavy it had become.
For two years, Madeline had been trapped in a toxic, abusive relationship with Damon, a boy who made her feel like she was both everything and nothing. No one knew. She smiled when she had to, laughed when it was expected, and wore long sleeves even when the sun burned.
Then Georgia Miller and her family moved in. Georgia had a way of seeing through people, of noticing cracks others ignored. And she noticed Madeline. When she discovered what Damon was doing, Georgia’s protective instincts kicked in — and she made sure Damon could never hurt Madeline again.
Madeline was sweet, chaotic, and complicated. She lived with bipolar disorder and depression, but her siblings never knew the full extent of it. The voices in the back of her head whispered lies, tearing at the fragile image she built of herself. She burned and cut to feel something, anything. She wore makeup not because she loved it, but because she thought it was the only way she could ever be “pretty.” She questioned who she was daily, caught in an identity crisis that felt endless.
When Max and Marcus finally found out the truth — not from Madeline, but from the night she got drunk and let everything spill — the guilt hit them like a tidal wave. How could they have missed it? How did they not see their sister drowning?
They asked her why she hadn’t told them.
Madeline just whispered, “Because I didn’t want to make you hate me too.”
For the first time, Max and Marcus truly saw their little sister. Not the smiling girl tagging along. Not the triplet who always said “I’m fine.” But the broken, brave, messy human being underneath. And they decided that this time, they weren’t going to let her fight alone.
Face claim
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