Your typical slow-burn, friends-to-lovers trope, with a dash of manipulative dysfunctional family issues, and quite a bit of angst.
....
Ivelyn Cadwell, by all definitions, should've been happy. She was successful, had a mother and father who could support her every whim, and a bank account to support her for the rest of her life.
She hates herself precisely because she isn't.
Mallory, a telemarketer, on the other hand, had every right to despair. Abandoned by his mother at seven, and losing the foster family he finally learned to trust at twenty, Mal should've, rationally, fallen to the dark tendrils of depression, and yet, he hasn't.
Mal's happy. He swears he is.
And then Ivelyn picked up his call.
We've always been told to think before we speak, so as not to offend anyone. Maddie Hayes is over it. No matter what is said, someone is going to get offended. She just doesn't care anymore.
For someone who grew up with five older siblings, Maddie has never felt more alone. Now that they're all out of the house and starting their own families, that loneliness has manifested into anger at the feeling of being abandoned.
Madeline was never supposed to be the 'good girl'. From the years of sarcasm, she's learned from watching her older siblings, Maddie is 'that girl,' the girl that everyone envies, who can make you cry with just a look. But maybe her life isn't so great as she wants everyone to believe. Maybe she's tired of being forgotten by her older siblings; maybe she's angry because her parents work too much or that her friends would never actually be there for her if things got tough.
Maybe she's just sick of all the bullshit.