Chapter 112 *
Third Person POV
Madison's phone wouldn't stop buzzing. Each notification felt like a knife twisting deeper into her chest.
She sat on her bed. Her hands were shaking. The screen glowed in the dark room.
Another notification. Another comment. Another person calling for her head.
@WorkingClassMom: I just threw away every Park Beauty product in my house. I can't support a company whose daughter spends a MILLION DOLLARS trying to destroy a foster kid. #BoycottParkBeauty
The tweet had forty thousand likes. In thirty minutes.
Madison scrolled down. The replies were worse.
@MakeupAddict2026: Same. I've been buying their stuff for years. Never again. There are better brands that don't raise psychopaths.
@BudgetBeautyQueen: My daughter works construction to pay for college. This hit too close to home. Park Beauty is DONE.
@SingleMomStruggling: That girl worked 12-hour shifts at 16. Madison spent more money trying to ruin her than I'll make in TEN YEARS. I'm sick.
Madison's stomach twisted. She kept scrolling. Couldn't stop herself.
Someone had started a hashtag. #DumpParkBeauty
It was trending number one nationwide.
Her phone rang. Mom.
Madison answered. "Hello?"
"Get downstairs. Now." Zinnia's voice was ice cold. "Your father wants to see you."
The line went dead.
Madison's hands were still shaking when she walked into Maxwell's study five minutes later.
Richard Park stood by the window. His back was to her. His shoulders were rigid.
Zinnia sat in the corner chair. Her face was pale. Her hands were folded in her lap so tightly.
"Close the door," Maxwell said. He didn't turn around.
Madison closed it. The soft click echoed in the silence.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" His voice was quiet. Too quiet.
That scared her more than yelling would have.
"Dad, I canâ€""
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?" He spun around. His face was red. A vein pulsed in his forehead.
Madison took a step back. Hit the door.
"Our stock dropped thirty-seven percent today." He walked toward her. "Thirty-seven percent. In one day."
He stopped three feet away. "Do you know what that means? Do you understand what you've cost this family?"
"I didn't meanâ€""
"Two hundred million dollars." His voice rose. "That's how much we lost today. Two hundred million. Because of you."
Madison's throat felt tight. She couldn't speak.
"The stores are getting flooded with returns," Zinnia said. Her voice was hollow. "The distribution centers can't keep up. Customer service is getting death threats."
"Death threats," Maxwell repeated. "To our employees. People who have nothing to do with what you did. They're scared to go to work."
He turned away. Walked back to his desk. Picked up his tablet.
"Look at this." He shoved it at her.
Madison took it with shaking hands. The screen showed their company's social media page.
Every single post had thousands of comments. All of them negative.
@FormerCustomer: I hope your company goes bankrupt. You raised a monster.
@BoycottParkBeauty: Your daughter belongs in PRISON. Not a penthouse.
@JusticeForScarlett: I will never buy your products again. Ever. Tell your daughter she's disgusting.
Madison's vision blurred. The words ran together.
"We've lost six major retail contracts," Maxwell said. "CVS dropped us. Walgreens is reviewing. Target wants to renegotiate terms."
He grabbed the tablet back. Threw it on the desk.
"And you know what the worst part is?" He looked at her. His eyes were hard. Cold. "You still don't get it."
"I do getâ€""
"No you don't!" He slammed his hand on the desk. The sound made her jump. "You think this is about some girl from Montana? Some rivalry?"
He walked toward her again. Got right in her face.
"This is about our family's reputation. Our business. Everything we've built."
"But she humiliated meâ€""
The slap came out of nowhere.
Madison's head snapped to the side. Her cheek exploded in pain.
She touched her face. Stared at Maxwell in shock.
He'd never hit her before.
"Don't you dare." His voice was shaking now. "Don't you dare try to justify what you did."
Tears were streaming down Madison's face. Her cheek was burning.
"You want to know what really pisses me off?" Maxwell's voice dropped. "It's not even that you bullied someone. Rich kids bully each other all the time. That's just how it is."
He leaned against his desk. Crossed his arms.
"It's that you were stupid about it. You left evidence. You bragged about it in text messages. You hired firms that kept records."
He shook his head. "You bullied someone, and then you got caught. Like an amateur."
"Richardâ€"" Zinnia started.
"No." He held up his hand. "She needs to hear this."
He turned back to Madison. "You don't get it, do you? Our brand is mid-market. We sell to middle America. Working class families. Soccer moms buying drugstore makeup."
He walked toward her again. "Without those 'trash' you look down on spending twenty bucks here, thirty bucks there, where do you think your penthouse comes from? Your Hermès bags? Your trust fund?"
Madison opened her mouth. Nothing came out.
"Those construction workers you think are beneath you?" Maxwell's voice was getting louder again. "Their daughters buy our lipstick. Their wives buy our foundation. They're our customers."
He was right in her face now. "And you just told them all that their children don't matter. That rich girls can destroy their lives for fun."
"I didn'tâ€""
"That's exactly what you did!" He was shouting now. "You spent a million dollars trying to ruin a girl who worked construction to survive! A girl whose story makes our customers see their own daughters!"
His hand rose again.
"Richard, stop!" Zinnia jumped up. Grabbed his arm.
He froze. His hand was still raised. His face was bright red.
Madison was crying harder now. Her whole body was shaking.
Zinnia pulled Maxwell away. Stood between them.
"Hitting her won't fix this," she said quietly.
"Nothing will fix this." Maxwell's voice cracked. He turned away. "Do you know what I had to do today? I had to grovel to the board. Had to promise them we'd handle it. Had to watch them question whether I'm fit to run this company."
He sat down heavily in his chair. Put his head in his hands.
"Thirty years. I spent thirty years building this business. And you destroyed it in three weeks."