Kingdom Domination | Sequel to Becoming Queen | JBFF

twenty-six.

A week after Justin had been arrested, the gang finds themselves worried about Hadlee. They had found out that the police department had a great deal of evidence indicating Justin had committed the crime. After several meetings with his lawyers and countless scenarios, it seemed evident that there was no way to get Justin out of the charges he had been framed for.

Hadlee has spent almost every moment of every day to try and find ways to get Justin out of his predicament. She sleeps an average of two hours a night, eats when she remembers and snaps on everyone whenever they try to convince her to do anything else.

"Hadlee, you need to sleep. There's no way you're going to find anything to help get Justin out of this if you can't even think straight."

"I'm fine, Maverick. I just need to figure out how to get Justin home. Once he's home, I'll sleep. I just need to bring him home," she stresses, running around the office and picking up papers that she had been printing and writing on.

"Hadlee-"

"No, Maverick!" she exclaims, losing her patience. She lets out a breath. "Leave, please. I need to focus."

He sighs, nodding and leaving the room.

After he leaves, Hadlee plops down into the office chair, leaning her head back in frustration.

She wishes everyone would just leave her alone to figure out a way to get Justin out of this situation. If anyone could do it, it would be her. She and Justin spent almost every waking moment together. Seriously, after moving to Canada with her family it didn't even take a month for her mother to give her permission to move in with Justin and the rest of the gang.

Thinking back to when Javier had her captive for clues, Hadlee's eyes open wide as she remembers a statement Javier had said.

Matthew. She thinks. He has to be the one behind this. He's the only one who would say something like that.

Ruffling through different papers, she finds multiple hints that could've lead her to this conclusion days ago.

Shaking her head, she decides she needs to get out of the house and begin researching Matthew to see what he's been up to since they had last seen one another. Could he really be behind all of this just because of the way they broke up a few years before? Was he still upset that she didn't want to be with him?

Packing up her laptop and throwing her hair into a messy bun, she walks out of the office, grabs her car keys and leaves the house, heading to the nearest Starbucks before walking inside, ordering a drink and taking a seat. Immediately, she starts her research.

After a while of scrolling and stalking his social media platforms all the way back to when they had still been dating, she begins to make a timeline of him and what he's been up to, trying to find a way to smuggle her way into his life and get a confession out of him.

"Hadlee?"

Looking, she notices the all too familiar face and takes in a breath before nervously letting it out.

"Matthew."

He grins down at her. "Is this seat taken? Do you mind?"

She shakes her head, gesturing to the seat in front of her and grinning lightly. "Not at all."

He sits across from her, smiling. "Whatcha working on? I uh, I saw you from across the room. You seem really focused."

"Oh!" she says, trying to come up with an excuse before rolling her eyes. "Looking for a place to live."

He furrows his eyebrows. "Really? Why?"

"Well, I'm living with my boyfriend and his friends but the problem is none of them are who I thought they were and I don't wanna go back to my mom's. She'd just rub it in my face or take up for them considering Maverick is one of them," she sighs. "I don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm trying to figure it out."

"Well, I don't know if you'd be interested but I have an extra room."

She gives him a questioning look.

He chuckles. "I, too, live with a big group of friends. Most of the rooms are taken but we have one extra. Even if you wanted to stay with us until you can find somewhere else to go, the door is open."

"Really? After all this time you'd just take me in like that?"

He nods. "Of course. I know we had a bad breakup but I'll always care for you Hadlee. I don't want you to be put in a bad situation and not have a way out. Let me help you."

She grins. "I really appreciate that, Matthew."

He smiles. "Is that a yes?"

She pretends to think for a moment before nodding. "You know what? Yeah. I think it's the best option I have right now. I don't want to stay with them anymore. It's not safe and I don't even know who they are anymore."

He grins. "Yeah, that's gotta be tough."

She nods. "Okay, so how about I go ahead back to their place and pack all my stuff up and then I'll come over and move in tonight?"

He nods. "Yeah, absolutely, here." He stops, writing his address on a napkin. "Here's the address and my phone number. Call me if you need help."

"Yeah, I totally will. Thank you again."

"Of course," he smiles. "I'll see you tonight then."

"Yeah, absolutely." she nods, smiling as he walks away and leaves the shop.

Letting the smile drop, she twists her lips to the side and glances at all her things before starting to pack up.

You need to do this. She tells herself. For Justin. For yourself. For answers.

***

thank you all so much for reading the new chapter!

there's only ONE more chapter until the 2nd book is OVER! 

How crazy is that?!

There is, however, a third book so the story isn't quite over yet ;)

thank you all for reading! don't forget to comment below to let me know what you think!

all my love, 

shan:)