CHAPTER 7
Oliver returned home the next morning with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He blamed it on the shrimp he’d had with Cecelia, but if only he knew that his body somehow already knew what he was about to walk into.
“Welcome home, Mr Kane. Madam asked me to inform you about your anniversary present. She said it’s in the bedroom safe.”
Oliver’s heart dropped. Today was their wedding anniversary? He had never remembered the date. Madelynn was the one who had always celebrated their anniversary, not him.
He thought of her fragile state in the hospital a few days ago and with an uneasy tightness in his chest, he headed toward their bedroom.
Inside the safe, there was a single notebook. He opened it, and Madelynn’s neat handwriting filled the pages.
[Oliver,
I loved you for as long as I’ve known what Love meant. Back then, when I had to fight for my owr parents’ love and affection, I didn’t think I was worthy of being loved. But still I loved you as a child.
was neglected by everyone who mattered, including my sister and my parents, but you were always nice to me. You were my light in a really dark time, and I couldn’t stop myself from falling For you.
But when you found out you had to marry me instead, you looked at me like I’d stoler something. You hated me for replacing Cecelia. But still, you agreed to the marriage, so hought I’d earned a chance. I told myself that if I just loved you enough, you’d see it and fall fo
ne too.
But I was so wrong.
You became the worst thing that has ever happened to me. So I made a promise to myself; i you continued hurting me, I would leave. For good.]
Oliver’s hands shook as he flipped through the pages. Every single entry was a moment he hac ailed her. Every disappointment logged in quiet excruciating detail.
He didn’t even know when he started crying until a teardrop hit the page.
Madelynn had been aware of his crimes all along. And she just kept pretending, showing him what he wanted to see while she secretly planned to leave him.
He looked back down at the page.
The final disappointment: Our baby is gone.
It’s time I leave too.
Please Oliver, let’s never see each other again. ]
Beneath the notebook were three documents: the signed divorce agreement, her resignation letter, and the miscarriage report.
Oliver staggered back as if he had been struck. His knees hit the floor with a loud pop.
pm
He’d signed those papers himself… and he had never even looked at them. He hadn’t even known…
Baby? Madelynn was pregnant? They were going to have a baby?
His mind spiraled. The woman who had loved him for years, so quietly, and so completely was gone. And he had driven her away with his own hands.
Frantic, he tore through every room in the house. Her closet was empty. Her library had beer stripped of its books. The looked down from the bedroom windows to the garden she loved and tended to everyday? Even the garden seemed to be telling him that she wasn’t there anymore. Al the flowers had been uprooted and left to die.
He sniffed the air like a mad man. Not even her scent lingered in the room.
Every single trace of her was gone. It was almost like she was never in the house.
The servants stood off to the side quiet and confused as he tore through the entire house. Unti one of them spoke. “Sir, is something missing?”
‘She’s gone… my wife…” he murmured to no one in particular. “I’ve lost her.”
A maid approached hesitantly. “Sir… maybe try calling her?”
Snapping out of his daze, he fumbled for his phone and dialed. Why hadn’t he thought abou calling her?
He dialed her number, only to be met with the mechanical voice of an automated message.
The number you have dialled is no longer in service.”
Fuck!” He yelled.
One by one, he tried every number she had ever used. All disconnected. He even tried using the
ervants’ phones but none of them went through.
His heart pounded with dread. He couldn’t believe that she had truly cut him off. Madelynr vasn’t capable of doing that. Maybe something had happened.
Not knowing where else to turn, he bolted out of the villa and headed straight to the Fontaine
state. If she had gone anywhere, it had to be there. It’s not like she had anyone else but him.
Meanwhile, at the grand Wilde estate, Madelynn had already arrived- with Sebastian at her side carrying her suitcase like a gentleman who cherished everything about her.
“he past few days, he had renovated the entire master bedroom just for her. The blush-tonec valls, the antique vanity, the vase of flowers by the window… it was all her. He knew her so well.
Every little detail told her one thing: This is what true love looks like. This is what it looks like when someone pays attention to your needs.
Sebastian guided her in with quiet pride. “I had everything redone. But if it’s not to your taste, we’ll change it. Or get another place. Whatever you want.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Madelynn whispered, “Bash… Thank you. Thank you so much for oving me.”
She threw her arms around him, and for the first time in years, she felt safe.
Sebastian smiled, holding her close. “You said it yourself. In half a month, we’re getting married. You’ve given me more than enough.”
