CHAPTER 9
Madelynn was slowly connecting the dots in her mind now.
She had often wondered why Oliver became so different afterwards. She tried for so many year: to make the connection between the man he had become and the young man who had save her life, and it never made sense, but now it did.
The disconnect, the way Oliver had always seemed cold, even when she’d loved him wit everything. It was because he was never the one.
She had mistaken her savior.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She looked up at Sebastian, voice trembling. “If you were the on who saved me… why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Sebastian let out a low, bitter laugh. “Because I had to leave the country with my fathe mmediately I got home that night. And I didn’t think you’d be so foolish as to love a man jus because he happened to be standing beside your hospital bed.”
He turned his head, his tone sharp. “I never said anything because I didn’t want to guilt you int hinking you owed me something. I’ve chased you for years, Lynn- but not for half of you. I onl ever wanted your whole heart.”
Madelynn’s chest tightened.
n all her years, no one had ever wanted her for her. They wanted her status. Her silence and he quiet obedience.
But Sebastian, he had stood quietly in her shadow for nearly a decade, asking for nothing vaiting without pressure.
His eyes met hers. They were clear, steady, and painfully sincere.
Her heart ached.
Without thinking, she stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face ir
is shoulder. Her entire body trembled, years of regret flooding through her.
Bash…” she whispered. “I get it now. I was wrong for so long… But I won’t be anymore. Yo deserve more than that. You deserve everything.”
She looked up at him, eyes shining with tears. “From today forward, let’s live well together. oved and catered for the wrong man for ten years, and I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to the right one.”
Sebastian stood frozen for half a second, then slowly, carefully, he pulled her into his arms.
His voice was low, magnetic. “Come to bed with me, Madelynn”
Madelynn seemed to have lost her speech. She just nodded, eyes misty, and her heart finally softening in a way it never had with Oliver.
Sebastian lifted her gently, as though she were something precious he couldn’t risk breaking, and carried her across the room. He laid her down atop soft sheets the same blush-pink as her
cheeks.
For a moment, he simply looked at her, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“Lynn,” he murmured, “you know you don’t have to do anything. You don’t owe me anything.” “I know,” she whispered. “But I want this… I want you.”
Their lips met in a kiss that started slow and unhurried, like rediscovering a memory long buried. Sebastian’s hands traced her tiny waist with reverence, his touch light but purposeful. Every touch of his finger asked a question, and her body answered in return.
Clothes slipped away between kisses and sighs, leaving only skin and breath and pure need.
He moved with restraint at first, pausing every few seconds to ask with his eyes: Are you sure?
And Madelynn, for the first time in years, felt seen, not as someone’s substitute, not as a trophy, not as a shadow. But as herself. She felt desired and chosen.
She pulled him down to her, her voice trembling. “Don’t hold back. I’m all yours.”
Their bodies came together like they were made for each other. It was slow at first, then deeper and more urgent, as if he was making up for all the time they had lost.
Madelynn clutched the sheets as a quiet moan escaped her lips, her breath catching at the way he moved inside her. They lost themselves in each other. Time blurred, and all that existed was the sound of their hearts syncing in rhythm, their bodies wrapped in something that felt far bigger than lust.
t felt like home.
Once his passion awakened, it was like a dam had broken. Sebastian kissed her deeply, like a nan starved of affection for years.
They didn’t stop until dawn.
n the Fontaine estate, Cecelia sat nestled between her parents, smiling sweetly and playing the devoted daughter.
Mom, Dad, we’re finally back together. I missed you so much while I was out of the country,” she said with a soft pout.
Her father chuckled with affection in his eyes. “We missed you too. Your mother couldn’t stop alking about you.”
Cecelia feigned modesty. “Well, you still had my big sister here, didn’t you? I’m sure she was aking good care of you the whole time.”
The moment Madelynn was mentioned, her mother Amelia’s face went cold.
‘Do not say her name in this house,” she snapped. “She might be our biological daughter, but she never really felt like part of this family. She’s been married four years with no children. The women in this family are fertile! And now, she doesn’t even bother coming home anymore.”
Then, with a sigh, she added bitterly, “If I had a choice, you would’ve been my biological daughter instead.”
Cecelia lowered her head, hiding the glint of victory in her eyes. “You know I’ll always be your true daughter.”
Just then, the butler came in to announce Oliver’s arrival.
Cecelia leapt to her feet. “Oliver!”
