Chapter 25
Madeline pretended she had only just remembered the court summons because she’d been too focused on worrying about Jacob. Only after Brian asked did she act concerned and hand him the envelope.
She could barely hide the joy in her eyes. She never expected Jessica would hand her such a big surprise.
Earlier, when Madeline confirmed at the hospital that Brian had no intention of divorcing Jessica, she had gone home feeling irritated, thinking about how to stir things up so Jessica would be the one to ask for a divorce.
She hadn’t expected Jessica to be so cooperative and go straight to court to file for divorce.
Madeline thought, “This is perfect. Now Brian can’t even say no. Once Jessica’s out of the picture, marrying Brian will just be a matter of time.
She was sure that with her methods, Brian would inevitably fall for her.
“Mr. Atkinson, did you and Jessi get into a fight again?” Madeline asked with concern. “What happened? Why would Jessi suddenly want a divorce, and even take it to court?”
Brian’s eyes dropped to the envelope with the court summons, unable to accept that Jessica had actually filed for divorce.
He pondered, Why would she do this? Just because Jacob really likes Madeline? But Madeline’s the one Jessica chose and personally trained as her assistant. Is it because Madeline turned out too good and even won over Jacob that Jessica’s too jealous to tolerate her?‘,
Hearing Madeline’s so–called concern only made Brian even more convinced that Jessica was being unreasonable.
He thought, “That’s right. What did I ever do to her for Jessica to go as far as filing for divorce?‘
“Madeline, go to the hospital and take care of Jake today. I’ll double your pay.” Brian’s knuckles were taut with veins as he took the court summons. His face was grim as ever.
Madeline was overjoyed inside, but kept up her worried act. “Mr. Atkinson, you should go talk to Jessi and clear things up. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding.”
As she spoke, she worked up a few tears, looking concerned. “Jake is still so young. How could Jessi even think about getting a divorce? That would be such a huge blow to him.
“What could be so serious that she has to solve it by divorcing you? Unless she’s-”
Sensing the chill in Brian’s expression deepening, Madeline felt her chest tighten. The word “cheating” was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. She had said just enough.
Brian was a smart guy. And smart people tended to overthink.
His face was blank, not even showing a trace of anger anymore. That was when he was truly furious. When he finally exploded, it would be the kind of anger that did real damage.
Brian reminded Madeline again to take good care of Jacob. Then he turned and left. He got in the car, pulled out his phone, and called his executive assistant, Jackson Poole.
“Jackson, find Jessica’s divorce attorney’s number and send it to me ASAP,” Brian ordered.
He stared at the court summons in his hand. It wasn’t until this moment that he finally realized Jessica wasn’t bluffing. She really was going to divorce him.
Jackson was quite efficient. Brian had barely pulled out of Atkinson Villa when Simon’s number came through on his phone, along with his full profile.
Brian tapped it open and read it for a moment. The man in the photo was the one laughing with Jessica at that café.
At Silvermere Legal, Simon was flipping through the file of a case when his phone rang. It was an unknown number, but the digits stood out- memorable and unmistakable.
He immediately realized it was Brian’s private number.
Simon couldn’t help but smile with a trace of mockery. He ignored the call for a while before finally answering, thinking, ‘Now that the court has served the summons, he’s finally panicking? What was he doing before?‘
