She had lost enough of her dignity with the bracelet she wore being discovered fake. To have her unable to write a check now would only make it worse.However, with how much she had spent recently, she already reached the limit with the checks and could not pay for the accessories!Seeing everyone waiting for her to write a check, Naya grew more embarrassed and pulled out her name card before throwing it at the clerk. “Come look for me here tomorrow. I didn’t bring my checkbook with me today!”Flushed, she picked up her purse and left. Naya glared at Ava and Madeline just as she walked past them. She warned the former, “Just you wait!”With Naya gone, Madeline and Ava immediately felt more relaxed.Naya was two completely different people in front of the Graham family and moments ago.“You’ve got to hold tight to Dan, Ava. This Naya seems difficult to deal with.” Madeline reminded kindly, for she could tell from Naya’s actions. “That bracelet too. She knew it was fake all along.”
Dazed, Madeline stared at the dark red spots of blood on the tissue. Oxygen suddenly felt scarce, and her vision darkened. She could not see anything at all. Before her was endless darkness and she felt it slowly suffocating her, numbing her senses.He had not recovered yet. There was still poison in his body.He lied to her.“Linnie.”Jeremy’s voice sounded from outside, snapping Madeline back to reality.She stood up, her hands and feet feeling cold. She stuffed the tissue into her pocket. Wiping the tears off the corner of her eyes, she forced herself to smile and walk down the stairs.Meeting her was Jeremy in the white T-shirt she had chosen for him. It fitted perfectly on the man’s body.He walked toward her and curled the corner of his lips. “How is it? Do I look okay?”Madeline stared deeply at the man in front of her. The faint smile he was wearing brought her back to years ago when they first knocked into each other on campus.It had been years, yet hints of the man’
By the empty riverbank stood Ryan in a black suit, quiet as he stared at the body of water before him. The man exuded an aura of elegance.Madeline had Jeremy wait in the car as she approached Ryan from behind with the cake in hand.“I’m here, Rye. How’s your leg doing?”Ryan slowly turned around.The setting sun shone behind the man. There was a cold and dangerous look between his defined brows that Madeline had never seen before. Still, he gave her a warm smile.“Happy birthday.” Madeline handed the cake over. “I couldn’t think of what expensive gift you would need from me, so I made you a cake instead.”“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it later.” Ryan took the cake and stared at it. “Could you open it and light a candle for me? I’d like to make a wish.”“Of course.” Madeline opened the box and pulled out a slender candle, poking it into the cake.She had not brought anything to light the candle, but Ryan pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit it himself.The glow of the setting
Madeline began to struggle when she was forcibly pulled into Ryan’s arms. Seeing him lean down to kiss her, she quickly tilted her head to evade it.“What are you doing, Ryan?! Let go of me!”Madeline struggled harder against his hold only to have Ryan suddenly reach out and grab the back of Madeline’s head, forcing her to look at him.His eyes were cold, a radical contrast to the gentle one he displayed before.“Ryan?” Madeline found herself no longer familiar with the man in front of her.Ryan merely smiled. “Do you know, Eveline? You’re the best birthday present I could ever have.”“...”Madeline heard the deeper meaning behind those words, and a sharp glint flared in her eyes. There was no way she would let him do as he wished.She was just about to fight back with every ounce of strength within her when a familiar palm grabbed onto her shoulder tightly, pulling her out from Ryan’s hold. Just as she was pulled into Jeremy’s arms, Madeline caught sight of the man’s icy fea
“He’s going back on his word, isn’t he, Linnie?”Madeline nodded but did not reply. In her mind echoed the words Ryan told Jeremy, “Not to mention that Eveline and I have already copulated as well.”Her head throbbed, and she suddenly opened the door to walk over to the trash can by the road where she threw the cake away.She turned around only to find Jeremy already standing in front of her.The man did not say anything. Instead, he placed a hand on the back of Madeline’s hand to pull her into his arms. He tightly hugged her.“No matter what he says, it won’t change what I feel for you.” He comforted her, understanding what Madeline was worried about. “Let me deal with it, okay? I’ll make him sign the papers.”Madeline immediately looked up, her eyes filled with worry. “Don’t go overboard, Jeremy. I don’t want anything to happen to you anymore.”Jeremy could understand why Madeline was worried. “I want to be with you for a very long time, silly. I won’t go overboard again, I pr
‘Daddy’.The word swayed in Jeremy’s tear-clouded vision, reflecting in his dark eyes and shooting right through his heart.Lillian was giving him a genuine smile as she stared at him, her arms raised high up in the air.She was waiting, waiting for Jeremy to accept the picture she had drawn. She was waiting for Jeremy to see the word ‘Daddy’ that she had written herself.On the paper, there were the figures of all five of them that made up her family.The only daughter of the family was holding a distinguished man’s hand, looking at him as she called him ‘Daddy’.She finally called him her dad.She finally understood that he was her biological father.She could not speak, yet the drawing was a clear testament to her desire to call him her father.Jeremy’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he harshly forced down the desire to cry.Under Lillian’s expectant gaze, Jeremy turned and left. His escape wiped off the smile on Lillian’s little face as despair began to replace the hope in her
Her words had stunned Jeremy. Madeline merely smiled and handed the drawing to him.“I know that you have your own reason for doing that. I also know that you’ve been waiting to hear her say out that word for a very long time…”Jeremy felt his hold over his emotions slip as he watched Madeline pass him the drawing with the word ‘Daddy’ on it.He did not say anything, merely reaching out to take the drawing that Lillian had drawn with her heart.“I’ll go check on Pudding. You take as much time as you need.” Madeline then turned around.He was now alone in the empty courtyard.Jeremy stared at the drawing under the moonlight and traced every figure with his slender finger before it finally fell on the little girl who was calling out for her dad.The night breeze blew at him with the fresh scent of flowers.Even so, Jeremy could not help but smell something bitter instead.Before him was a colorful and warm drawing, yet it seemed to be gray in his eyes.“I’m sorry, Lillian.”Th
The breaking news online?Madeline had just woken up and her mind was muddled.“You and Jeremy are trending, Maddie.” Ava’s tone was heavy and it told Madeline that they were not trending for a good reason.Tapping into Twitter, Madeline’s eyes fell onto her and Jeremy’s name topping the search bar.Furthermore, Ryan’s name was there as well.Paparazzi had apparently caught onto last night’s incident by the river, and with a few dramatic touches, the story had begun to spread on the internet.Madeline scrolled through the images online with flames beginning to flare in her eyes.The scene of Ryan hugging her and forcing a kiss on her had been turned into a scene of Ryan and her in a passionate bout of lip-locking.Jeremy, who had appeared to protect her, was turned into the homewrecker with the intention to break the sweet couple apart.Her struggles and attempts to push Ryan away were not photographed at all.It was evident that the media had done so to make their story tren