Sean sighed. "This is for the best, I guess. You and Jeremy had been going round and round for so many years and were never happy with your lives. Mr. Jones is a handsome and talented man who only appears once in a lifetime. He's also mine and your mom's savior. l feel reassured if you're with Mr. Jones.""You've praised me more than you should, Mr. Montgomery. I'm not as good as you’ve made me out to be.""I'm just stating the truth," Sean praised sincerely, then corrected himself. "Since you and Eveline have already received your wedding certificate, we're all considered one family. You don't have to greet me as Mr. Montgomery. You can call me ‘Dad’, just like Eveline.”The smile on Ryan's stunning face grew wider, and he said without being shy, "Dad.""Good, good." Sean was delighted.However, Madeline felt restless when she heard Ryan calling out the word 'Dad'.She forced herself to smile while looking at Ryan. "I have something to talk to you about. Could you please come wi
Madeline saw Ryan's eyes gleaming cunningly.She did not wish to look at him any longer and coldly turned away."You don't have to be afraid of me. I won't harm you, but I'll never let you return to Jeremy," Ryan said scornfully with his eyes looking as sharp as a hawk's."I’m guessing that right now, you must long to spend more time with your parents. I have things to attend to, so you'll stay here." Ryan twirled Madeline’s long hair with his fingers as he leaned nearer to her flirtatiously.Madeline turned away from him. She wanted to take a step back, but Ryan grabbed her waist. "The things you're not supposed to say, you’d better don't tell your parents. You don't wish to lose your family for good, right?"His comment was obviously trying to threaten her.Madeline tightened her lips. She did not speak a word and neither did she look at Ryan."I hate it when people give me an awful expression, especially a lady, but you're different. The anger you have just attracts me." Ryan
Those who tagged along with Jeremy were still searching high and low. They were feeling a bit sympathetic for him. "Jeremy, it's getting dark. Let's head back for now.""You guys go ahead." Jeremy had no intention of stopping. He would not feel good if he failed to locate any signs of Madeline having ever appeared at this spot."Continuing the search like this isn't going to lead us anywhere. Why don’t we try contacting some related organizations around here and have them help us out by getting the surveillance footage? Then, we can see whether we'll be able to get a hint from there?"Jeremy came back to his senses after hearing the suggestion.Had he become dull and slow? Had he lost the ability to think straight because he was way too worried about Madeline?Without wasting much time, Jeremy immediately went and got in touch with the local departments. Soon enough, he obtained all of the footage from the nearby road junctions.After scanning through all the footage, Jeremy's ey
Madeline was not surprised to find that Ryan had an ulterior motive and faced it calmly. “What are my options?” Ryan smiled and replied. Madeline’s grip on her phone tightened when she heard the two options Ryan gave. He was not giving her an option at all. Hanging up the phone, Madeline slowly lowered her hand and stared in the direction where Jeremy was currently rushing toward her. The light in her eyes dimmed as she looked down. “Why did you suddenly run out? You haven’t finished your food yet.” Eloise suddenly ran up to Madeline and stared at her seriously. Eloise may not recognize Madeline, but it was evident that she still cared for this daughter of hers. Madeline felt something pinch her heart. She took Eloise’s hand and smiled. “Let’s go eat.” “Yeah.” Eloise beamed and held Madeline’s hand. Madeline stared longingly into the distance before she finally turned around…Jeremy was driving as fast as possible as he closed the distance between him and the villa.
She smiled and looked back out the window. What she saw drained her complexion. “Jeremy?” Madeline snapped her head around to look at the figure leaning against a tree by the road a distance away. Moonlight was dim that night, but Jeremy’s silhouette had long been engraved into the deepest part of her heart. She was even more certain that the expression on his face was one of agony. Madeline could not keep her cool. “Stop the car!” She ordered, but the driver did not react. Both Eloise and Sean were confused to see Madeline so upset. “What’s wrong, Eveline?” Sean looked out the window as well but could not see anything. “Stop the car! I said, stop the car!” Madeline was losing control over her emotions. No matter how Ryan’s demand rang in her mind, she could not find it in herself to ignore Jeremy when he was in pain. “Madam, Mr. Jones said…” “Don’t give me that crap. I said stop the car!” Madeline demanded again as she watched the car drive farther away from J
Jeremy felt his heart stop. Thanks to momentum, Madeline fell forward and into Jeremy’s arms. She had no idea what burning entity pierced through her body, but warmth and content settled over her the moment she fell into Jeremy’s embrace. “Jeremy.” She raised her hand to hug the dazed man. “You finally found me, Jeremy.” Madeline panted, her breaths coming out short. With a pale face, Jeremy pulled Madeline into his arms. He had no idea where the wound on her body was, but he felt the stickiness of fresh blood. “Don’t sleep, Linnie. I’ll send you to the hospital!” Carrying Madeline up and running frantically forward, Jeremy seemed to have completely forgotten that he too was a patient tormented by the poison inside him. Leaning heavily against Jeremy’s chest, Madeline felt content. “I knew you’d find me. I knew, so I was waiting for you all this while. I missed you so much, Jeremy…” She talked about her yearning weakly. Jeremy’s vision slowly blurred under the bre
“Ryan Jones.” “Stop wasting time, unless you want your beloved woman to die in your arms.” Ryan extended both his arms confidently. “Give her to me.” Jeremy clenched his fists and stared at the unconscious woman in his arms. He hardened his heart before handing Madeline to Ryan.He knew that with his physical condition now, he was not strong enough to bring Madeline to the hospital. He could only pass her to Ryan. That was his only option now. Taking Madeline from Jeremy’s arms, Ryan left a word before he turned around. “You’ve seen it yourself that there are no limits to what I can do. If you approach her or try to bring her away again, I’ll end her life.” An evil and a proud smile graced his lips. “Don’t try to catch me either because that’s impossible. You might as well take the time to rid your body of the poison, or you won’t even have the strength to fight me.” Ryan glanced at Jeremy who was in too much pain to even stand, then turned around with a smile and Ma
Madeline wondered if she was missing Jeremy so much that she was hallucinating him, but the silhouette before her grew clear in her eyes. She reached out to touch the approaching man, but the mere act of raising her arm tugged the wound on her shoulder. “Mmph.” She made a muffled sound at the pain. Jeremy strode over to sit by the bed and pull her into his arms. “Linnie.” Feeling the solid warmth against her, the corners of Madeline’s eyes burned. She raised her haggard and small face, her expression filled with heartache. “Does it still hurt? Did the poison torment you again? You still have six doses. Promise me you’ll remember to take them on time.” She reminded in all seriousness, her clear eyes filled with worry and care for the man. Jeremy held Madeline’s hand. “Don’t worry about me, silly. I’m okay.” “How am I supposed to not worry about you?” Madeline met the man’s passionate gaze with a concerned one of her own. With difficulty, she raised her hand to caress his