Night Carved Paths Into Silence by Zyrel Ash 54
He hesitated for two seconds and then nodded.
Madeleine exchanged a glance with her son, joy lighting up both
their faces.
The next morning, she specially found the matching outfits she
had bought with her son a few days earlier.
“Ah!”
Madeleine noticed Roderick’s regretful expression.
“I forgot to buy one for you.”
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“The family outfits. I asked when I bought them, but they didn’t
have your size. I was going to go back when they restocked, but
I’ve been busy and totally forgot about it.”
Roderick’s frown eased.
“It’s fine. You two can wear them.”
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After all, he hadn’t exactly wanted to wear something so
childish anyway.
“No way.” Madeleine stubbornly pulled out her phone. “A family
should stay united. Otherwise, people might think Kevin and I
are leaving you out.”
Watching her busily call the sales assistant to see if they could
deliver a matching men’s shirt now, Roderick felt a strange
emotion stir in his chest.
For the past few years, as long as Madeleine was in this house,
the atmosphere had always been cold and strange.
If there had been exclusion, it was she who had excluded him
and their son.
Now, for the first time in years, it felt as if sunlight was breaking
into his long–sealed heart.
“Done. They can deliver it in half an hour!”
Madeleine raised her brows, pointing at the little dinosaur
printed on her T–shirt.
“Don’t you want one this cute, too?”
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Part of Roderick really wanted to say no.
Half an hour later, the shirt arrived.
“Hurry, go change,” Madeleine urged, while she busied herself
picking comfortable shoes for herself and her son.
They would be walking a lot today, and her feet were still sore.
She definitely needed a pair of comfy sneakers.
As she bent down to tie her laces, she heard her son clap his
hands.
“Daddy looks so handsome!”
Madeleine looked up, and her eyes were instantly caught by
Roderick.
In recent weeks, he had almost always been in sharp suits or
black and white loungewear at home.
He now looked so different from the Roderick in her memory.
Back then, the flamboyant “Ricki” had loved flashy, fashionable
colors.
Now, seeing him in a bright shirt with an adorable dinosaur
print, her memory was pulled back in an instant.
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She almost saw the Roderick of his teenage years.
Distracted, she accidentally tied her shoelaces into a dead knot.
She lowered her head in frustration, fumbling with it.
Roderick walked over and crouched down. His long fingers
untangled the knot in just two or three moves and then tied a
neat bow.
“Is this your wedding ring?”
Madeleine suddenly asked, noticing the plain band on his ring
finger.
He gave a quiet nod.
“It looks nice. Where’s mine? I want to wear it, too.”
“You threw it away.”
Madeleine’s smile faltered awkwardly.
She wished she hadn’t asked.
How embarrassing!
Roderick didn’t explain further, but he remembered vividly. That
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ring had been at the center of one of their fiercest arguments.
Three years ago, in late autumn, Madeleine had gone mad,
demanding that he give up a major bid and hand the
opportunity to Edward.
The project was crucial to the group’s future, and Roderick had
prepared tirelessly for a month. There was no way he could give
it up.
When her tantrums failed, Madeleine had stolen his bid
documents.
If she had handed them over to Edward, all his work would have
been in vain.
“Madeleine, I beg you, don’t do this,” Roderick had pleaded, red-
eyed, for the first time in his life.
The company didn’t belong to him alone. He carried the weight
of thousands of employees and their families. He couldn’t let
her recklessness put them in danger.
But Madeleine had only sneered, pulling off her wedding ring
and tossing it out the window into the artificial lake in the
backyard.
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“Fine. If you find the ring, I won’t give the documents to
Edward.”
The late autumn night was bone–chilling, the water even more
So.
Without hesitation, Roderick had stripped off his jacket and
leapt into the icy lake.
He hadn’t found the ring. Instead, he had been hospitalized
after falling unconscious from hypothermia. Perhaps she had
been frightened by his state, and that was why she hadn’t
handed over the bid in the end.
He had saved the company at almost the cost of his life.
From then on, whenever he saw the ring on his finger, the
memory was no longer of the blissful day they exchanged vows
in Quelcia.
Instead, it was her distorted face as she threw the ring away,
threatening him.
He still didn’t understand. How could Madeleine have changed
into a different person overnight?
Madeleine still didn’t know why she had thrown away the
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wedding ring back then.
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella’s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.