Madeleine\u2019s movements were clumsy. In her current memory,\u00a0<\/p>\n
this was the first time she had ever fixed a man\u2019s tie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had no idea what was up with Ricki\u2019s tie. It was perfectly\u00a0<\/p>\n
fine a second ago, but then he claimed it was crooked and\u00a0<\/p>\n
loose, insisting she fix it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s about right. Madeleine took half a step back and leaned\u00a0<\/p>\n
back to look.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick\u2019s lips curved into a smile as he reached out and pulled\u00a0<\/p>\n
her back into his arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks, wifey.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That one word, \u201cwifey,\u201d almost maxed out Madeleine\u2019s anger\u00a0<\/p>\n
meter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was true she was his wife, but accepting this identity so\u00a0<\/p>\n
openly was still a bit difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine used two fingers to try and pry Roderick\u2019s hand off\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
her waist, but he said coolly, \u201cThey\u2019re all waiting to see the joke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
of me being cheated on. You could at least play along.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine pouted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t you say you wanted to make up for past mistakes?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now\u2019s your chance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roderick finished, a wicked grin on his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew Madeleine couldn\u2019t possibly refuse if he said that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine sighed helplessly to herself, letting him keep his arm\u00a0<\/p>\n
around her, looking happy and in love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For some reason, she felt like she\u2019d walked right into a trap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two minutes later, Madeleine\u2019s eyes widened as she suddenly\u00a0<\/p>\n
realized something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRicki, you saw Edward just now, so you did that on purpose,\u00a0<\/p>\n
didn\u2019t you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ricki said nothing, just gloated and snickered to himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside the back door of the banquet hall, Edward leaned\u00a0<\/p>\n
against a pillar, a lit cigarette glowing in his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His second one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d thought the woman would chase right after him the\u00a0<\/p>\n
moment he stepped out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After all, from past experience, wherever he was, she\u2019d stick to\u00a0<\/p>\n
him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like a persistent leech.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ready to head back after this cigarette, Edward irritably blew\u00a0<\/p>\n
out a long stream of smoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, his gaze froze, fixed on a woman not far away who\u00a0<\/p>\n
had stopped a waiter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine had her back to him. He couldn\u2019t tell what she said to\u00a0<\/p>\n
the waiter, but her eyes scanned the tray in his hand before she\u00a0<\/p>\n
furtively picked up a drink.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward scoffed and flicked the ash from his cigarette.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d overestimated her. She was still the same, now resorting\u00a0<\/p>\n
to drugging drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
A wave of contempt mixed with a subtle hint of smugness\u00a0<\/p>\n
washed over Edward. He dropped his cigarette, crushed it with\u00a0<\/p>\n
his foot, and strode toward Madeleine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine was a little nervous holding the drink, completely\u00a0<\/p>\n
unaware of Edward approaching from behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just as she was about to turn, her arm was grabbed. She\u00a0<\/p>\n
looked at the man before her and cursed inwardly: Shit!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t get rid of this guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward\u2019s lips curved into a smirk as he looked at Madeleine,\u00a0<\/p>\n
trying to find proof in her panicked eyes that she was still\u00a0<\/p>\n
obsessed with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing? Let go of me! My husband will get the\u00a0<\/p>\n
wrong idea if he sees this!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour husband?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward laughed. \u201cYou really think that line still works?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With that, his hand moved to the glass Madeleine was holding\u00a0<\/p>\n
and he took it from her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He swirled the glass and said in a low voice, \u201cWhat did you put\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
in here? A sedative?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or\u2026 an aphrodisiac.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine\u2019s brain short\u2013circuited for a moment. She couldn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
help but roll her eyes when she looked at the glass of red wine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She might as well just hand the pen to Edward and let him write\u00a0<\/p>\n
With an imagination like that, he should be contributing to our\u00a0<\/p>\n
country\u2019s cultural industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She snatched the red wine from him irritably and shot him a\u00a0<\/p>\n
sideways glance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet over yourself. Spend money to buy you medicine?\u00a0<\/p>\n
You wish.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward\u2019s smile froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How did this woman\u2019s way of speaking change so much?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t help but look Madeleine up and down again, his\u00a0<\/p>\n
mind filled with confusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat on earth are you doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI should be asking you that, Edward. Just how long are you\u00a0<\/p>\n
going to be so shameless?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward was so angry he almost laughed, practically radiating\u00a0<\/p>\n
fury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMe, shameless?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fine, go on. I\u2019d love to hear just how I\u2019m so shameless.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine started counting on her fingers:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s start from when you were a kid. My family sponsored\u00a0<\/p>\n
your education. Did you ever pay us back?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edward snorted. \u201cDidn\u2019t you say all that nice stuff about charity\u00a0<\/p>\n
and not expecting anything in return?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeleine nodded. \u201cFine, you don\u2019t have to pay us back. But\u00a0<\/p>\n
you didn\u2019t have to be an ungrateful bastard. What was the deal\u00a0<\/p>\n
with driving my family into bankruptcy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was so furious she wanted to stomp on Edward\u2019s foot with\u00a0<\/p>\n
her high heel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents had to move from a mansion into a small house. Is\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 96\u00a0<\/p>\n
that any way to treat your benefactors?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 97\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Night Carved Paths Into Silence by Zyrel Ash 96 Madeleine\u2019s movements were clumsy. In her current memory,\u00a0 this was the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-heart-surgeons-last-patient-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}