Chapter 148 Foundling
Matthew asked cautiously, afraid that he might touch upon some painful memory that would upset Madison.
Seeing that she didn't react negatively, he felt relieved.
When Madison heard Matthew's question, she didn't overthink it; she felt a tinge of sadness when she mentioned Mr. Johnson, "Actually, I was found by Mr. Johnson. He never married and took me in when he found me, raising me. Without Mr. Johnson, I might not have made it."
As she grew up, she eventually learned that Mr. Johnson had found her, but he never mentioned it. He treated her as his granddaughter and didn't allow anyone else to bring it up. It was only later that she overheard a neighbor, Aunt Mary, talking about it. Mr. Johnson had found her on the side of the road when she was just an infant, wrapped in nothing but a thin blanket and filthy, crying incessantly. After taking her home, Mr. Johnson spent his hard-earned money on lamb's milk formula. Eventually, a woman from the village who had an abundance of breast milk and felt pity for the grandfather and child took her in to nurse along with her baby. In short, her path to growing up healthy and safe was not an easy one. Were it not for Mr. Johnson, she might have frozen to death or starved or even been carried off by wild dogs.
Matthew had yet to expect this. Hearing Madison say Mr. Johnson raised her, he felt a surge of compassion and held her hand tightly.
Soon, they arrived at the studio building, but Matthew was reluctant to let go, his eyes brimming with concern. He leaned over from the driver's seat to embrace Madison, murmuring, "Madison, I want to take even better care of you in the future."
Madison actually felt that her childhood had been quite happy. After all, Mr. Johnson had always cherished her, and the people in the village were kind and genuine. "It's okay, Matthew. I'm very happy now, and Mr. Johnson loves me a lot," she reassured him, feeling truly fortunate.
"Madison, have you ever thought about finding your birth parents?" Matthew asked, recalling Dorian's insistence. Initially, he had thought Dorian was delusional—they lived far away in H City, and Madison had grown up in a small village in Horizon City. The distance made it seem unlikely they could be related.
But now, he wasn't so sure. Maybe there was that one in a million chance that Dorian had found her.
Madison paused and said calmly, "Matthew, if it had been in the past, upon learning that my parents might still be alive, I might have been curious. I might have wanted to know who they were. But now, I have you and our two lovely children, and honestly, I haven't thought about it anymore."
Madison was sincere; she used to wonder why Matthew and Mrs. Jonah didn't want her, whether it was dislike or necessity. However, she was naturally optimistic and believed in living in the present, which is why she hadn't thought about it further.
Matthew's grip around her tightened gently, feeling both protective of her past and admiring her resilience, wondering what he had done to deserve such an outstanding person like Madison in his life.
"Okay, let's not think about it anymore."
Madison hugged Matthew tightly in return, understanding the pain in his eyes, but she felt even more for him because, after all, compared to never having had something, Matthew had gone through having and then losing it. When his parents passed away, he must have been even more upset.
"Alright, off to the office now. Work hard, and no checking out other girls," Madison said, letting go of her arms and sounding mock-serious.
"There are no other girls, and besides, none of them are as pretty as you. Why would I bother looking at anyone else?" Matthew replied with utmost sincerity. Madison, who had initially tried to change the subject, blushed at his words and left him with, "Always the joker."
Then she opened the car door and practically ran off.
Matthew called out from behind her, "I'll come pick you up after work."
Madison turned around, nodded, and then waved at him before he drove away.
Upon entering the building, Madison saw Rachel grinning by the studio door, "Rachel, what are you doing here?"
"Ah, Madison, you and Matthew are just too sweet. I've been watching from upstairs; you two were hugging in the car for half an hour. Seeing you guys so reluctant to part makes us single folks pretty jealous..."
Elowen jumped in to speak up for Madison, "Rachel, if you're jealous, you should find yourself a boyfriend fast, then we'll all have something to celebrate."
With everyone teasing and joking around, the studio team, now quite familiar with each other, knew there was no malice involved. Madison didn't take offense but instead smiled and joined in, "Alright, alright, I'll treat you guys to dessert later. Remember to order extra sweets to sweeten you guys up."
"Yay! That's awesome." Elowen was the first to applaud with enthusiasm.
"I'm not having extra sweet. Keep it at half sweetness for me; I'm trying to slim down," Rachel said with a laugh.
Madison went back to her office to work on the new design drafts.
*
Thursday night, Willow called Daniel to tell him that she'd be returning to their alma mater on Friday afternoon to watch a basketball game. Daniel said that was no problem, as she didn't have anything planned for the next afternoon either. After agreeing to leave the office together, they continued to chit-chat.
"Willow, tell me the truth. Are you going to play in tomorrow's basketball game? What's the scoop? Is there any chance of romance?" Daniel probed.
"What are you talking about? There needs to be development. I've only met him a handful of times--I can count them on one hand. He's just a junior from the same school and the same major. I'm planning to visit the campus for old time's sake and catch the basketball game while I'm at it.
"Alright, let's just say it's about seeing a young hunk break a sweat," Daniel joked without prying any further. She understood that just any elementary school crush couldn't easily shake Willow's feelings for her brother. Besides, ever since her brother went on a blind date with Mrs. Jonah's friend's daughter, it seemed like he was genuinely interested in someone else. Their mom and her friend were on the phone daily, already discussing wedding arrangements, even though her brother didn't confirm anything – he mentioned that he wasn't planning on getting married anytime soon.
She couldn't understand it and decided not to discuss it with Willow to avoid upsetting her.
Willow then recalled Ophelia mentioning she wanted to watch the basketball game, too. "By the way, wasn't Ophelia saying she would go? Is she available?"
"I'll ask her. She mentioned wanting to go, but with her growing fame, it's hard to tell if she can make it. Plus, will Liam actually let her go to see some young stud?"
"Why wouldn't he? There are tons of young, good-looking guys in the entertainment industry, and Ophelia sees them all the time."
"True enough."
"Gotta go. I'll start a group chat for us to discuss."
"Sounds good."
After hanging up, Willow quickly created a group chat with Daniel and Ophelia.
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