Chapter69Parting on Bad Terms
When Madison opened the door and saw the paper in Matthew's hand, she froze.
She had intended to find the right moment to talk to Matthew about this—not to have him find out like this, as though she had done something wrong.
Now, he looked terrifying with a face full of anger, muscles taut, and eyes seemingly shooting fire.
Madison was so scared that she couldn't make a sound.
Hearing Matthew's voice, Hannah Garcia called out from the other room, "Mom, is that Dad?"
Snapping back to reality, Madison was about to turn toward Hannah's voice.
But Matthew was quicker, grabbing her hand. "Honey, Dad needs to talk to Mom. Take Hannah to bed," he instructed.
Without further discussion, he pulled Madison out of the room, shut their bedroom door behind them, and dragged her into the master bedroom.
He was strong, and Madison's wrist was red when he finally let go.
Matthew tossed the receipt in front of Madison. "Explain," he demanded.
"I... I just..." She stammered, unable to speak clearly under his gaze.
"What is it?" he insisted.
"I was planning to buy a house. That's the deposit I paid," Madison blurted out all at once, lifting her head and puffing out her chest defiantly, meeting Matthew's gaze.
Why should she fear? It was her money on the house. What did it do with him?
Matthew looked at her, this boldly assertive woman in front of him, and instead of getting angrier, he laughed. He paced back and forth with the receipt in hand before stopping in front of Madison again.
"What, planning to live there with Nicholas?" he mocked.
Madison was baffled. What did her buying a house have to do with Nicholas?
Seeing her silence, Matthew thought his guess was spot on and let out a bitter laugh.
“Right, we were childhood sweethearts, friends since we were kiddos,” Matthew said bitterly.
“You never wanted to marry me in the first place. I bet you wouldn’t have agreed to tie the knot if it wasn't for Grandpa. You must have been happy when I brought up divorce. It was exactly what you wanted. Now you get to build that cozy love nest and live the dream, huh?”
Madison bit her lower lip in silence as Matthew’s words poured out. How could he say such things about her? It was he who insisted on setting ground rules and signing a prenup. His high school sweetheart came back into his life and made him want a divorce. And now he was twisting the story, acting like it was all her fault.
Lifting her head indifferently, Madison retorted deliberately, “Well, since you seem to know it all, why bother asking?”
Seeing the tears brimming in her eyes and how defiantly she bit her lip, Matthew lost his temper. In a sudden move, he leaned down, wrapped his arms around Madison’s neck, and pulled her close, sealing her soft lips passionately with his own.
Caught off guard by the kiss, Madison's mind went blank. Trying to speak up and resist, her attempts were interrupted as he explored every inch of her mouth with a dominating urge.
Madison struggled fiercely, trying to push and dodge him. But he held her tightly, not allowing her to escape, his ardent lips silencing her whimpers and resistance even more deeply.
The kiss deepened as Matthew moved to press Madison onto the bed, tugging at her clothes while his fingers fumbled with his shirt buttons.
In a state of panic, Madison’s hand shot up, and with a sharp smack, it landed across Matthew’s face. He let go of her, the slap snapping him back to reality.
Looking down at the woman beneath him, he saw her teary eyes, clothes torn by his own hands, and her black bra pushed up to reveal fair, tender skin marked by the redness of last night's passion.
Madison covered her chest with both hands.
Stunned, he stared for a moment, then bolted out of the room like a fugitive, down the stairs, and out the door.
Madison lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and only when the heavy sound of the door closing echoed did she slowly get up and head to the master bathroom.
After composing herself, she returned to the kids' room, grateful that both children were asleep.
Lying back down, she couldn’t fathom why Matthew behaved like he did. Everything seemed peacefully domestic since they had moved back to the villa together.
He took the master bedroom while she and the kids stayed in another. She always slept with the kids even when they visited The Old Residence. During their marriage, he had never forced himself on her. He had never frightened her like he did today.
Was it all because she knew she had to buy a house?
Madison couldn't understand it, but she knew house-hunting needed immediate attention. Since he already knew, there was no point in finding a special moment to tell him.
Raised by her Grandpa to be independent, strong, and self-loving, Madison would never intrude as a third party in somebody else's relationship, especially now that he had Miss Smith.
Matthew drove straight to the Nightshade Bar.
In the upstairs private room, a man sat on the sofa with a brooding expression.
He had nearly forced himself on Madison after overhearing her confess her feelings for Nicholas and their plans to buy a house together. At that moment, he only wanted to stop her from uttering more words his heart couldn’t bear to hear.
But the moment he touched her, he lost control.
He hadn't been intimate with anyone else during her four years away. Sometimes, he'd handle his urges by hand, not seeing it as necessary. But every time she was near, a burning desire would rush to his lower abdomen.
Unsure of how to face her, he fled.
He escaped to the bar and drowned his sorrows in alcohol.
The following day, Mitchell got a call from the bar's server.
Only then did he learn that last night Matthew had drunk heavily in the bar's private room, hadn't gone home, and was still there, clamoring for more booze.
Concerned by how much Matthew had already consumed, the server quickly called the boss.
Mitchell rushed over to find Matthew crashed on the sofa, looking disheveled and sad.
Mitchell didn't know what had happened. Just the other night, everything seemed fine.
Approaching Matthew, Mitchell helped him to sit up.
Matthew, tugging at Mitchell's shirt, demanded more drinks.
Mitchell cajoled the drunk, "Let's go home to drink. We'll drink at home."
He intended to call Madison but realized he didn't have her new number and couldn't find Matthew's phone either.
Next, he tried reaching Willow but got no answer. He remembered the project manager mentioning she was on a business trip.
With no other choice, he asked the server to help him carry Matthew to his car and then took him back to his apartment.
Mitchell called two security guards for help to get Matthew indoors. At a height of 6’1”, Matthew was a heavy load when intoxicated.
Watching the motionless figure on the bed, Mitchell wondered What on earth happened? It felt even more severe than their divorce four years ago!
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