Chapter 126 Did Something Happen Between You Two?
Everyone had a copy of the name list, save for the two little children.
Buddy grabbed Madeline’s hand and said in an adorable voice, “Mom, I want to see it too.”
Crystal hastily passed him the name list in her hands and said gently, “Oh no, it’s all my fault. How could I have forgotten about Aldo and Buddy? Come, you can look at Grandpa and Grandma’s list.”
Not only did she pass her name list to Buddy, she even snatched the name list out of Michael’s hand and passed it to Aldo.
Michael was speechless.
Fine.
Even though he didn’t want to admit that ever since Madeline started bringing their grandsons home, his position in his wife’s heart was getting lower by the day. However, he was seeing the truth with his own eyes, so he couldn’t deny it.
“Thank you, Grandma!” Buddy took the name list with one hand, and he put his other hand to his lips and gave Crystal an adorable flying kiss.
Crystal could instantly feel her heart melt. She took Buddy into her arms and squealed in joy, loving him with her entire being.
Indeed, the bond of blood was truly the most mysterious thing in the world.
She had known Aldo and Buddy for a long time; when she first met the children in the past, she only thought that they were adorable yet pitiful, and she wanted to be closer to them because of that. However, every time that thought popped into her mind, she would also remember that they were Cameron’s grandsons.
The love she had for them would instantly dissipate as she treated them like strangers, passing them by with just a glance.
However, ever since she knew that they were her own grandsons, she loved them dearly. She wanted to give them the best and make them the happiest children in the world. In fact, she simply couldn’t love them enough.
Children were very sensitive. Despite their young age, they knew who liked them and who didn’t.
Michael and Crystal loved them sincerely, so they were willing to get closer to Michael and Crystal too.
This was especially so for Buddy. He had always been a clingy kid, after all. Crystal loved to hold him and kiss him, and he loved to lean in Crystal’s embrace like a little kitten as well.
Crystal had four sons and a daughter, but none of them acted as cute as Buddy. Since she was advanced in age, Crystal’s heart began to soften as well. As such, she loved children even more than she did when she was younger. Buddy was like the apple of her eye, and she treated him with so much care that it seemed as though he was something fragile.
Sebastian pampered his children very much, and Madeline thought that the children had gone through enough when they were with her. Neither of them thought that it was wrong for a boy to behave cutely.
Hence, they let Buddy be and focused their attention on the name list instead.
Madeline didn’t know most of the people on the list; she only knew a handful of the Taylor Family’s friends.
After all, she had lived in Nigel’s house for more than ten years. Even though Nigel wouldn’t go through the trouble of introducing the Taylors’ friends to her, she could still recognize the Taylors’ friends since she had lived there long enough.
In particular, she knew Nigel’s brother… He was Crystal’s brother and her uncle, George Taylor.
George and his wife, Holly Baker, had two sons. The elder son was Ethan Taylor, and the younger was Stephen Taylor.
George and his family were kind people. George, Ethan, and Stephen were all gentlemen and never bullied Madeline. Holly was also a typical lady, gentle and elegant. Madeline had also never gotten into a conflict with Holly before.
However, there had been some conflict between Madeline and Holly’s niece, Katie Baker.
Katie was the daughter of Holly’s younger sister.
Holly’s younger sister had passed away early on, and her brother-in-law remarried. Holly was worried that her niece would be bullied by her stepmother, so she took Katie in and raised her like her own daughter.
Logically speaking, Madeline lived in Nigel’s house in Worrick, whereas Katie lived in George’s house in Dusktown, so there wouldn’t be much interaction between Madeline and Katie, much less any forms of resentment.
However, the truth said otherwise.
Madeline hated Katie even more than she hated Isabel and Angie.
Isabel and Angie only bullied and insulted her, but Katie was even worse—she had accused Madeline of stealing!
It was her first time visiting George’s house with Nigel and his family. She had no plans of going, but since Dan was throwing a tantrum back then, she was urged to go.
Dan was a little tyrant in the house, and he simply had to have his way. No one could budge him if he decided to be stubborn about it.
He insisted that Madeline went to George’s house with him, so Madeline could only tag along.
She stayed at George’s house for a few days. One day, Katie suddenly complained that a few of her precious jewelry had gone missing.
Isabel was the first to point a finger at Madeline; then, she and Angie found a bracelet in the guest room Madeline was staying in.
Her accusation of stealing was thus proven.
Katie had lost a jade bracelet, a jade pendant, a set of ruby jewelry, and a bracelet.
The bracelet they found was the least expensive of the bunch. The remaining items were worth almost a million, and they were all gifts Holly had given to Katie.
Many precious items were gone, and they even found Katie’s lost bracelet in the guest room where Madeline had been staying in. As such, everyone believed that Madeline was the one who stole Katie’s jewelry.
Dan was the one who brought Madeline to George’s house, so he was furious that Madeline actually dared to steal Katie’s things. He had Madeline sent to the basement, where she was tortured and interrogated about the whereabouts of the remaining jewelry.
She was beaten until she was near death, then she developed a high fever that triggered a case of pneumonia. In other words, she almost died.
In the end, Holly said that she would replace the jewelry for Katie, and asked that Madeline be let out of the basement and sent to the hospital. That was how Madeline survived.
After that, she never went to George’s house again, and she rarely saw Katie ever since.
However, she never forgot about that incident.
Even until today, she was known as a thief; everyone in the Taylor Family believed that Madeline had stolen Katie’s jewelry, all because she was known as Cameron’s daughter at that time.
Cameron was vicious and infamous, so Cameron’s daughter naturally wouldn’t be better off. It would be no surprise if Madeline were a thief.
However, she was no longer Cameron’s daughter now.
She wanted to find out the truth and clear her own name.
She glared at Katie’s name without moving for a while.
When she met Katie again, she had to ask and get a clear answer to the whereabouts of those missing jewelry all those years ago.
Did someone else steal it, or did Katie plot with Angie and Isabel and worked together to frame her?
No matter what, she had to get an answer from the woman.
Unfortunately, too much time had passed since then. She had no witness or evidence, so it would probably be too difficult to find out the truth…
Upon thinking about this, she felt an uncontrollable sorrow within her.
The sufferings she had gone through before didn’t seem so terrible now that she thought back about it.
The wounds from her previous torments also no longer ached, but she didn’t want to be known as a thief nonetheless.
She wanted to clear her name, but it had happened so long ago. She didn’t have any clues, not to mention evidence, so could she really clear her name?
She gripped the name list tightly and glared at Katie’s name, the sorrow and injustice crashing like furious waves in her heart.
Sebastian noticed that something was off about her expression, so he looked in the direction of her glare.
When he caught sight of Katie’s name, his gaze darkened. Then, he asked Madeline in a quiet voice, “Did something happen between you two?”
