Chapter 129 Almost Died
Upon seeing George and his family, Crystal acted like she was making a precious offering as she took Madeline’s hand and introduced her daughter to George’s family. “George, Holly, Ethan, Stephen, Katie, meet my and Michael’s daughter, Maddie.”
Madeline greeted them one by one, “Nice to meet you, Uncle George, Aunt Holly, Ethan, and Stephen.”
She automatically ignored Katie, and she didn’t even spare the latter a glance.
Katie, who was forcing a smile on her face, could barely hold the fake smile up. The corners of her lips began to tremble.
Meanwhile, Crystal was sensitive and smart enough. Her gaze at Katie became slightly different as it was mixed in with judgment and enmity.
Holly frowned and attempted to smooth things over. “Maddie, this is your cousin, Katie. You haven’t met her in a long while; do you not recognize her anymore?”
Naturally, she remembered what happened when Madeline first stayed over at their house. Madeline was beaten mercilessly and almost died.
She didn’t think much of it before, but now that Madeline had turned into Michael and Crystal’s daughter, she found it rather awkward as well.
No matter what, she felt that she and Katie were right, whereas Madeline was in the wrong.
Even though Madeline had become Michael and Crystal’s daughter, it didn’t erase the fact that Madeline had stolen Katie’s jewelry so many years ago.
If it weren’t for Holly, Dan would’ve beaten Madeline to death that day.
If Holly hadn’t taken pity on Madeline and taken out some jewelry to replace Katie’s missing ones while insisting that they send Madeline to the hospital, Madeline might be dead by now.
The crime of stealing had to be punished. Since Madeline had committed that crime, Holly had done the best she could for Madeline under those circumstances.
Madeline glanced at her and smiled. Then, she turned to look at Crystal. “Mom, there’s something I want to ask Katie about. If I don’t get a satisfactory answer from her, can I ban her from entering our living room?”
Crystal gripped her hand tightly and said without hesitation, “Of course!”
Katie’s expression turned even worse.
The look on George’s face darkened, and Holly had scrunched up her eyebrows even more.
Ethan and Stephen exchanged looks without saying a word.
Madeline looked at Katie and was about to open her mouth when a few cars drove closer to them and entered the house, pulling up beside them.
The people getting out of the cars were Michael, Jonathan, Nigel, Sam, and Dan.
Michael strode toward the group. “George, Holly, Ethan, Stephen, Katie—why are you all standing here? Why don’t you go inside and chat?”
“You’ll have to ask Maddie.” Holly’s tone was dissatisfied. “Crystal was about to take us to the living room, but Maddie said that she had something to ask Katie about. She has to get the answer she wants to hear before Katie is allowed to enter your living room.”
Michael frowned and looked at Madeline. “Maddie, what’s going on?”
Madeline was about to speak when more cars drove in.
The newcomers were Joseph, Connor, and Cedric. Meanwhile, Sebastian was in tow with Aldo and Buddy.
They had agreed to have dinner together, so they arrived at about the same time.
After the few people got out of their cars, they went over as well.
Joseph was at the front, and after he greeted everyone, he asked the same question Michael did. “Uncle Michael, Uncle George, Aunt Holly, why are you all standing here? Why not talk in the living room?”
Holly was even more annoyed now that the question had been asked twice. Her tone turned even worse as she said, “Your sister is not letting us in. She said that she has something to ask Katie about, and Katie’s answer needs to be what she was looking for. Otherwise, we won’t be permitted to enter the living room.”
Blocking the living room entrance was definitely not a way to welcome guests.
She never liked Madeline much, and now she hated Madeline even more.
She looked down on Madeline and thought that the position was ill-fitting for the girl. Just because Madeline became the young mistress of the Wendel Family, she seemed to have forgotten her roots and her manners, blocking the second family of the Taylors at the door and refusing them entrance to the living room. How rude!
When Dan heard Holly mention Katie’s name, his expression changed immediately.
After all, he was the one who had wronged Madeline the most.
He was the one who saved Madeline and brought her to the Taylor Family, insisting that she be taken in.
However, he had taken Madeline in not because he pitied her and wanted to provide her with a place of belonging. He did it simply because he was rebellious at that time, and he liked to go up against his dad no matter what he did.
His dad didn’t like Madeline, so he simply had to bring Madeline home.
Since his dad was annoyed at the sight of Madeline, Dan wanted Madeline to stay in their home, and he even forbade her from moving out. He insisted that she stay simply to be an eyesore to his dad.
He had let Madeline stay in the Taylor Family, but he wasn’t the least bit nice to her. In fact, he allowed Phoebe and Isabel to scold and insult her. Even when he saw them in action, he didn’t do anything about it, much less when they were doing it out of sight.
This continued until his brother came home from his studies overseas and saw that Madeline was being tortured to death by Phoebe and her daughter. His brother was kind and took pity on Madeline, so with his help, Madeline managed to live a slightly better life.
In the Taylor Family, his brother was the only one who treated Madeline kindly.
As for him, he probably treated a pet dog better than he treated Madeline.
It wouldn’t be a problem if Madeline were really Cameron’s daughter.
He had saved Madeline’s life and given her a place to stay, after all.
No matter what his motives were, it was because of his help that Madeline could survive.
If Madeline were Cameron’s daughter, he would be repaying evil with kindness, and Madeline should be grateful to him all her life.
However, Madeline wasn’t Cameron’s daughter.
In reality, Madeline was his Aunt Crystal and his Uncle Michael’s daughter, making him Madeline’s cousin by blood.
When he recalled everything he did to Madeline, he thought that he was a real beast.
Madeline refused to let Katie in the Wendels’ living room, and he immediately remembered that incident about Katie’s jewelry.
Katie had lost a jade bracelet, a jade pendant, a set of ruby jewelry, and a rose gold bracelet.
In the end, only the cheapest rose gold bracelet was discovered in the guest room Madeline was staying in.
Angie and Isabel had firmly stated that Madeline had stolen the jewelry Katie lost, and he was furious.
He had brought Madeline to his Uncle George’s house, but Madeline had stolen Katie’s jewelry. He thought that Madeline had disgraced him.
He had ordered people to bring Madeline to the basement and tortured her, interrogating her to spill the whereabouts of the other missing jewelry.
Madeline was gravely injured, but she only repeated the words, ‘I don’t know, it wasn’t me, I’m innocent.’
In his fury, he left Madeline alone and ran out for a round of drinks with his friends.
He had fooled around outside for the entire night, and Madeline was shut in the basement overnight.
When he went back the next day, Madeline was already sent to the hospital.
Her high fever had developed into a case of pneumonia, and she was sent to the emergency room while she was on the brink of death.
His Aunt Holly had taken out a few jewelry pieces to replace the ones Katie lost, and she said that it didn’t matter if the items were lost. They couldn’t take Madeline’s life over some jewelry, after all.
Madeline had received her due punishment, so she probably wouldn’t dare to commit such crimes again. As such, they decided to let bygones be bygones and never mention it again.
Madeline had almost died, and he was shocked at that fact.
Even though he didn’t like Madeline very much, he didn’t want to take Madeline’s life with his own hands either.
