MADELYNN

“Madelynn, we both know how hard you’ve worked for this marriage. I advise you to take the time to reconsider this decision.”

“I’ve made up my mind, attorney. I’m going to divorce Oliver and leave his company. Just draft both agreements please.”

Madelynn had been Oliver Kane’s secretary for four years, and at the same time, she had been secretly married to him.

Few months ago, while she decorated the house to announce her pregnancy to her husband, robbers broke in. They forced her to make countless calls and messages to Oliver in order to get the combination to the safe where he kept all his money and valuables. They threatened to kill her if they didn’t get the code to the safe.

But despite seeing the blue ticks that showed that Oliver was reading her messages, he never responded or answered the call.

The robbers had stabbed her in the thigh and left her to bleed to death, but luckily, she was saved by a neighbor who had heard her screaming.

She found out later that Oliver had been at a resort… with Cecelia, her sister.

The marriage she had tried so hard to protect shattered at that moment. She could finally see the truth, and she decided to walk away for good.

She looked at her lawyer. “I’m not changing my mind. And Oliver will probably be happy.”

She knew Oliver didn’t love her. But she had loved him since she was a little girl, so she had jumped at the idea of being his wife. But he didn’t see her as his wife, she was nothing to him. So for their wedding anniversary, she would give him the gift he wanted most… divorce.

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Oliver hated messes, especially the ones made from cooking.

Madelynn could still remember the fuss he had made years ago when he came home to find her in the kitchen. “Why don’t you let the professionals handle that instead of turning my house into a pigsty!?”

So she was very surprised when she walked into the house that evening and found him bent over the stove. She knew there could only be one reason… Cecelia.

“There wasn’t much to do at the office today, so why are you late? Only prostitutes get home at such late hours of the night, Madelynn.”

“We had interns today, remember? Someone had to show them around since you bailed.” She said tiredly, ignoring his other comment.

He nodded once. “Let’s eat, I made dinner.”

She reluctantly sat down, and Oliver placed a plate of trout and vegetables in front of her. “I made this especially for you. It’s your favorite.”

Her stomach twisted and turned.

Cecelia was the one who loved trout. Madelynn was deathly allergic to seafood.

They had been married for four years, and her husband still didn’t know about her allergies. If he had paid any attention to her all these years, he definitely wouldn’t be serving her something that could kill her in minutes.

“What’s wrong? Why are you eating?” He asked when he noticed she was just staring at the plate.

She gently pushed the plate away from her and reached into her bag for the documents. “Dinner can wait. I need you to sign these.”

Oliver frowned. “What’s so important that I have to sign now? You know how much I hate talking about work at the dinner table.”

Just as he reached for the papers, his phone vibrated.

He almost sprained his wrist with how fast he tried to cover the screen, but she already saw it.

It was Cecelia.

He immediately stood up and walked over to the balcony to take the call. The sudden movement caused his wine glass to fall off the table, sending shards of glass everywhere.

A small piece of glass nicked her on the arm and red immediately tainted her fair skin and dripped onto the floor.

Oliver didn’t even turn around to look. He spent a long time on the balcony talking to Cecelia before he grabbed his coat from the rack and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” She asked quietly even though she already knew the answer.

“Something came up. I have to go.”

“You haven’t signed the papers.”

He sighed, then walked back to the table and hastily signed his name on the bottom of both pages. “There. Can I go now?”

She stared at the signatures in resignation, and nodded softly. “Yeah… go.”

He walked out at the speed of light. Like something was chasing him out of their home.

She laughed bitterly. He couldn’t even bother to pay enough attention to know that he had just signed the papers for her freedom.

Or that their floor was stained with her blood.

Oliver had always loved Cecelia. She was the “real” heir to the Fontaine wealth after all.

When Madelynn was a little girl, her mother’s most trusted maid died and left a little daughter, Cecelia. No one knew who her father was, and there were no other family members to take her either.

So Madelynn’s parents decided to take care of her as a way to honor her mother who had worked for the family for years. Her parents went the extra mile to make Cecelia feel accepted, as she was still too young to fully understand what had happened to her mother.

So they never punished her or treated her badly. Cecelia was always treated like an egg. She was the fragile child, and eventually, she became everyone’s favorite. Madelynn’s parents told her to take Cecelia as her sister and to never tell anyone otherwise, else they would look down on her and reopen old wounds.

So to the world, Cecelia was the Fontaine family’s favorite daughter and true heir.

Oliver and Cecelia had loved each other as children, but before they could ever get serious, Cecelia met another man and left the country in pursuit of her ‘one true love’

The Fontaine family and the Kane’s were longtime friends and business partners, so to preserve that relationship, Madelynn was asked to marry Oliver instead.

Oliver had agreed, despite being in love with Cecelia. She figured if she loved him hard enough, he would eventually fall in love with her too, but it never happened.

Instead, Cecelia returned and Oliver immediately betrayed Madelynn.

He leaked controversial videos of her online, and she overheard him and Cecelia talking about it.

“Madelyn will have our parents' support if I suddenly leave her. The only way to do it is by ruining her reputation. That way, we can both be together.”

Cecelia had asked him if he felt anything for Madelynn in the years they had been married.

But her husband shook his head. “Madelyn was just a stand in. But she will never be you.”

She had thought she could change Oliver by being devoted to him. But she was so wrong. Her heart broke as she looked at the divorce papers.

But she had given Oliver too many chances to disrespect and disgrace her, and she wouldn’t do it again.

She always said that one day, she would reach the limit of things she could endure, and the time had finally come.

Tonight, she placed two items into a box, sealed it, and locked it in the safe. It would be her final wedding anniversary gift to Oliver.

He would probably like it, she would give him everything he ever wanted, his freedom.

With everything in place, Madelyn picked up her phone and called the man she hadn’t spoken to in four years.

“Bash? I need you”

Madelynn didn’t expect the response on the other end of the line to come so fast. It was almost like Sebastian was waiting for her to call.

“Jesus…” his voice was almost unsure. “Lynn, is it really you?”

She didn’t say anything.

“After all this time, you’re not messing with me. Are you?”

I broke into a smile. “No… I miss you.”

“I’ve wanted you since the day that I met you in high school. You’ve only ever had eyes for Oliver Kane. What changed?”

“I… I’m leaving Oliver.”

She met Sebastian Wilde in high school. He was captain of the football team and the only son of one of the most exclusive families in New York.

He chased her for years, and she liked the attention. In fact, she had almost chosen him before her parents told her she had to marry Oliver.

She had left him heartbroken, and now here she was calling him out of nowhere.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have called. Forget I said anything.”

A deep growl came from Sebastian. “What do you mean forget? After all this time? We’re not teenagers anymore, Lynn. You called me. You’re the one who said you needed me. And I’m never letting you go again.”

“I’ll be there in a month, Madelynn. Finish off whatever’s left with Oliver. In a month, I’ll be back to take what’s mine.”

Madelynn smiled as the call ended with a soft click. Sebastian wasn’t giving her a chance to refuse.

“He’s still my Sebastian,” she whispered to herself.

Oliver didn’t come home that night. So she spent the entire night packing. The dim lights and soft music from the speakers were her only companion.

By the time the morning light streamed through the curtains and Oliver finally walked into the bedroom, she had boxed and boxes surrounding her.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Just throwing out trash.”

He walked over and peeked inside one of the boxes that held all the clothes and gifts he had ever gotten her. Most of them still had tags on.

“Those are trash…”

She sighed. “They’re old. Old clothes and gifts that probably won’t be used. I thought it’d be a good idea to donate them to charity, under your name of course.”

Oliver instantly smiled at that. He always took whatever opportunity that might be good for his reputation. “Oh well, that’s good then.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she knew Oliver’s quick response meant he just didn’t want to deal with her.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash behind her. Madelynn turned around in shock, only to find her sister.

Cecelia stood by the entrance of the door, and the large hand drawn portrait of Madelynn and Oliver on their wedding day was broken in a million pieces on the floor.

“Oh my God, Oliver and Madelyn,” she cried in pretense. “I didn’t see that there.” She batted her eyes at Oliver while giving her fake apology.

Oliver immediately rushed to her side to check her body for wounds. He didn’t care one bit about the broken picture. “Oh it’s okay. As long as you didn’t get injured.”

Cecelia wasn’t satisfied with that though. She had to get Madelynn’s attention too.

“Maddy, I hope you’re not upset.”

Madelynn stared at the broken pieces of what had once been her perfect life. She had spent a lot of time and money finding an artist that could paint her and Oliver at their wedding. And now, that painting was just ruined.

Years ago, she would’ve definitely fallen for Cecelia’s trap, but now, she didn’t care.

She looked right at her sister as she answered. “It’s okay. Like Oliver said, as long as you’re not injured.”

Cecelia’s smile faltered for a second before she tried to mask it. “You’re so kind.” Then without missing a beat, she turned to Oliver. “Which is why I know that you won’t have any problem with my next request.”

Oliver smiled, still looking at her. “Right. Madelynn, you know that Cece has just returned to the country, so she has to stay here.”

Madelynn frowned. “Why? You got her an apartment a week ago, didn’t you?”

Oliver looked annoyed by her comment. “I did. But she doesn’t like the color of the paint in there. So she’s moving here. And she likes the view of the city from your room, so she’ll be staying there. Please move to a different room.”

Even after all these years of marriage, Oliver and Madelynn didn’t share a room. He said he couldn’t sleep with someone else so close to him. But she knew what it meant. He would be comfortable with anyone as long as it wasn’t her.

She also knew that whenever it came to Cecelia, he always had a long explanation rehearsed, so when she agreed without a fight, it caught him off guard.

“It’s no problem. I’ll just move all the excess stuff out of here.”

It didn’t matter if she stayed or left. She would be completely out of this house very soon.

Oliver’s rehearsed speech was at the tip of his tongue the moment she answered him. But Cecelia beat him to it. “Thanks Maddy.”

Madelynn didn’t respond. She just picked up one of the boxes with her bony hands and headed for the door. Just as she approached it, Cecelia put out a foot and made her trip.

Madelynn couldn’t stop the fall in time, and her knee landed in the broken glass from the picture frame. She let out a loud wince as pain shot through her body.

Cecelia winked at her and dragged Oliver away without him even noticing anything.

Madelynn stayed on the floor and let her tears flow freely. She thought about the way Cecelia had always been treated as a golden princess.

Madelynn was the only one who did chores in the house, Cecelia would always make up one excuse after the other.

And even now, when they were both adults and she was married to such an influential man, nothing changed.

Cecelia was always going to be everybody’s princess.

It took her the whole afternoon to finish sorting through all her things. By sunset she was loading it all into a truck.

“Did you have to throw out so much?” Oliver asked, frowning. “You do know that Cecelia isn’t staying forever right? You’ll have your room back in no time, so what’s the drastic packing for?”

“I’ve had all this stuff for years,” Madelynn answered. “I figured it was time for a change.”

“You hate being wasteful.”

Yes she did. Even though she had grown up rich, she hated people that wasted things anyhow.

“Some things just need to go,” she answered him.

‘Some people just need to go too,’ she added silently in her head.

As usual, Oliver didn’t want to waste time on a conversation with her. He changed the topic.

“The annual auction is tonight. I’ve been invited back this year. You’ll come with me… and Cece.”

“I don’t think that’s—”

Oliver cut her off before she could finish protesting. “You’re going, Madelynn. It’s not like I can show up at events like that without my secretary.”

His words made her wince. His secretary. Not his wife.

If he was taking her as his secretary, she wanted to ask why he was taking Cecelia, but she didn’t. She nodded obediently. It was just one more thing she would have to endure before she was truly free.

When they arrived at the auction hall later that night, Oliver held the door open for Cecelia and led her to the front door, letting Madelynn trail behind them.

The parking lot was full of luxurious cars and the hall held the most important people in the city. If you didn't get an invite to the auction, then it simply meant that you weren’t that important.

The host rushed up to them immediately as they entered.

“Mr Kane. My name is June and I’ll be your host today. I’ll take you to your seats, right this way.”

June led them to two empty seats. “We were informed you were coming with your wife? The second seat is for her.”

Madelynn’s blood turned to ice. And she could see Oliver and Cecelia freeze too.

If there was one thing Oliver did well, it was hiding their marriage from the public. Only family and a few friends knew about it. Madelynn turned to him, waiting to see what he would do.

He had two women, and one seat. Who would he pick?

But of course, she already knew the answer.

“Wife?” He scoffed. “I have no idea where that rumor came from.”

The poor host blushed in embarrassment. “Oh… what about these two then?”

Oliver slipped his arm around Cecelia’s waist and pulled her closer. “This is Cecelia Fontaine. Daughter of Fontaine Tech’s CEO.”

“Ah,” recognition flashed in June’s eyes. “Miss Cecelia Fontaine.” She nodded politely.

Then he turned to Madelynn, almost like he was being forced. “The other one is my secretary.”

Madelynn didn’t react. She already knew that Oliver would rather die than introduce her as his wife. But that knowledge didn’t stop her heart from shattering.

Still, she stood up straighter and swallowed the pain. She might not have anything left, but she would keep her dignity intact.

Oliver and Cecelia took their seats, while Madelynn stood behind them like the secretary that she was.

Maybe it was the cold air in the hall, or the fact that she was standing in five inch heels, or maybe it was the shameful situation that she was in. But the pain wouldn’t stop. It spread through her chest and body till it settled in her stomach.

She pressed a hand to her belly and quietly slipped out of the room like the unwanted presence that she was.

She found a balcony that was empty and stayed up there, trying to inhale the fresh air.

It was impossible for her to get her period, so why did the cramps hurt so much? She had also had a doctor’s appointment the day before, so she knew that her baby was safe.

She stayed there for a few more minutes, trying to ease the pain but to no avail. When she finally decided to go back to the hall, the glass doors to the balcony wouldn’t budge.

It was locked from the outside.