Once the call ended, Madison lowered her gaze to her phone again.

The livestream was already over, but the Internet had exploded with the hashtag #KieranProposesToKristina, climbing straight to the top of the trending list.

Almost mechanically, Madison tapped into the topic. The first thing that appeared was Kristina's official engagement post.

From her verified account, Kristina wrote, "No matter how much time passed or how far life pulled us apart, you still came back to me."

Several photos were attached beneath the caption. The most eye-catching one sat in the center, showing Kieran's and Kristina's fingers intertwined while the diamond ring on her hand gleamed brightly beneath the light.

Madison kept staring at the image until her eyes began to ache from the dryness.

Slowly, she lifted her head and looked up at the sky. A mocking smile gradually formed on her lips.

...

Elin handled things far faster than Madison expected and arranged the blind date within only a few hours. At exactly eight that night, Madison arrived at a high-end restaurant according to the address Elin sent her.

The moment she stepped inside, her eyes swept across the room before eventually stopping near the window.

A man dressed in a black trench coat sat alone at the table there. His features were striking and cold, while the calm way he crossed his legs gave off a distant pressure that naturally kept people away.

Everything about him matched Elin's description perfectly.

However...

The second Madison recognized his face, her footsteps halted.

Out of everyone Elin could have introduced her to, she never imagined the blind date would turn out to be him.

Jeremy Yates.

Kieran's longtime rival.

For one brief second, Madison almost turned around and walked straight back out.

Still, the thought disappeared as quickly as it came. Another one took hold of her. Since she had already decided to move on, leaving now would only make things meaningless.

To Madison, this marriage was nothing more than a transaction anyway. She wasn't searching for love anymore, so who she married hardly mattered.

At the very least, Jeremy was attractive, and his reputation sounded far more respectable than Kieran's. Compared to that scumbag, Jeremy was infinitely better.

After quietly steadying herself, Madison walked toward the table.

Once she reached him, she pulled back the chair and sat across from him without hesitation.

"Good evening, Mr. Yates." Madison skipped all unnecessary small talk. "I'm here for the blind date. If you don't find me unsuitable, then let's get married."

Jeremy had been lazily spinning a lighter between his fingers. The moment he heard her words, the movement stopped.

Raising his eyes toward her, he looked genuinely caught off guard for the first time. A faint trace of amusement surfaced in his sharp, striking eyes. "Miss Wallace, that's quite an unconventional introduction."

Madison paid no attention to the humor in his tone. Instead, she frowned slightly and replied, "Elin should've already explained everything. I don't think there's any point wasting time with formalities."

A quiet sound of acknowledgment escaped Jeremy as realization settled in. Clearly, she had mistaken him for someone else.

Leaning back comfortably in his seat, he observed her with calm interest while maintaining a detached expression.

The silence between them lingered briefly.

Finally, Jeremy spoke again in a relaxed voice. "Miss Wallace, I assume you already know about the situation between Kieran and me?"

Naturally, Madison knew exactly what he meant.

The Yates family and the Stanley family had been enemies for years. Three years earlier, Jeremy seized a media corporation the Stanleys had nearly secured, and ever since then, both sides had openly clashed against each other.

Every time Kieran talked about Jeremy, hatred would creep into his voice. He always described Jeremy as someone dangerous, a man who looked refined and courteous outwardly while hiding a ruthless side underneath.

Although Madison had never met Jeremy face-to-face before tonight, she had seen plenty of his interviews and already knew the kind of man he appeared to be.

"I already know about it," Madison answered calmly.

Jeremy's smile widened slightly. "And despite that, you still decided to meet me?"

His gaze stayed fixed on her as he continued, "Kieran and Kristina's engagement is dominating every headline right now. So when you suddenly show up looking for a blind date, Miss Wallace, it's hard not to wonder whether this is your way of getting back at him."

Truthfully, revenge had never crossed Madison's mind before.

Still, she understood how suspicious it looked for Kieran's ex-girlfriend to suddenly seek out his biggest rival right after the engagement announcement.

Jeremy lightly tapped the metal lighter against the table in a slow rhythm.

"Don't take this personally," Madison said evenly. "Your family wants you to settle down, and I need someone to marry. That's the only reason."

One of Jeremy's brows lifted slightly. "You're making it sound very straightforward."

"Because it is."

A faint smile remained on Jeremy's face. "Then explain something to me, Miss Wallace. Where exactly is the mutual benefit in all this?"

Before coming here, Madison had already prepared her answer.

"We'll enter a six-month marriage arrangement," she said without hesitation. "During that time, we'll cooperate when necessary and help each other fulfill our individual needs. Once the six months are over, we'll divorce and move on with our lives."

Jeremy listened quietly while the smile at the corner of his lips gradually deepened.

"There'll also need to be a prenuptial agreement," Madison continued. "I have no interest in your money, and I expect the same respect regarding mine."

That finally seemed to catch Jeremy's attention. "Your money?" His eyes narrowed with amusement. "Miss Wallace, do you actually possess assets worth protecting from me?"

Madison didn't bother explaining herself. Instead, she met his gaze directly. "Are you agreeing or not? I only want a clear answer."

Jeremy watched her silently for several long seconds before suddenly smiling.

The moment he did, the sharpness around him softened slightly. His eyes curved naturally, making him appear approachable at first glance. Even so, Madison could still sense something dangerous hidden beneath that charm.

"Alright," Jeremy replied easily. "You've got yourself a deal."

Madison gave a small nod. "Then, when do we take care of the marriage registration?"

"Right now."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jeremy rose from his seat and casually tucked the lighter back into his pocket.

Madison looked at him in surprise. "Now?"

"Yes, now. We're heading to register the marriage immediately."

Jeremy lowered his gaze toward her while a faint grin appeared on his lips. "You're clearly in a rush to get married, Miss Wallace. Since that's the case, we might as well do it tonight."

Madison never imagined the entire situation would progress this easily, much less this quickly.

Not long after they walked out of the restaurant, Jeremy drove her directly to register their marriage.

During the ride, Madison sent Elin a short message. "It's done. Thanks."

Elin replied almost instantly, "Already? You married him after meeting him one time?"

Madison answered with a laughing emoji instead of explaining further.

After that, she leaned back against the seat and stared quietly out the car window, still struggling to process everything happening around her.

Only three hours earlier, she had been waiting for a man who never came.

Now she was riding beside a completely different man on the way to become his wife.

The entire situation felt absurdly ironic.

By the time they arrived, Jeremy casually made a phone call. Even though working hours had already ended, several staff members hurried over to handle their registration personally.

Every single employee wore bright smiles despite staying late. Judging from their enthusiasm, Jeremy must have compensated them generously.

The paperwork moved astonishingly fast. Forms were filled and signed, documents were stamped, and before Madison fully processed it, everything had already been finalized.

When the document finally landed in her hands, Madison lowered her eyes and stared at it for a long moment, unable to believe it was real.

"Still not done looking at it?"

Jeremy's voice sounded above her head.

Madison looked up instinctively, but the second she did, Jeremy smoothly took the document from her fingers.

Madison looked at him blankly. "What are you doing with that?"

Without answering immediately, Jeremy slipped it neatly into the inside pocket of his coat.

"It's safer with me," he replied casually. "Who knows? Maybe you'll wake up in the middle of the night regretting this and decide to rip it apart."

Madison frowned helplessly. "I'm not going to do something like that."

A quiet chuckle escaped him. "People say a lot of things before regret kicks in." Jeremy lowered his eyes toward her, and amusement flickered through them. "I'll hold onto it for now. If you ever decide you want out, you'll have no choice but to come find me personally."

Madison didn't feel like wasting energy arguing with him.

In her eyes, this marriage had always been an arrangement built on convenience anyway. Whether she kept the legal document or Jeremy did made little difference.

"Come on," Jeremy said while walking toward the exit. "I'll drive you home."

After they got into the car, Jeremy opened his wallet and pulled out a black bank card before handing it toward Madison.

"Here."

Madison glanced at the card but made no move to accept it.

Jeremy noticed immediately and explained with a relaxed smile, "Use it for whatever you need. Since you're my wife now, it wouldn't look good if you were short on money."

"You don't need to do that. I already have enough money myself..."

"Our prenup and daily expenses are two separate matters," Jeremy interrupted calmly. "Appearances matter, Mrs. Yates. Just take it."

Madison paused briefly before finally accepting the card from him.

A second later, Jeremy reached into the back seat, grabbed a document folder, and handed it over as well. "The keys are inside," he explained. "Your car has already been delivered downstairs to your apartment building. You'll also find the address to our place in there. Whenever you're ready to move in, let me know ahead of time so I can have everything prepared."

Madison lowered her gaze to the folder in her hands, unable to describe the strange emotions rising inside her.

Jeremy had arranged everything so thoroughly that she hadn't needed to think about anything herself.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

Jeremy only gave a low acknowledgment before starting the engine.

Not long afterward, the car stopped outside Madison's apartment complex. As she stepped out, Jeremy lowered the car window halfway. "If anything comes up, call me."

Madison nodded lightly in response.

Soon, the black car disappeared into the night and vanished around the corner.

Madison remained standing there for several seconds, still unable to shake the feeling that the entire night had been unreal.

After taking a slow breath, she pulled out her phone and made another call.

The line rang for quite a while before her father, Rodger Wallace, finally answered.

"Hello?" Rodger sounded exhausted. "Why are you calling me this late? Did something happen?"

"Dad, I got married."

The other end instantly fell silent.

Then, several seconds later, Rodger finally spoke again. "What did you say?"

"I got married today," Madison repeated calmly. "We just finished registering the marriage a little while ago."

Another heavy silence followed.

After a while, Rodger asked, "Who exactly did you marry?"

"I doubt you'd know him." Madison deliberately avoided giving further details. "Dad, does your previous promise still count? You said that if I got married before turning twenty-five, you'd transfer thirty percent of the company's shares to me."

"Yes, you'll get the shares," Rodger replied in a firm tone. "But before that happens, you need to start working at the company."

Madison's fingers tightened around her phone. "What exactly are you implying?"

Rodger sighed lightly before answering, "Giving you the shares isn't the issue. The problem is that the company doesn't revolve entirely around my decisions. There are other shareholders involved, and your brother has already established himself there. If I suddenly hand over thirty percent of the shares to you, do you honestly think the others will accept it quietly?"

A crease formed between Madison's brows. "I hope this isn't your way of backing out."

"I can arrange the transfer agreement immediately if you want," Rodger answered, his tone becoming more serious. "However, before we make your position public, you need to spend some time working in the project department and gain experience there. Once you've proven yourself and secured your footing within the company, announcing your shareholder status will face far less resistance. At that point, nobody will have grounds to question it."

Madison considered his words carefully and eventually realized his reasoning made sense. "Fine."

"Report to HR tomorrow morning." Right then, Rodger ended the call.

Madison lowered her phone slowly and stared at the dark screen for a moment before making her way upstairs.

The apartment felt unusually quiet tonight.

After turning on the lights, she began packing her belongings immediately.

The moment Kieran walked in and noticed the suitcase beside her, surprise flashed briefly across his normally indifferent eyes.

"Maddie?" Kieran had completely forgotten that they were supposed to meet that afternoon. The moment he noticed her packing, unease crept across his face. "What are you doing?"

Without pausing her movements, Madison calmly folded another piece of clothing. "I'm staying at my parents' place for a while."

The tension in Kieran's expression eased almost immediately after hearing that. Casually, he tossed his coat onto the couch before walking over and wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"Maddie." He rested his chin against her shoulder while lowering his voice gently. "Things were chaotic for me today, and I honestly couldn't leave. I wasn't trying to ditch you on purpose."

"I already saw the news." Madison's cold reply instantly shattered his excuse.

Kieran stiffened almost immediately. A trace of panic appeared on his face as he hurried to explain himself. "Kristina's health has always been fragile. She was born with a heart condition, okay? After coming back this time, she begged me to cooperate with this publicity stunt because it would help her career. None of it means anything. It's all for show, so don't overthink it."

Madison almost laughed from disbelief. He was actually using Kristina's alleged "heart condition" as justification, and he said it so naturally that it didn't seem to bother him at all.

Still, Madison understood his intentions perfectly. He wanted to keep both women at the same time. Disgust rose violently inside her.

Meanwhile, Kieran continued trying to smooth things over. "You have to believe me. Kristina and I are just close because we grew up together. She's basically family to me. Maddie, the person I truly care about, has always been you..."

"Kieran." Madison stopped him before he could continue. She turned around slowly to face him directly, and then looked straight into his eyes. "We're done."

Kieran's face stiffened instantly.

"Hold on, what did you just say?"

Madison met his gaze calmly. "I said we're ending this. We've hidden this relationship for five years already. That's more than enough."

A deep crease formed between Kieran's brows. "You're seriously doing this because of the livestream today?"

Madison looked at him coldly. "Isn't that enough of a reason already?"

"I explained everything to you!" Irritation quickly surfaced in Kieran's voice. "Kristina's health has always been terrible. She was born with a heart condition and can't handle stress well. I've always treated her like family, so what's wrong with looking after her? Why are you making such a huge issue out of this?"

A cold laugh slipped from Madison's lips. "I'm not the unreasonable one here." She paused briefly before adding, "Besides, I'm already married."

For a second, Kieran simply stared at her. Then he suddenly laughed.

"Maddie, I get that you're upset, but you don't need to make up ridiculous stories just to get back at me. Married? Really? Then who did you marry? If it's true, show me the proof." His tone sounded indulgent, almost as if he were humoring someone childish.

Madison remained silent.

The legal document was still with Jeremy, so she couldn't take it out even if she wanted to.

The moment Kieran noticed her silence, confidence immediately returned to his expression. Clearly, he assumed she had been bluffing.

His voice softened again. "Alright, stop being angry. I know I messed up today. Didn't you like that designer bag you saw last time? I'll buy it for you tomorrow, okay?"

Madison acted as though she hadn't heard a single word.

Without responding, she turned back toward her suitcase. After pulling the zipper shut, she lifted it from the bed and dragged it straight toward the door.

"Madison!" Kieran stepped in front of her and blocked the doorway, his expression turning gloomy. "What exactly are you trying to pull here?"

"It means this relationship is finished," Madison said as she looked directly at him with steady eyes. "Now, move aside."

Kieran remained planted in front of her without moving an inch.

For several long seconds, he simply stared at her before letting out a mocking laugh. "Alright then. Leave if you want. But don't forget who's been supporting you all these years. Do you seriously believe you can manage without me?"

Madison paused and slowly turned back toward him.

Confidence filled Kieran's face completely, as though he had already decided she would eventually regret leaving and come begging to return.

The moment Kieran claimed she had been living off him, Madison almost found it laughable.

Yes, Kieran had given her money before. But every single time, he acted as though he were generously feeding a helpless little pet trapped inside a luxurious cage that he paid for as well.

What Kieran never knew was that Madison had never once touched the money he gave her.

No matter how distant her father became after building a new family, Madison was still his daughter, and Rodger had never neglected her financially.

The only reason she kept that truth hidden from Kieran all this time was because she didn't want to wound his pride.

And yet he genuinely believed she couldn't survive without him. The thought almost amused her.

A cold smile appeared on Madison's lips before she grabbed her suitcase and walked past him without hesitation.

Kieran clearly hadn't expected her to leave for real. Humiliation quickly twisted into anger, and he shouted after her, "Madison, you're going to regret this!"

Madison never slowed her steps.

Regret?

The only thing Madison regretted was failing to realize what kind of man Kieran truly was sooner.

That same night, Madison moved into the seaside villa Jeremy had prepared for her. The area was peaceful, and every detail inside the house matched her taste perfectly.

Once she finished organizing her belongings, exhaustion completely took over.

Without wasting another moment, she headed straight to bed.

Her body and mind were both drained, so it didn't take long before she fell into a deep sleep.

Sometime during the night, the bedroom door quietly opened.

A tall figure stepped inside and stopped beside the bed. Silver moonlight slipped through the small gap between the curtains, casting a faint glow across Jeremy's handsome face and Madison's sleeping figure beneath the blanket.

Slowly, Jeremy lowered himself onto the edge of the bed while his eyes lingered on her face without restraint.

After watching her quietly for a while, he reached over and gently adjusted the blanket around her.

In truth, Jeremy had fallen for Madison the very first time he saw her.

Unfortunately, back then, her entire heart belonged to Kieran.

So Jeremy chose to step back instead.

At the time, he convinced himself that her happiness mattered more than anything else.

What he never expected was for that fool Kieran to throw her away over a woman like Kristina.

The thought almost made him laugh.

A faint smirk crossed Jeremy's lips just as he prepared to leave the room. Suddenly, the phone resting on the nightstand vibrated, and its screen lit up in the darkness.

A message notification appeared shortly afterward. "Maddie, I contacted Nicholas Gordon already. He said you never showed up tonight. So who exactly did you meet and marry?"

The warmth vanished instantly from Jeremy's eyes. Without hesitation, he picked up Madison's hand, pressed her finger against the screen to unlock the phone, and then deleted the message.

...

Early the next morning, Madison headed to Vanguard Entertainment, the company owned by her father.

As the biggest entertainment corporation in all of Agoshire, the building remained busy from the moment the workday began.

After parking the car, Madison entered the lobby and rode the elevator upstairs.

The Human Resources Department was located on the eighteenth floor.

The moment she walked in and introduced herself, a middle-aged man wearing glasses approached her while checking through a folder in his hands.

"Madison Wallace?" he asked while scanning the documents. "You've been assigned to the Project Department on the seventeenth floor."

Madison gave a brief nod before leaving the office.

The elevator doors opened shortly after she arrived downstairs. However, the second Madison stepped out onto the seventeenth floor, she unexpectedly came face-to-face with a group of people approaching from the opposite direction.

The woman leading them immediately caught her attention. That face was impossible not to recognize.

Kristina.

She wore luxury couture fresh off the newest designer release, while her assistant and manager followed closely beside her as they headed toward the elevator.

Madison stopped walking altogether. Out of all the possible places they could meet, it happened here.

At the same moment, Kristina noticed Madison as well. Her eyes stayed on Madison's face briefly before she slowly removed her sunglasses, revealing soft and strikingly beautiful features underneath.

Kristina already knew Kieran had kept another woman by his side while she was overseas.

After returning home, some of Kieran's friends even showed her photos of that woman before.

Still, she never expected the two of them to meet in person like this.

Kristina's gaze gradually lowered until it landed on the employee badge hanging around Madison's neck. The moment she realized what it was, faint contempt appeared in her eyes.

"So it really is you," Kristina said slowly.

Madison had no interest in creating a scene, so she tried to walk past Kristina without engaging further.

Before she could get around her, Kristina shifted sideways and blocked her path again.

"You really do resemble me quite a bit," Kristina remarked while studying Madison carefully from head to toe. A meaningful smile tugged at her lips. "Now I understand why."

The last bit of Madison's patience nearly snapped.

"Miss Todd," Madison replied with a cold smile, "you make it sound like resembling you is some kind of achievement. Isn't your ego getting a little excessive?"

Kristina's face darkened immediately.

Before she could fire back another remark, Madison had already brushed past her and continued toward the office area.

Kristina stood there with an unpleasant expression while watching her leave. Her manager Flora Murphy quickly moved closer and lowered her voice. "Kristina, someone like her isn't worth getting upset over. She's nothing more than a small employee from the Project Department. If you want to deal with her, there'll be plenty of opportunities later."

That reminder instantly improved Kristina's mood.

She crooked a finger slightly, signaling Flora to come closer. The manager leaned in at once.

"Send word to the Project Department," Kristina instructed calmly. "They'll understand what to do."

A malicious smile slowly spread across Kristina's face as she stared at Madison's disappearing figure. "Within one week, I want her thrown out of this company."

Who did Madison think she was to work under the same roof as her?