Whirlwind Wedding: My Ex’s Adoptive Dad

Chapter 5

Lucas wore a custom-made suit and had his hair styled perfectly, but his tie had been yanked loose, and irritation simmered openly in his eyes.

"Maddie."

He reached for her.

Madeline stepped aside before he could touch her.

"What do you want?"

Her voice was flat.

She glanced toward the black Bentley parked at the curb and the driver standing beside it.

Adrian had arranged both for her.

"You got married?" Lucas's voice was tight. He stared into her eyes, trying to find some sign that she was joking or had acted on an impulse to spite him. There was none. "When Rebecca told me, I didn't believe her. Maddie, do you even understand what you're doing?"

"I do." Madeline almost laughed. "I got married. Why are you making such a big deal out of it, Mr. Hayes Junior?"

"What do you mean, you 'got married'?"

Lucas raised his voice enough to make people passing nearby look over.

Madeline frowned impatiently.

Lucas took a breath and lowered his voice.

"Maddie, come with me. We need to talk."

"We don't."

Madeline moved around him toward the car.

Lucas caught her wrist in a hard grip.

"Madeline!"

Pain shot through her arm.

"Let go."

"Tell me who he is." Lucas refused to release her, his eyes full of conflicting emotions. "What kind of family does he come from? How well do you even know him? We broke up only a few days ago, and you just married some random man?"

Madeline tried to pull free, but his grip was too tight.

"Lucas, you got engaged only a few days after we broke up. Whether I marry, and who I marry, is none of your business."

The marriage agreement clearly stated that for the first 2 years of their marriage, her husband's identity should be kept private as much as possible.

Madeline didn't know whether Adrian wanted Lucas kept in the dark too, so she sidestepped the question.

"How is it none of my business?" Lucas forced himself to steady his emotions. "Maddie, I let you down. I know that. But you don't have to ruin your own life to get revenge on me. You're only 25. You have your whole future ahead of you. Why marry some man you barely know just to make me angry?" The more he spoke, the more convinced he became. "Listen to me. Divorce him. Even if we can't be lovers anymore, I can't just stand by and watch you walk straight into a disaster."

Madeline stared at him, unable to believe the absurd logic he had constructed in his own head.

"Lucas, do you seriously think I can't survive without you? That the only possible reason I got married is to get revenge on you?"

"Isn't it?"

His voice rose again.

Madeline had never seen Lucas like this.

He was frantic and emotional, with none of his usual composure left.

She tried to keep her own voice level.

"I didn't marry him to get revenge on you. You're not that important. My husband and I are doing very well, and I don't need your concern. Now let go. I'm going home."

Lucas still didn't release her.

Instead, he stepped closer, his eyes red and full of hurt.

His voice turned hoarse.

"Maddie, how about this? Divorce him, and I'll keep taking care of you. I'll explain things to Rebecca. We can still have what we had before..."

Madeline looked at the man she had spent her entire youth loving and suddenly felt as though she didn't know him at all.

She could barely contain her anger.

"Like before? You're about to marry Rebecca, and you want me to stay with you the way I did before? That's cheating, Lucas. You'd be asking me to become your mistress."

Lucas went pale.

"Maddie, that's not what I meant..."

"Then what did you mean?" Madeline's face turned cold. "So I divorce my husband, and then what? You keep me hidden somewhere? I spend the rest of my life unable to stand beside you in public, and when you finally get tired of me, you pay me another breakup settlement and send me away?"

A vein pulsed at Lucas's temple.

"Maddie, you know that's not what I mean."

Madeline nodded once.

His grip made her wrist throb, and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

They had been together for 6 years.

The breakup had been so sudden it felt as if the ground had dropped out from under her.

'My heart isn't made of stone. Of course it hurts. But I've already started a new life. Why is Lucas coming back now just to tear the wound open again?'

Her voice trembled.

"Lucas, you were the one who said we should end this cleanly. If you have any decency left, don't ever bother me again."

The moment she finished, a sweet female voice called out.

"Luke!"

Lucas looked up.

Rebecca came running toward him with a handbag in one hand.

He immediately released Madeline's wrist.

"Luke, did you come all this way just to pick me up after work?" Rebecca asked coyly, as though she hadn't noticed the struggle between them.

"Yeah." Lucas smiled at her and took her handbag. "How was your first day?"

"Great. Everyone has been so nice to me." Rebecca nestled close to him. "Especially Madeline. She gave me so many assignments so I could fit in with the team faster."

Lucas frowned. "You just started. Can you handle that much work?"

Rebecca smiled sweetly. "Of course I can. Don't blame Madeline."

Madeline lifted a brow.

"Only someone incompetent would see a normal workload as a burden. Mr. Hayes Junior, keep your fiancée under control."

She glanced at Rebecca, who was already on the verge of losing her temper.

The implication was obvious.

Lucas's face darkened.

"Madeline."

Madeline looked at Rebecca and continued.

"Miss Blake should spend less time worrying about me and more time keeping an eye on her fiancé. He's not even married yet, but he's already grabbing a married woman in public. That's not a great look, is it?"

Rebecca swayed as if she might collapse.

Madeline finally felt some of her anger drain away.

With a mocking smile, she walked straight toward the black Bentley at the curb.

Lucas and Rebecca headed toward the nearby Porsche together.

Lucas opened the passenger door for Rebecca and helped her into the car.

Across the street, two people peering in their direction saw the entire exchange.

They were Madeline's parents, George Quinn and Laura Sutton.

They had failed to catch Madeline outside her apartment the previous day. After asking around, they had finally learned that she worked at Lynwood Design and had made their way to Hartwell Tower to corner her.

They hadn't noticed Madeline leave in Adrian's car.

Instead, they saw the wealthy young boyfriend they believed she was still dating.

George could barely contain his excitement.

"That's him. That's the young heir to the Hayes family!"

"But that woman isn't Madeline," Laura said, watching Rebecca settle into the passenger seat.

George waved off the concern.

"It's hardly unusual for a man as rich as Mr. Hayes Junior to have a few women on the side. As long as Madeline is still his girlfriend, he can't ignore us. Come on. Hurry."

He ran toward the car, already out of breath.

"Lucas! There you are!"

Meanwhile, Madeline sat in the back seat of the Bentley.

A vivid red pressure mark circled her wrist.

"Mrs. Hayes, should I tell Mr. Hayes about your wrist?" Frank Miller asked with concern from the driver's seat.

"It's fine."

Madeline lightly covered her wrist.

She didn't want to drag Adrian into something this minor.

In this transactional marriage, she constantly reminded herself not to ask too much of him. She couldn't expect him to comfort her every time something upset her.

"It was a small argument. It's over. There's no need to tell him."

Frank agreed, at least out loud.

But after dropping Madeline off at Silvermere Estate and parking in the garage, he immediately called Adrian and gave him a full account of what had happened outside her office.

"Her wrist is hurt?"

Adrian's voice turned instantly cold over the phone.

"Yes. Mrs. Hayes told me not to report it."

"Understood. From now on, stay with her from the moment she leaves for work until she's safely home. If Lucas tries to touch her again, stop him immediately. I don't care if it embarrasses the Hayes family."

"Yes, Mr. Hayes."

As soon as the call ended, Adrian's assistant, Tyler Ross, mentioned another piece of gossip that had spread through the company that day.

"Mr. Hayes, Rebecca Blake went after Mrs. Hayes in front of everyone at work today. Apparently it had something to do with a ring."

Adrian frowned, not immediately understanding what Tyler meant.

"What ring?"