Unmarry Me, Billionaire

CHAPTER FOUR

Madison's POV

The legal discharge papers felt heavy in my hand, but the cold weight of reality in my chest was even heavier. Three days had passed since I woke up from that three-month nightmare, and my mind had never been sharper. I remembered the exact pitch of Abbie’s laughter through the car speakers. I remembered the sickening indifference in Klaus’s voice when he told me to go ahead and die. They thought they could bury me, steal my parents' legacy, and walk away with their hands clean. They were completely wrong.

Doctor Dexter Hayes stood by the glass window of my VIP suite, smoothly clicking his gold pen as he watched me get dressed. He had been my attending doctor the entire time, and he knew exactly what Klaus had done. He was not just a physician; his dark, intense gaze carried a dangerous intelligence that told me he was playing his own game in this hospital.

“Your vitals are completely stable, Madison,” Dexter murmured, his deep voice slicing through the quiet room. He walked over, his fingers gently brushing against my wrist as he checked my pulse one last time. “Physically, you are ready to walk out of these doors. But legally? Klaus has already stationed his private security detail in the main lobby. He has no intention of letting you leave this hospital without signing his asset stripping divorce settlement.”

I pulled my wrist back from his touch, my eyes narrowing into cold slits. “He will not force me to sign anything, Doctor Hayes. I am demanding a divorce on my terms now. I am going to take back every single cent he stole from my family while I was being sick in love.”

“I know you are, sunshine,” Dexter chuckled softly, a slow, deeply mischievous smirk spreading across his handsome face. He stepped closer, leaning down until his shadow completely covered me. “And I am going to help you do it. I have officially blocked Klaus’s marital visitation rights on medical grounds, recommending you release into the custody of a trusted legal guardian. Your first love is waiting downstairs.”

Before I could question his sudden helpfulness, the heavy oak door slid open.

Cedric stepped into the room, and my heart gave a massive, violent thud against my ribs. He looked exceptionally striking, dressed in a perfectly tailored charcoal grey three piece suit that radiated absolute power, wealth, and dominance. The timid, lovesick boy who used to wait for me outside my theatre classes three years ago was completely gone. In his place stood a ruthless entertainment mogul. Behind him stood four massive security guards, their faces completely blank.

“Are you ready to leave this place, Maddie?” Cedric asked, his deep voice washing over me like a powerful wave. He walked straight to my side, completely ignoring Dexter, and extended his large, steady hand toward me.

“Yes, Cedric,” I said clearly, stepping forward and placing my hand firmly in his. His large fingers instantly closed around mine in a tight, possessive grip that sent a sudden, real jolt of electricity straight up my arm. “Take me away from this place. Klaus is waiting downstairs, and I have no intention of going back to the Ashford Estate.”

“He will not lay a finger on you,” Cedric promised, his jaw clenching into a hard, lethal line as he guided me toward the door. “My legal team has already frozen the joint corporate accounts. You are coming with me to my apartment. We are going to dismantle his empire piece by piece.”

We walked out of the VIP ward, flanked closely by his security detail. The journey down the private elevator was thick with an intense, suffocating tension. But the real confrontation exploded the moment the elevator doors slid open into the main lobby of St. Catherine’s Hospital.

The entire glass entryway was crawling with paparazzi, flashbulbs exploding in a blinding rhythm through the front windows. News of my awakening had leaked, and the media was starving for a scandal. Standing right in the center of the chaos, blocking the exit with his own wall of guards, was Klaus.

My husband looked absolutely furious, his eyes bloodshot and his designer suit slightly disheveled. Standing right beside him, her knuckles white as she gripped her handbag, was Abbie. The fake best friend concern on her face vanished the moment she saw my hand securely locked in Cedric’s.

“Madison!” Klaus roared, stepping forward aggressively as his guards tried to push past the hospital staff. “Get away from my brother right now! You are my wife! You are coming home with me. I am not letting you run to his apartment!”

I did not shrink back. I did not hide. I stood completely straight beside Cedric, looking directly into Klaus’s eyes with a freezing, unyielding hatred. “I am never stepping foot in your house again, Klaus. You wanted a divorce three days ago, and a divorce is exactly what you are going to get. But it will be on my terms, in an open courtroom.”

“You think you can just walk out on me and run to him?” Klaus shouted, his face twisting with a toxic mixture of aristocratic rage and intense, unbridled jealousy. He reached out aggressively to grab my arm, but Cedric instantly intercepted him, gripping Klaus's wrist mid air with a savage force that turned his brother's knuckles completely white.

“Just in case you had forgotten, let me jog up your memory for you. I specifically told you three days ago that if you touch her again, I will personally liquidate your stock options and ruin Ashford Holding. That still stands.” Cedric warned, his voice deathly quiet and filled with a lethal promise. “She is a free woman, Klaus. And she is coming with me.”

Abbie stepped forward, her voice high and desperate as she tried to catch my gaze. “Madison, please! Do not let him drive a wedge between you and your husband! Think about the family name!”

I looked directly at the woman who had slept with my husband while my baby died. A bitter, cold smile touched my lips. “Keep your mouth shut, Abbie. I heard every single word you said through the car assistant while I was in labor. You and Klaus deserve each other, and you are both going to burn together.”

Abbie froze, her face turning completely pale as the paparazzi instantly caught the statement, their cameras flashing ten times faster as they began shouting chaotic questions. Klaus gasped in pure, unbridled frustration, pulling at his collar as Cedric’s guards completely shoved him aside, opening a clear path to the curb.

A sleek, black armored limousine was waiting with the door open. Cedric quickly guided me inside the luxurious interior, sliding in right beside me before the guard slammed the heavy door shut, instantly cutting off the deafening noise of the press.

The limousine pulled away from the curb smoothly, gliding into the sprawling streets of modern day Texas. I slumped back against the soft leather seats, letting out a heavy, exhausted sigh as I stared out the tinted window. Klaus and Abbie were shrinking into the distance, but the real war was just beginning. I had successfully escaped his grasp, and I was going to use Cedric’s billions, his massive entertainment empire, and our new alliance to track down my missing child and destroy Klaus completely.

Something deep down tells me that my child is not dead and I intend to trust that gut.

Cedric sat beside me, his dark, intense gaze fixed entirely on my face. Slowly, he reached across the space between us, his large palm hovering for a second before he gently placed it over my hand. His touch was warm, possessive, and entirely consuming.

“You are safe now, Maddie,” Cedric whispered, his voice cracking slightly with a raw emotion he couldn't hide. “I do not care what legal loops he tries to pull. We are going to make him pay for every single thing he did to you.”

“We will hit them where it hurts the most, beginning with his precious board of directors,” Cedric added, his jaw tight as he stared out at the passing city skyline. “I already have my eyes on his largest shareholders.”

I turned my head to look at him, my eyes sharp, focused, and entirely filled with a thirst for vengeance. “Let's make them bleed, Cedric.”