When Noah stopped right in front of Madeline, Madeline were already shaking hands and having a pleasant conversation with Oscar. After Rowan introduced the two guys, Madeline finally knew that the two guys were actually Rowan’s brothers.
One of them was called Oscar, and he was a lawyer. The other was called Alexander and he was a doctor. The two of them were exemplary in their respective field, and they were very respected in the Solace family.
Just a while ago, Alexander was telling Madeline how he fancied the dress that she was wearing. They wanted to buy it as a present for their mother, yet they were afraid that Madeline would not agree to that. That was why they had been sneakily stealing glances at her.
Madeline who had been the center of attention for the whole night didn’t think much of her dress. She immediately agreed to sell this dress to them.
After some exchange of words, she felt that same sense of sincerity from these brothers which was similar to her experience with Rowan. This was why they could chat happily.
When she suddenly saw Noah, she was reminded of what she needed to do in the first place. She grabbed his sleeve and said, “You have something to take care of in the company, no? You should go settle it then.”
Noah who was expecting Madeline to explain herself had an even worse expression on his face after hearing that.
“Why? Am I bothering you now?”
“Not only you are bothering me…” Madeline thought,
you’re being a nuisance to all the reporters that came today. If this continues, my efforts in promoting the boutique is going to be wasted.
“You really want me to leave?” Noah cut her off and was annoyed at her reaction. He had delayed most of his work just to come keep her company, yet this ungrateful woman was thinking of him as a nuisance.
Where did these jerks pop out from? Why did they look like Rowan, that annoying guy, so much?
“Mr. Quincy, this show is really important to me.” Madeline’s smile disappeared from her face.
Noah snorted coldly, “Is it the show that is important, or is it the attendee that is more important?”
Noah’s gaze swept across the three brothers, and immediately they felt like Noah was bullying Madeline. The three of them chose to stand by Madeline’s side.
The whole situation looked like it was four against one.
“Madeline, let’s talk over there.” Oscar mimicked Noah’s cold snort as he was about to lead Madeline away by her hand.
Suddenly, he felt an intense pain surging through his body. It was Noah who was grabbing his wrist now, and Noah was staring at Oscar with ice-cold indifference in his eyes, as if he was going to snap Oscar’s wrist at any moment.
“Mr. Quincy, please let go of your hand!” Rowan was not just going to stand there and watch his brother getting bullied, but at the same time he did not want to create any trouble that might jeopardize the show. All he could do was to give a hushed warning.
If Noah was someone who would listen to others’ warnings or advice, that would not be very becoming of him. Seeing that Madeline was going to put in some good words for this jerk, he couldn’t help but exert more force into his grip.
“I am going to snap your hand as a warning. I hate the most when people lay their hands on my stuff.”
Rowan saw that Noah was not joking, and after apologizing hurriedly to Madeline, he was about to get into a brawl with Noah.
However, Madeline put herself in between the two of them, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not pry away Noah’s iron grip from Oscar’s wrist.
She warned, “If you’re going to be like this, Mr. Quincy, I will forbid you to step into any of my events from now on.”
“You…” Noah gritted his teeth, and under Madeline’s gaze, he loosened up his grip.
“I am sorry.” Madeline immediately apologized to Rowan and his brothers the moment Noah let go of his hand. Then, he dragged Noah to a changing room backstage.
When the door of the changing room was slammed shut, Noah suddenly felt a trepidation in his heart.
“Spill it. What are you trying to do?” Madeline leaned against the snow-white wall and her arms were folded in front of her chest. She was looking at him with some sarcasm and anticipation.
Noah coughed lightly and began to defend himself with a serious expression, “I don’t like other men to get too close to you. I was just a little annoyed just now.”
“Based on that reason, you’re going to destroy my show which takes a lot of hard work?” Madeline’s voice was cold as she began, “I know you’re an exclusive and monogamous guy. You don’t like others to touch your stuff. So what about it? I am not your obedient lap dog, Mr. Quincy. If you can’t bear to see me interacting with other men, you better stay as far away as possible!”
Noah knew that he had run his mouth. Even if this was five years ago, Noah would not see Madeline as just an object he revered. He was just saying that to give the Solaces siblings a scare.
“I didn’t think before I speak. Please forgive me, my wife.”
As he apologized, he was about to take Madeline’s waist.
“Stop playing your usual tricks, Mr. Quincy! You better listen, I will not subject myself to anyone’s fantasies or delusions anymore. No one can stop me from doing what I want. If you are going to hurt the people around me without a good reason, then I am really sorry, I am not the one that you should keep by your side!”
Madeline pushed him away with conviction, and it even made him crash into the wall behind him. Noah felt some spasms of pain in his back, and he could not help but feel wronged.
“How long have you known them? Are you going to get into a fight with me for their sake? What do you mean that I am hurting the people around you? Aren’t I one of those closest to you?”
“Mr. Quincy, you know exactly what I mean. Don’t sway the topic. It’s up to you whether to heed my words. I will do what I please anyway,” After saying that, Madeline pushed Noah to one side and left the changing room.
It was true that Noah’s objectification of her had really hurt her. This was the same in the past. He did not like her back then, but he would not allow her to get along well with other men.
Even if it was Dylan, Madeline could only exchange brief words with him. There would be no chance of any physical interaction of any form. Even if they just wanted to talk, they were not allowed to talk for long.
She used to ask him the reason he was acting like that in the past, and he had produced the same words as he had said just now, “I don’t like someone else laying his hands on my stuff.”
In his eyes, she must just be a toy to him. He was free to choose whether to like this toy or not, and he could discard this toy whenever he pleased. However, he would not allow anyone else to touch this toy.
He never cared about her feelings, so her opinion did not matter one bit.
Noah did not chase after her to continue his argument. He was wary of losing his temper and starting a fight with Madeline out there. That would ruin the fashion show.
At the same time, he did not know what to say anyway even if he ran out right this moment and caught up to her.
He only emerged from the changing room after spending some time alone smoking a cigarette. He immediately saw Colton standing right outside the door when he came out of the changing room.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Thomas?”
The two of them were practically inseparable of late. Now that Colton was all alone by himself, Noah’s instincts told him that maybe something was going on between him and Thomas.
“Thomas was with mommy. Zeke too.” Colton’s eyes were melancholic. He looked a little down.
Noah brought him to a rest area and they sat down. He then asked, “Why don’t you join them?”
He was very sure that Colton was very fond of Madeline.
“Perhaps, mommy only wants to be with Thomas and Zeke.” Colton looked up at Noah. He looked a little torn and unsure.
In Noah’s view, Colton was always the rational and calm one. It was very rare for Colton to look like an actual child, so Noah had a feeling that something was wrong.
“Don’t overthink. Mommy loves you very much.”
“It’s not the same. I heard mommy say to Thomas and Zeke that they are each other’s most important people. Nobody can separate them. She said that they are family.”
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