Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 109

Madeline picked up her phone and accepted the call.

The heavy, unmistakable sounds of intimate passion drifted through the speaker.

Madeline wasn't some naive teenager; she had been married for years and knew exactly what those sounds meant.

Liliana was intentionally using Lucius's phone to broadcast a live performance.

She wanted to make absolutely sure Madeline heard every single detail.

Madeline knew without a doubt it was Lucius on the other end.

Even though she already knew perfectly well that Lucius and Liliana were practically attached at the hip.

Hearing it live was infinitely more humiliating than just silently accepting the truth.

Even if Madeline didn't love him anymore.

She still couldn't stomach it.

Madeline knew exactly what was happening: Liliana's sole objective was to torture her.

That was the only reason she had made this call.

If she let it break her, she would be falling right into Liliana's trap, yet the tears spilled down her cheeks anyway.

Like a dam that had completely shattered.

***

Two hours earlier.

Lucius had just been wheeled out of the operating room, his back and waist completely mummified in white bandages.

The longest gash had required 19 stitches. He was pretty badly banged up and had even undergone a CT scan, but it was mostly severe soft-tissue damage. The butler had clearly pulled his punches.

He was just mulling this over.

Suddenly, Sheri walked into the hospital room.

Lucius knew Liliana struggled with depression. She had slit her wrists a few times before, and he had always flown overseas to babysit her until she stabilized.

If she swallowed all those pills and actually died, what would he do?

Without a second thought, Lucius hopped in his car and sped straight to the hotel.

"Lily."

Lucius grabbed the spare keycard the front desk had prepared for him.

He swiped into the room.

Inside, Liliana was sitting on the edge of the bed, a fistful of sleeping pills in her hand, ready to swallow them.

Lucius lunged to grab them, and she started thrashing and hitting him. "Let me go! I don't want to live anymore! Lucius, even you don't care if I live or die! What's the point of staying alive? We were together for so many years, and you stood there and said you only have feelings for that bitch!"

Lucius wrapped his arms around her, desperately trying to soothe her. "Stop crying. I had to say that. My grandfather was going to strip me of my inheritance. You didn't want to see me lose absolutely everything, did you?"