Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 12

Before her grandmother could finish, the harsh blare of the life support alarms pierced the air.

Madeline sprang to her feet and screamed for the nurses. Her grandmother was rushed into the emergency room, but when they wheeled her back out, a sterile white sheet covered her skeletal frame.

The room spun. Madeline's legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the cold hospital floor.

Her grandmother was truly gone.

Drained of the strength to even sob, Madeline crawled inch by inch toward the bed.

"Grandma... Grandma... please don't leave me... don't leave me all alone..."

She pulled herself up onto the mattress and clung to the old woman's body, drowning in suffocating despair.

The doctor standing nearby offered a sympathetic murmur. "I'm so sorry for your loss, ma'am."

But there was no consoling her.

She just held her grandmother and wept unconditionally.

Suddenly, a voice drifted into the room. "Mr. Whitman, you're here."

Lucius's deep voice followed. "Did she pass peacefully? Was she in any pain?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Let my wife have a few more minutes alone with her."

He sounded exactly like the perfect, devoted grandson-in-law.

Sure enough, as Madeline lingered at the hospital to pack up her grandmother's belongings, she overheard the nurses gushing about Lucius.

"I heard the woman who passed away was the grandmother of the city's wealthiest billionaire, Lucius Whitman's wife."

"No wonder she had the VIP suite. Mr. Whitman is so generous. He must have spent millions of dollars from the day she was admitted. Only the absolute best for her."

"He's so generous, devoted, and incredibly handsome. His wife must be the luckiest woman alive. It's weird they never went public, though."

"I heard it's because her family background is terrible, so the Whitmans kept it under wraps."

Madeline's heart sank into an abyssal void.

A sudden, grating noise broke her train of thought. She walked upstairs and realized Liliana had taken the boy into the master bedroom.

She had no idea what they were doing in there. Leo was five and had his own beautifully decorated playroom. He was generally terrified of his father and never dared set foot in the master suite.

A sickening sense of dread twisted in her stomach.

She pushed the door open to find Leo violently ripping something apart while Liliana cheered him on.

"Good boy, you're doing great!"

Leo clapped his hands gleefully. "Thanks, Mommy Lily!"

He tossed the shredded photo onto the floor.

"What are you doing?"

Madeline dropped to her knees and frantically gathered the shredded pieces.