Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 120

But now, it was gone forever.

He had always believed he held the upper hand, that he was the one controlling their romance. But the truth was, Madeline could bestow her love just as easily as she could strip it away. He had never been the one in control; Madeline was. Because he was the one desperate for that love, completely dependent on it, and utterly incapable of finding a replacement.

By the time he realized this, it was already far too late.

Meanwhile...

Liliana cursed a blue streak as she settled into the first-class seat Lucius had booked for her flight abroad.

She was furious that Lucius was ignoring her after she had finally slept with him.

Liliana had assumed that after such a long dry spell, Lucius would become just as addicted to their intimacy as she was. Sure, she might have overdone it with the dosage—Lucius was practically unconscious and hadn't really put his equipment to much use—but she viewed it as a necessary catalyst. She had been convinced that once he woke up and realized what happened, he wouldn't be able to stay away from her.

Instead, not only did he ignore her, he had blocked her number entirely.

As she strolled past rows of dazzling display cases, she scoffed. If Lucius wasn't going to text her and grovel, she would just have to soothe her ego with cold, hard cash.

She strutted into a high-end luxury department store.

It was one of the top ten luxury shopping centers in the world.

Surrounded by wealthy foreigners, Liliana marched straight to the Hermès boutique. The glass and polished wood cabinets were lined with an exquisite array of top-tier designer bags.

Without batting an eye, she grabbed five or six bags, each worth millions of dollars.

Still unsatisfied, she planned to hit up several more stores after cashing out.

Liliana had been fully prepared to scream at the lowly cashier for wasting her time and demand compensation for emotional distress. But hearing the manager confirm the card was useless threw her off balance.

Panic set in. She frantically pulled out several other cards and had them swipe every single one, but they were all declined.

She desperately tried to call Lucius to demand he pay for it immediately, but the call wouldn't go through. Furious and humiliated, her face darkened like a thundercloud. She erupted into a screeching fit of impotent rage. "He dares freeze my cards? Does he actually think I'm some parasite who needs him to survive? Bullshit! What a useless piece of trash, he can't even afford to buy me a few bags. That Whitman bastard is pathetic!"

Because she was screaming like a lunatic, the other wealthy patrons shot her looks of sheer disgust, and the boutique staff promptly escorted her out of the store.

Storming out of the mall, she intended to hail a cab and leave. But as she stood on the edge of the street, a massive, ominous shadow suddenly loomed over her. Before she could even react, her vision went black as a heavy sack was shoved violently over her head.

The next second, she was dragged away like a dead dog. She was hauled mercilessly for over half a mile, her designer shoes slipping off, her bare legs scraping raw against the unforgiving pavement, until she was finally dumped into a pitch-black, deserted alley.