Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 167

Madeline's eyes went wide.

For some reason, the sharp, commanding voice felt deeply familiar to her.

Not a warm, nostalgic familiarity, but a visceral dread buried deep within her bones.

It was the kind of tone that made her spine snap straight on instinct.

Yet Madeline had never met this elderly woman in her life, nor had she ever heard this gravelly, vicious voice before.

Was this Eleanor Prescott?

The legendary matriarch from the most glorious aristocratic family twenty years ago? The same woman whose return to her homeland was currently dominating the news cycle?

The Prescotts were a mythic presence in the city, an untouchable dynasty whose wealth had skyrocketed exponentially before they completely emigrated overseas.

Eleanor's piercing glare drilled into Madeline.

"You said your surname is Monroe?"

The venom in the question jolted Madeline. Combined with the sheer, complicated malice radiating from the older woman's eyes, Madeline felt like the air was being sucked from the room.

Still, she held her ground. "Yes."

Eleanor pointed a gnarled finger right at Madeline's face. "With that surname, you deserve a beating."

Madeline stared right back at her. "If merely having a name is grounds for you to hit me, there are hundreds of thousands of people in this world with the same name. Why don't you go attack them?"

Eleanor was blinded by fury. "If you don't beat her to death today, you bodyguards can consider yourselves dead!"

The bodyguard named Lance shoved past Lucius. Lucius tried to block him, but the man used a professional tactical maneuver to shove him aside. A massive, heavy hand cracked across Madeline's face with a sickening smack.

Instantly, a deafening ring exploded in Madeline's ears, and her vision went black. She nearly passed out from the sheer force of the blow.

Her body swayed violently, spinning like a leaf caught in a gale, before collapsing hard onto the marble floor.

Eleanor looked from Lucius to Liliana, clearly caught off guard by his defiance.

Before they arrived, Liliana had sworn up and down that she was Lucius's true love, insisting he would do absolutely anything—no matter how despicable or absurd—just to make her happy.

In reality, Liliana was merely the daughter of Grant Lansbury, the Prescotts' chauffeur. She didn't have a single drop of Prescott blood in her veins.

Eleanor was perfectly aware of this. But having just returned from overseas, she desperately needed a local pawn, and Lucius was the absolute perfect candidate.

For years, Eleanor had been engaged in a vicious power struggle with the actual Prescott heir. It was a well-kept secret from the public, but Eleanor wasn't one to step down easily. As long as she held onto her shares and political connections, the heir could never swallow the Prescott empire whole.

They had been at each other's throats for control, dragging each other to court no less than nine times.

Now, due to strategic business maneuvers, the Prescott group had to re-enter the domestic market. Eleanor desperately needed a formidable partner to help crush her enemies, and Liliana had conveniently presented herself at the perfect moment.

Liliana had promised Eleanor that if she endorsed the marriage between her and Lucius, the two of them would act as Eleanor's loyal foot soldiers moving forward.