Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 268

Liliana froze, feeling as if her heart had been violently crushed.

Lucius pressed on, completely merciless. "I don't want to marry you. If you're that desperate for a wedding, go find another man."

Liliana let out a pathetic sob. "Lucius, I'm carrying your child! How could I possibly marry anyone else?"

"You won't even pretend to be my husband on paper?" Her tears fell faster, ruining her perfect makeup.

"I'm begging you, I've stripped away all my pride. Why won't you just accept this?"

Lucius had zero interest in continuing the pathetic conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Madeline standing up.

Perhaps the wine had hit her, as she swayed slightly while making her way toward the restroom.

Lucius stood up abruptly. "Take your time eating. Put this on my tab."

Without another word, he turned his back and walked away.

Leaving Liliana entirely alone, sobbing in absolute despair.

The red wine tonight had been intoxicatingly sweet.

From the moment she sat down, Madeline hadn't spared Lucius a single glance.

She treated both Lucius and Liliana like absolute strangers who didn't exist in her world.

Instead, she lost herself in the sweetness of the wine, drinking glass after glass.

It didn't take long for a heavy, pleasant buzz to settle over her.

She slipped away to the restroom, hoping a splash of cold water would clear her head.

Suddenly, a powerful force locked onto her wrist.

She was yanked forward, crashing into a firm, warm chest.

Madeline gasped in pure shock.

When she looked up and registered the face looking down at her, she froze.

It was Quentin.

His god-like, strikingly handsome features were instantly magnified.

She stared into the dark, obsessive depths of his eyes, seeing her own reflection trapped within them.

She felt like a captured prey.

Utterly at his mercy.

Without a second of hesitation, Quentin claimed her.

He kissed her with a consuming, bruising intensity.

He hadn't even dared to look at the man's face to verify if it was the manager Liliana mentioned.

He couldn't stomach it.

All he saw was Madeline—his Madeline—melting into another man's embrace, eagerly drinking in the warmth and passion she was being given.

He couldn't handle the crushing weight of reality.

He broke into a pathetic, cowardly retreat.

He had emotionally tortured Madeline, forcing her to watch as he lavished all his affection and devotion on Liliana.

Only now did the universe violently force him to understand the exact same agony. Madeline was inflicting the identical pain on him, letting him experience exactly how she felt watching him with Liliana.

The suffocating rage, the pathetic helplessness, the soul-crushing despair.

Lucius finally felt every single agonizing drop of it.

He finally realized how deeply he had mutilated Madeline's heart, and just how terrifyingly suffocating that pain truly was.

A horrifying clarity slammed into him. He finally understood why Madeline had turned so cold, why her love had evaporated so absolutely. Because the wounds he inflicted had cut straight to her bone.

It was a devastating revelation.

He had orchestrated his own total destruction.