Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 452

Mid-kiss, Madeline felt a sharp, venomous glare boring into her skin, making her intensely uncomfortable.

She gently pushed against Quentin's chest.

He was completely lost in the kiss, a faint flush coloring his cheeks.

What had started as a territorial display had quickly turned into genuine hunger.

When she finally pulled away, he chased her lips, wanting more.

Madeline turned her head, tracing the source of the hateful stare.

It was Penelope York.

Penelope was glaring at her as if Quentin were her husband, and Madeline was merely the tramp stealing him away.

Madeline found it completely absurd.

She shot back a fiercely confident look.

Penelope paled, grinding her teeth in silent fury.

She looked ready to storm over and rip Madeline out of his arms.

Regaining her senses, Madeline realized what had just happened.

Quentin was insanely jealous again.

Silas's calculated words had provoked him, so he had deliberately used her to assert his dominance.

He wanted to make sure everyone knew she belonged to him.

"Quentin," she whispered, looking up at him. "I never imagined the person that old woman was backing would be someone I knew..."

"He is not a good man," he stated with absolute finality.

"A man who hid in the shadows for years and chose this exact moment to strike? You think that's a coincidence? Do not trust him. Keep your distance."

Quentin was fully aware that Silas had been her professor.

He knew every detail of her college years.

Including this man who harbored a sickeningly obvious obsession with her.

He was a man; he knew exactly how other men thought.

Even when Madeline was dead broke and couldn't afford makeup, a single ID photo had crowned her the most beautiful girl on campus.

And she had ranked first in the university's toughest major.

For a young professor in his twenties like Silas not to have dirty thoughts about her was impossible.

The only thing separating them was the professional boundary.

Silas had risked his entire career to funnel exclusive academic resources her way—that was a fact.

But the university had never even established a fully funded study-abroad pipeline with Germany back then.

That specific institution was the holy grail for engineering students, the absolute pinnacle of European academics.

Why had Silas gone to such lengths? Quentin knew the sick truth, and it repulsed him.

If Madeline had actually gone to Germany...

Silas would have used his "help" as leverage to force his way into her personal life. Isolated in a foreign country, she would have had no one to rely on but him.

Since she never ended up going, Quentin hadn't bothered to intervene.

Yet after all these years, the man still hadn't moved on. He was still waiting to claim her.

Quentin knew damn well his provocative words earlier weren't innocent.

There was only one explanation: he wanted Madeline for himself.

Madeline fell silent.