Betrayed by the Father Reborn in His Rival's Arms novel Chapter 61

Ever since Leo saw Madeline yesterday, the child knew she was back.

He called and asked her to make him BBQ ribs.

Madeline told him she was busy.

Even so, Leo was still waiting for her to come home.

After all, Liliana had just slapped him, and he was afraid of Lucius. After thinking it over, he knew that only Madeline would stay by his side and spoil him, regardless of how he treated her.

Mrs. Miller remained silent.

Leo kept waiting for Madeline to return.

But it was already past nine in the evening.

Leo had taken his bath and changed into his pajamas, yet Madeline still wasn't back.

He kept an ear out for any noise downstairs in the villa.

Around ten o'clock.

The sound of a car engine echoed outside.

Leo's eyes lit up, and he immediately bounced down the stairs.

"Mommy—"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw Lucius striding through the door.

Startled, Leo's cheerful voice cut off abruptly, and he shrank back in fear. "Dad."

Lucius handed his coat to the butler, his gaze sweeping over the glaring red handprint on the child's pale face.

He called out, "Come here, let me take a look."

Leo cautiously walked over to Lucius.

Lucius crouched down to examine the boy's injury.

Afraid that Lucius would blame him for misbehaving, Leo mumbled, "I was being naughty. Mommy Lily didn't do it on purpose."

Lucius hummed in acknowledgment, realizing the child wouldn't hold a grudge against Liliana for striking him in anger.

Then he recalled the way the boy had just called out for his mother.

Something suddenly tugged at his heart, a faint twinge of pain piercing through his numb emotional wounds.

It felt as if he were remembering his own childhood.

Surprise flashed across Lucius's face before realization dawned on him. Madeline just didn't want to come back, so she used work as an excuse.

Yet, such a gentle excuse earned her the title of "bad" from Leo.

Liliana had slapped him across the face for no reason, yet Leo hadn't uttered a single bad word about her.

Perhaps it was the undeniable pull of blood ties.

He stood up without another word. Going upstairs, he headed straight to the study to finish his pending work, only returning to the master bedroom in the early hours of the morning.

The master bedroom felt incredibly empty.

But then again, he had always treated this place as just somewhere to sleep. He woke up, went to work, and it seemed to make no difference who was missing.

Suddenly, struck by a thought, he pulled open the walk-in closet, only to find that all of Madeline's belongings had vanished.

The only thing left was the wedding dress he had forced the maid to get dry-cleaned, hanging precisely where it had always been.

What used to be an entire wall of her personal items had been reduced to this single gown—and only because he had stubbornly insisted on keeping it.

He initially thought Madeline simply wasn't getting along with Liliana and had just gone to stay at her own apartment for a few days.

Now, it seemed their marriage really was in trouble.