The Day I Stopped Waiting Was the Day He Started Begging novel Chapter 68

She had truly blossomed into an untouchable, lethal rose.

He closed the distance smoothly, his eyes overflowing with raw admiration. "Maddy, you look absolutely incredible today."

"Thanks, Hunter," Madeline replied with a fleeting smile, her tone polished yet firmly distant.

They strolled side by side toward the leasing office, the golden morning light catching on their shoulders in a scene that looked straight out of a magazine. He hadn't hesitated to shower her with compliments the second he parked.

As they stepped into the building, Hunter casually dropped the bomb. "Maddy, have you and York not worked things out yet?"

Madeline momentarily stalled.

Was it seriously that obvious?

Catching her slight hesitation, Hunter immediately understood and softened his tone. "I shouldn't pry into your marriage, but York operates at a lethal level. He's ruthlessly prosecuted countless elites and made far too many terrifying enemies. I honestly expected he would have assigned heavy security to protect you by now."

"He already hired a security detail for Felicity. Did you really not know?"

Madeline fixed her gaze firmly ahead.

"Mr. Clayton is coming."

She kept her face perfectly composed, but a suffocating tightness twisted in her chest.

Last night, York had rushed out into the dead of night to save Felicity, and instantly surrounded her with bodyguards.

No wonder he wasn't afraid of the Zimmermans hunting Felicity down.

After finishing their negotiations in Mr. Clayton's office, they heard there was an active commercial shoot happening on set. Clayton enthusiastically dragged Madeline along for a tour, eager to show off his agency's rising stars.

Madeline graciously played along. The second she stepped onto the soundstage, Caleb Sterling spotted her and Hunter.

Without skipping a beat, Caleb whipped out his phone and snapped a stealthy photo, firing it straight to York.

"Wife stealing in progress!!! GET HERE NOW!!!"

Caleb helpfully dropped the exact GPS pin, highly amused by his own chaos.

Pocketing his phone, he sauntered over with a blazing, overly friendly smile. "Madeline, what an incredible coincidence."

"You're here scouting studios, right? Let me give you the grand tour, I practically own this place."

Caleb smoothly slid directly between Madeline and Hunter, perfectly acting as an obnoxious human barricade.

Madeline had absolutely zero interest in playing the savior.

The truth was, Sienna was incredibly endearing. Her previous misstep was purely out of naïve inexperience, and thankfully, it hadn't ended in a tragedy.

It certainly hadn't been the poor girl's fault.

Realizing how late it was getting, Madeline elegantly checked her watch.

"I've got to run. Hunter, I'll see..."

Just as the goodbye left her lips, a heavy, familiar arm clamped possessively around her waist.

Madeline whipped her head around, slamming straight into York's devastatingly cool gaze.

"Finished up here, Maddy?"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Madeline blurted out in utter disbelief.