Chapter 117 Madelyn was discharged from the hospital two days later. A driver from the Jent residence picked her up and drove her home. As she stepped through the front door, Rosario was conspicuously absent. In her place was a new face- a woman in her fifties introduced as the new maid.
“Hello, Ms. Jent,” the new maid greeted. Madelyn gave a nonchalant “Hm” in response, her mind elsewhere.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtSuddenly, the soft murmur of voices drifted from upstairs.
“You're so naughty.” “That's because I'm taking you out shopping, to make it up to you.” Jasmine, clinging onto Hayson’s arm and flaunting a limited-edition handbag, descended the stairs. Seeing Madelyn, Jasmine quickly withdrew her arm.
“Madelyn... you're out of the hospital? | was just about to go shopping with your dad. Do you want anything?” “No, thanks,” Madelyn responded curtly before calling out, “Father.” Hayson, however, was icy, only grunting a response to his daughter's call. As he prepared to leave, he paused to address Madelyn, his gaze cold and piercing.
“You had a fight with Zach?” Stunned, Madelyn stuttered out, “N-No.” “Good. Now that you're back, get back to your studies and stop embarrassing me. Make up for all those hobby classes you've missed these past few months. If you can’t even learn these things, the world will mock the Jents for raising a good-for-nothing.” Madelyn lowered her gaze, her voice barely a whisper. “I understand, Father.” The new maid, Margaret Stonefield, chose that moment to announce, “Ms. Jent, it's time for dinner.” Madelyn turned on her heel and ignored her, silently walking upstairs and leaving a disgruntled Margaret behind.
Once inside her room, Madelyn noticed her familiar diamond-studded limited-edition wallet on the table. She gasped, quickly opening it, only to find it devoid of cash. Everything else was there ID card, student ID, ATM cards-all except for one photo. It was gone. The ID card was pristine, and even the ATM cards sported new numbers. Realization dawned; these were replacements.
“What good are these to me?” She brushed everything off the table in frustration. ‘l don’t know what | can do back in this house.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmZach has taken away the only person important to me.
Now, what do | have left apart from this hollow house? What...what is truly mine?” The room remained lit throughout the night.
Curling up in a corner of her room, Madelyn fell into a fitful sleep. She didn’t wake for dinner, didn’t even feel the pangs of hunger. ‘If Rosario was here, she would coax me to eat. She would be heartbroken seeing me like this. But Rosario’s gone....I've lost the only person who cared about me.’ Morning found Madelyn awakening to the gentle rustle of wind outside. As the bright sunlight filtered in, she leveraged the bedside table to stand up. Her legs felt numb, threatening to give way under her. With wobbly steps, she made her way to the bathroom. The mirror reflected a gaunt figure, dark circles under her eyes, like someone weathered by life. As she lifted her shirt, she noticed her stomach wound had healed, fresh skin in place of the scab. She applied light makeup to mask her pallid face, packed her bag, and started descending the stairs.
When she was ready, it was half-past seven. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she found a figure sprawled on the sofa. A young girl in a Ventrocloud High School uniform with loose, long hair-she looked strikingly like Jadie.
At this time, Margaret brought a steaming cup of coffee to the girl.
“Thank you,” the girl murmured, taking the cup.