Hearing those words, Madeline couldn't believe they came from the same man who had once cried the entire night when she was ill.
The two flirted shamelessly, unaware that Madeline was listening to every word. No one noticed her pale face or how her nails dug into her palms so hard that she bled. The saddest part? She had to pretend she knew nothing.
Her husband and his secretary flirted before her without a trace of shame. At that moment, Madeline felt like no one in the world could be more pitiful than her.
Since Madeline's major had nothing to do with French, they spoke these lewd and disgusting words in French without any hesitation. However, they didn't know that Madeline had been working hard to improve herself to be a good match for Elias. She had explicitly enrolled in courses and studied six foreign languages, one of which was French.
Her head was buzzing and she couldn't hold it in any longer. She clutched her chest, starting to gasp for air.
The man sitting in the executive chair finally noticed her and rushed over in a panic. "Madie! Madie! Don't scare me!" Elias picked Madeline up and ran out of the room, leaving Whitney behind in the office, glaring at them with a twisted expression.
"Hmph, no wonder she managed to become Elias' wife. She's got some tricks up her sleeve. Let's see how long she can hold on," Whitney sneered. She then added Madeline as a friend and sent her a video of Elias setting off fireworks all night to celebrate her birthday.
When Madeline woke up, she saw Elias talking on the phone with a smile on the balcony. It was apparent Whitney made him happy. Looking at Whitney's video and a clip of the two kissing passionately in a hot air balloon, Madeline felt her heartache once again after two days of finally calming down.
At that moment, she finally realized that Elias was no longer the boy who once risked everything for her.
"Elias is mine. You can't give him the thrill he wants anymore, so it's time to step aside," Whitney had messaged her, followed by screenshots of her conversations with Elias and details of what they had done together.
Madeline's heart felt like it was being sliced apart, piece by piece, leaving nothing but raw, bloody pain. Everything Whitney described—those intimate moments—were once hers and Elias' memories filled with love and warmth. Now, he was doing the same things with someone else.
Silent tears streamed down her face as she covered her mouth, refusing to let Elias hear her sobs.
After calling out a few times to ensure she was asleep, Elias quietly left the room. Madeline stood on the balcony, watching his car speed out of the garage.
She could clearly see the urgency of his departure, while the tears rolled down her cheeks. It took her a while to calm down before packing her belongings.
The next day, there was no doubt that Whitney sent photos of their night's performance from several angles to Madeline. The pictures revealed the chaos in the room—the floor and bed covered in disheveled clothing, a testament to the intensity of their affair.
Madeline's eyes turned red and suddenly she collapsed to the floor as if there was no strength left in her body. Her hands trembled as she held her phone, forgetting to breathe. Only when she started suffocating did she gasp for air.
She finally broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. At that time, crying was the only way she could vent the overwhelming pain in her heart.
