Kieran's face stiffened instantly.
"Hold on, what did you just say?"
Madison met his gaze calmly. "I said we're ending this. We've hidden this relationship for five years already. That's more than enough."
A deep crease formed between Kieran's brows. "You're seriously doing this because of the livestream today?"
Madison looked at him coldly. "Isn't that enough of a reason already?"
"I explained everything to you!" Irritation quickly surfaced in Kieran's voice. "Kristina's health has always been terrible. She was born with a heart condition and can't handle stress well. I've always treated her like family, so what's wrong with looking after her? Why are you making such a huge issue out of this?"
A cold laugh slipped from Madison's lips. "I'm not the unreasonable one here." She paused briefly before adding, "Besides, I'm already married."
For a second, Kieran simply stared at her. Then he suddenly laughed.
"Maddie, I get that you're upset, but you don't need to make up ridiculous stories just to get back at me. Married? Really? Then who did you marry? If it's true, show me the proof." His tone sounded indulgent, almost as if he were humoring someone childish.
Madison remained silent.
The legal document was still with Jeremy, so she couldn't take it out even if she wanted to.
The moment Kieran noticed her silence, confidence immediately returned to his expression. Clearly, he assumed she had been bluffing.
His voice softened again. "Alright, stop being angry. I know I messed up today. Didn't you like that designer bag you saw last time? I'll buy it for you tomorrow, okay?"
Madison acted as though she hadn't heard a single word.
Without responding, she turned back toward her suitcase. After pulling the zipper shut, she lifted it from the bed and dragged it straight toward the door.
"Madison!" Kieran stepped in front of her and blocked the doorway, his expression turning gloomy. "What exactly are you trying to pull here?"
"It means this relationship is finished," Madison said as she looked directly at him with steady eyes. "Now, move aside."
Kieran remained planted in front of her without moving an inch.
For several long seconds, he simply stared at her before letting out a mocking laugh. "Alright then. Leave if you want. But don't forget who's been supporting you all these years. Do you seriously believe you can manage without me?"
Madison paused and slowly turned back toward him.
Confidence filled Kieran's face completely, as though he had already decided she would eventually regret leaving and come begging to return.
The moment Kieran claimed she had been living off him, Madison almost found it laughable.
Yes, Kieran had given her money before. But every single time, he acted as though he were generously feeding a helpless little pet trapped inside a luxurious cage that he paid for as well.
What Kieran never knew was that Madison had never once touched the money he gave her.
No matter how distant her father became after building a new family, Madison was still his daughter, and Rodger had never neglected her financially.
The only reason she kept that truth hidden from Kieran all this time was because she didn't want to wound his pride.
And yet he genuinely believed she couldn't survive without him. The thought almost amused her.
A cold smile appeared on Madison's lips before she grabbed her suitcase and walked past him without hesitation.
Kieran clearly hadn't expected her to leave for real. Humiliation quickly twisted into anger, and he shouted after her, "Madison, you're going to regret this!"
Madison never slowed her steps.
Regret?
The only thing Madison regretted was failing to realize what kind of man Kieran truly was sooner.
That same night, Madison moved into the seaside villa Jeremy had prepared for her. The area was peaceful, and every detail inside the house matched her taste perfectly.
Once she finished organizing her belongings, exhaustion completely took over.
Without wasting another moment, she headed straight to bed.
Her body and mind were both drained, so it didn't take long before she fell into a deep sleep.
Sometime during the night, the bedroom door quietly opened.
A tall figure stepped inside and stopped beside the bed. Silver moonlight slipped through the small gap between the curtains, casting a faint glow across Jeremy's handsome face and Madison's sleeping figure beneath the blanket.
Slowly, Jeremy lowered himself onto the edge of the bed while his eyes lingered on her face without restraint.
After watching her quietly for a while, he reached over and gently adjusted the blanket around her.
In truth, Jeremy had fallen for Madison the very first time he saw her.
Unfortunately, back then, her entire heart belonged to Kieran.
So Jeremy chose to step back instead.
At the time, he convinced himself that her happiness mattered more than anything else.
What he never expected was for that fool Kieran to throw her away over a woman like Kristina.
The thought almost made him laugh.
A faint smirk crossed Jeremy's lips just as he prepared to leave the room. Suddenly, the phone resting on the nightstand vibrated, and its screen lit up in the darkness.
A message notification appeared shortly afterward. "Maddie, I contacted Nicholas Gordon already. He said you never showed up tonight. So who exactly did you meet and marry?"
The warmth vanished instantly from Jeremy's eyes. Without hesitation, he picked up Madison's hand, pressed her finger against the screen to unlock the phone, and then deleted the message.
...
Early the next morning, Madison headed to Vanguard Entertainment, the company owned by her father.
As the biggest entertainment corporation in all of Agoshire, the building remained busy from the moment the workday began.
After parking the car, Madison entered the lobby and rode the elevator upstairs.
The Human Resources Department was located on the eighteenth floor.
The moment she walked in and introduced herself, a middle-aged man wearing glasses approached her while checking through a folder in his hands.
"Madison Wallace?" he asked while scanning the documents. "You've been assigned to the Project Department on the seventeenth floor."
Madison gave a brief nod before leaving the office.
The elevator doors opened shortly after she arrived downstairs. However, the second Madison stepped out onto the seventeenth floor, she unexpectedly came face-to-face with a group of people approaching from the opposite direction.
The woman leading them immediately caught her attention. That face was impossible not to recognize.
Kristina.
She wore luxury couture fresh off the newest designer release, while her assistant and manager followed closely beside her as they headed toward the elevator.
Madison stopped walking altogether. Out of all the possible places they could meet, it happened here.
At the same moment, Kristina noticed Madison as well. Her eyes stayed on Madison's face briefly before she slowly removed her sunglasses, revealing soft and strikingly beautiful features underneath.
Kristina already knew Kieran had kept another woman by his side while she was overseas.
After returning home, some of Kieran's friends even showed her photos of that woman before.
Still, she never expected the two of them to meet in person like this.
Kristina's gaze gradually lowered until it landed on the employee badge hanging around Madison's neck. The moment she realized what it was, faint contempt appeared in her eyes.
"So it really is you," Kristina said slowly.
Madison had no interest in creating a scene, so she tried to walk past Kristina without engaging further.
Before she could get around her, Kristina shifted sideways and blocked her path again.
"You really do resemble me quite a bit," Kristina remarked while studying Madison carefully from head to toe. A meaningful smile tugged at her lips. "Now I understand why."
The last bit of Madison's patience nearly snapped.
"Miss Todd," Madison replied with a cold smile, "you make it sound like resembling you is some kind of achievement. Isn't your ego getting a little excessive?"
Kristina's face darkened immediately.
Before she could fire back another remark, Madison had already brushed past her and continued toward the office area.
Kristina stood there with an unpleasant expression while watching her leave. Her manager Flora Murphy quickly moved closer and lowered her voice. "Kristina, someone like her isn't worth getting upset over. She's nothing more than a small employee from the Project Department. If you want to deal with her, there'll be plenty of opportunities later."
That reminder instantly improved Kristina's mood.
She crooked a finger slightly, signaling Flora to come closer. The manager leaned in at once.
"Send word to the Project Department," Kristina instructed calmly. "They'll understand what to do."
A malicious smile slowly spread across Kristina's face as she stared at Madison's disappearing figure. "Within one week, I want her thrown out of this company."
Who did Madison think she was to work under the same roof as her?
