Chapter 4

MADELYN’S POV

Although I felt weird and sore, I sprang up to my feet immediately and grasped the stupid darn lawyer by the collar of his worn-out black shirt.

He stared at me in shock, and his eyes narrowed at my face. “What are you doing, Miss?” he mumbled incoherently. I doubt he was even a lawyer. Considering how shabby he looked.

“You motherfucking asshole,” I growled. “You had better read what my father wrote in there because there is no way my father would leave nothing for me,” I snarled.

His pupils darted away from my face. “I am sorry, Miss. But that’s what the testament of will read. It’s all in here.” He raised the papers to my face.

I yanked the folder from his hands and went through it. Indeed, my name wasn’t mentioned in the will. My blood boiled with seething rage. I tossed the folder to the floor, then released my grip on him and turned to my stepmother, who was seated with a glare.

“Gold-digging bitch!” I cursed under my breath.

No one could tell me shit. She altered this will. That explained why she rushed to perform the funeral rites, and that explained why the old lawyer I was familiar with didn’t show up. Turned out she had been strategizing this crap for a long time.

Perhaps, there were other things she had done that were yet to be of my knowledge.

My nose flared. My lips twitched in anger. I clenched and unclenched my fist.

My stepmother got up from the chair with an almost invisible devilish smirk plastered on her face. I knew she was making a mockery of my dilemma.

She walked over to me, swaying her hips side to side like a truck without balanced wheels.

By the time she got to where I stood, she stopped just a few inches away from me and leaned toward my face, then whispered. “You have to accept it, Madelyn.” Her tone revealed pure mockery and contempt. “And you had better start acting right. As you can see, everything belongs to me now, and if you don’t, I won’t hesitate to kick you out.”

What? From my father’s house?

I felt my pulse quicken. Concealing the grief and agony growing inside of me, I managed a small dry laugh, then I whispered back, “You are just a borrowed figure. None of this belongs to you. And I must add that you have to also watch how you speak to me. Plus, if I happen to find out something went wrong with my father and you were involved, trust me, you will regret it.” I tilted my head to the side and rendered a grimace before walking out of the house in anger.

Once outside, I shrieked in disgust. Gosh, how I wish I could peel off that woman’s stupid face. If only I could find out what happened to my father at the last minute. My head throbbed with pain, unable to imagine the pain and agony he went through. What if he had called out to me?

Banging my hand against my head, I scolded myself. “You are such a fool, Madelyn. All you did was party and enjoy your life while your father was here going through heaven knows what.”

Blaming myself, fresh tears rolled down my cheeks. I cringed at the thought of my father’s last moment once more. However, to get away from this mess and clear my head, I pressed the button on my car. It beeped once, and I opened the door before sliding in.

Pouncing my fist on the steering wheel, I let out a loud yell. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

Frustrated and tired, I was supposed to be sleeping. Instead, I ignited the car engine.

Just then, Clarissa ran out of the house. She shook her head, begging me not to drive in my condition. “Please, Miss Madelyn. You are unwell. You can’t drive. At least, permit the driver to take you....” Her voice trailed off when I winded the glass up.

Smiling warily at her, I turned the steering wheel, and the tire screeched out of the driveway. Deep down, I felt it was better if I died at this point.

In the blink of an eye, life became unbearable for me.

I drove speedily out of our yard into the main busy highway. Soon, I was racing among cars. My mind was clouded with different thoughts.

What if my father didn’t die a natural death? I asked myself. “Fuck!” I banged my fist against the steering wheel, and the impact gave rise to a loud honk.

Passersby stared at me as though I was some weird psycho. But I didn’t give a damn.

“Aargh!”

I pressed down the gear. I didn’t even know where I was driving to. All I needed was just to clear my head and have a breath of fresh air.

Bang!

Almost at once, I lost balance. My head swayed to the side and collided with my side glass. I groaned and winced in pain. Pressing my lips together into a grim line, I raised my head to discover someone just bashed my car.

Could my day get any worse?

Fuming, I shoved the seatbelt strapped across my torso and alighted the car. If this person doesn’t know how to fucking drive, they might as well get off the damn road before they become the cause of murder.

Preparing to give whoever was about to come out of the other car a verbal lashing, I licked my lower lip and made to speak.

But when my eyes set on the person as he alighted his car, my mouth fell to the floor, and I halted in my steps.

Who the hell was I seeing?

It seemed like deja vu. Memories of eight years ago surged to the forefront of my brain. My past came right to my present. Behold, the person I once loved, the person I gave everything to, stood right in front of me.

Richard Wilson.

My fucking first boyfriend.

He seemed to be in shock, too, as he stood by his car, staring down at me. It felt as though the whole world had ceased to exist. I was breathing anxiously.

To be honest, I really didn’t know what was going through my mind. But it wasn’t love. Richard broke my heart into tiny bits, and seeing him once again opened the healed wounds. Or, at least, I thought they had healed.