Chapter 4

Timothy must have realized that Madeline was starting to behave coldly toward him. The next day, probably in an attempt to win her back, he sent her a screenshot of a restaurant reservation he'd made for them both that night.

Madeline knew that he was only doing this to make things less awkward between them.

Every time they had a disagreement and gave each other the cold shoulder afterward, Madeline was always the one who made the first move to apologize and break the ice between them.

In the meantime, Timothy's role was to give her a hug or a gift after they'd made up. After all, he only had to console her just a little bit, and Madeline would be all over the moon and forget everything that made her mad in the first place. She would then act warm and enthusiastic toward him all over again.

This had always been the case in the last few years. As long as he gave her a carrot every time after giving her a stick, Madeline would forgive him no matter what he did.

Timothy had always been in control of their relationship, whether it was a warm one or a cold one. Madeline was just his puppet on a string that he could play with, and she could never escape his control.

But now, even after seeing the reservation receipt, Madeline didn't express her usual warm and overjoyed response.

She simply replied with a text, "Okay. See you tonight."

After locking her phone, Madeline continued with the rest of her work. She didn't dwell on his actions nor swoon over how sweet he was being like she used to in the past anymore.

Right after work, Madeline headed for the restaurant. The time they'd reserved for their seats was at 7:00 pm, but she was already there half an hour earlier.

Still, she waited until 9:00 pm, and Timothy was yet to arrive. She figured that he'd already forgotten about dinner.

So, Madeline ate her steak slowly, sipped on her red wine gracefully, and gradually made her way out of the restaurant at 10:30 pm.

She'd been stood up so many times before that her calmness was unnerving at this point.

Since the restaurant was quite close to Timothy's office, Madeline decided to walk over and visit him there. A stroll would be good for digestion anyway.

When she arrived at the company, Timothy's office lights were still switched on, so she went to the door and prepared to enter.

Right before she turned the knob, however, she heard him talking to someone else inside.

"I thought you were still mad at Lacey for leaving you without a word in the past, Timothy. I didn't think that you'd both get back together so quickly as soon as she returned. Tell me the truth—have you never forgotten about her?"

Timothy took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke. There was a look of sadness in his eyes. "You can't just forget someone you've loved for years."

"Then what about Madeline? You're stringing her along while getting back together with Lacey. You can't continue keeping her in the dark.

"You'd better watch out and stop playing with fire. If it ends up consuming you, nobody's going to be able to help you win her back."

"Madeline…" Timothy muttered under his breath and sighed. Then, he chuckled aloud and said, "Madeline? She'd never get mad at me. She's the one who threw herself at me, after all. Trust me, she'd never leave me even if I told her to.

"But also, I've been doing a good job at hiding this from her," Timothy said coldly and confidently. He had probably already rehearsed how he'd easily handle and control Madeline if need be.

Madeline's heart stopped. She felt her blood freeze over.

She peered through the crack in Timothy's door and stared at him, not knowing whether she should feel sorry for him or herself.

Timothy continued chatting with the other person in his office, but she wasn't interested in their conversation anymore. So, she left as silently as she came.

…

Days passed, and from the looks of it, Timothy never recalled his dinner date with Madeline. It was fine; Madeline never told him that she'd been to his office either.

One day, an auction was held in Gremlich, and Madeline took the day off work to attend it.

She only had one objective, and it was to buy a birthday gift for Timothy's father, Joseph Bloomberg.

The auction was held in a basement. As soon as the antique emerald vase was brought onstage, its exquisite design and intricate carving immediately brought a round of sighs from the audience.

The bidders kept raising the bid prices, and Madeline raised her bidding paddle three times before she successfully won the bid for the vase.

Since she had already accomplished what she'd come here for, Madeline rose to her feet to head over to the back to fill in her details for the item to be sent to her. Just as she'd reached the exit, however, the next item up for auction was revealed.

As the red satin cloth fell, Madeline was frozen to her spot.

The item was a priceless antique ring.

It was a ring that Timothy designed, first revealed to the world when he broke into the fashion design industry. When he and Madeline had just gotten together, he had proudly shown it to her and said, "Next time, I'm going to propose to you with this ring."

He had held Madeline in his arms back then while saying it. She'd felt a little conflicted and asked, "But what if something better comes along the way?"

Timothy chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss on her forehead. Then, he said seriously, "This is the first design of mine to win an award. It's priceless to me, and you're the only one who deserves it."

So, what was the ring doing here at the auction?

Why would Timothy donate such a precious thing to the auction? There had to be a mistake somewhere!