Chapter 9

Timothy sensed something was off and bolted out. "Maddie, what's wrong?"

The concern in his eyes didn't seem faked. It was almost as if he would die on the spot if something were to go wrong with Madeline. He was seemingly desperately in love with her, yet he was also the one who'd kept so many things from her.

Madeline tried to rein in her emotions. "Nothing's wrong. I just couldn't catch my breath for a second."

She looked up at him. "Weren't you away on a business trip? What are you doing here?"

Timothy looked rather diffident as he smiled and said, "I wanted to surprise you. I didn't expect you to run right into me."

He helped rub her chest. Then, he took her home so she could rest until he was sure she was fine.

On the way home, he kept talking about interesting things he'd noticed, not mentioning Lacey even once. However, nothing he said cheered Madeleine up.

He asked carefully, "Maddie, are you angry?"

"No," she said, finally breaking her silence. "I'm just thinking about an article I read today."

Timothy looked relieved. He smiled and asked, "What was it about?"

Madeline turned to look into his eyes. "The man and the woman in the article were initially very much in love, but the man later fell for someone else…"

She scrutinized him, wanting to catch even the most minute changes in his expression. However, he hastily cut her off before she could continue. "You're the woman I love most, Maddie. I swear I won't betray you."

He sounded confident and assuring, but the words only made her feel like she'd been stabbed in the heart. He claimed he loved her, yet he'd still cheated…

Timothy put his things down when they got home. Then, he looked around and frowned. "Why do I feel like many things are gone?"

Madeline said, "We weren't using them, and they were only taking up space. I cleared them out."

He nodded, taking her word for good. He didn't notice the mockery in her eyes deepen.

Timothy was perceptive, and he usually noticed even the slightest change at home. Yet now, his senses seemed to have dulled when it came to her.

In truth, if he took a closer look, he would realize that the things that had been cleared out were all Madeline's. It all boiled down to the fact that he didn't care.

But after that day, Timothy seemed to become a different person. He turned down dinner plans with his friends and came home on time every day after work. When he returned, he would bring Madeline her favorite chestnut cake.

Meanwhile, to avoid alerting him and letting him learn that she was planning to leave, she started learning how to care for him.

She would tie his tie for him before he left for work every morning. He was tall, so she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach him. Whenever this happened, he would chuckle and lean down slightly to kiss her.

They acted like a genuinely loving couple, not knowing that each harbored their own intentions.

The illusion didn't last long. On Joseph's birthday, Madeline went to the parking lot to wait for Timothy after getting off work. They'd agreed to head over together.

However, he never showed, nor did he reply to her messages. It was only when she was almost going to be late that she headed upstairs to his office to look for him.

It was empty—no one was in sight. Madeline's expression darkened slightly as she asked an employee who was still working. "Where's Timothy?"

The employee was taken aback. "Mr. Bloomberg left ages ago. He was with his girlfriend, Lacey Houston."

Madeline swayed on her feet. Did everyone at the company already know that Timothy and Lacey were an item?