Chapter 3

Sebastian's POV

"No! Madeline!"

I stumbled toward her, my eyes bloodshot and my voice filled with panic. "Don't worry! I'll get you to the hospital right now!"

But Madeline shoved me away and instead shielded Nathan behind her.

"I never wanted this baby anyway," she said coldly. "There's no point wasting time at the hospital. I'll have the family doctor take care of me."

I stared at her in disbelief, my eyes widening as her words sank in. Unable to hold back my panic any longer, I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Madeline! That's our baby!"

After a long moment, Madeline looked into my eyes and gave me a faint, almost sorrowful smile.

"Then consider our baby's life the price for sparing Nathan's."

My heart stopped.

She looked toward Nathan, who was standing behind her, then back at me.

"From now on, stay away from him. Don't come after Nathan because of your mother's death."

I never imagined that after losing the child we'd created together, the first thing Madeline would do was use our baby's death to protect Nathan. A deafening buzz filled my head. I could barely hear anything else.

I pointed at Nathan, my eyes burning with rage. "Nathan is the man who killed my mother. I'll never forgive him. Not unless I'm dead."

Madeline's expression froze.

Then, slowly, she pulled her sleeve free from my grip. When I reached for my phone to call the police, she knocked it out of my hand. "Stop!"

She turned to the bodyguards and ordered them to pin me down.

"Sebastian, Nathan was the one who took care of me throughout my pregnancy. He was there for me when you weren't. I won't let you destroy him."

Her words cut through the numbness I'd been clinging to.

Our child was dead, and instead of mourning with me, Madeline was standing between me and the man who had caused my mother's death, using the loss of our baby as a reason for me to let him go.

Years ago, when Selena had driven my mother to her death, even my father couldn't be bothered to give her a proper funeral.

Madeline had been the one who stayed by my side as I laid my mother to rest. She'd held my hand through the entire ordeal and promised me that one day, she would make Nathan and Selena kneel at my mother's grave and beg for forgiveness.

But now, ten years later, she was standing beside Nathan at the very memorial I'd arranged to restore my mother's reputation.

The woman who had once promised to avenge my mother was now protecting the man who had killed her.

The moment the ceremony began, Madeline smiled and raised her glass toward Selena.

"Mr. Donovan Sr. is getting senile in his old age. He can't even tell his wife from his mistress anymore. You, my mother-in-law, have always been the only woman who deserved that title. No one else ever did."

Her words drove the final nail into Mom's coffin, publicly branding her as a mistress even at the memorial meant to restore her name.

With Madeline openly backing him, the panic that had gripped Nathan earlier disappeared. He straightened, regained his composure, and pointed first at my mother's portrait, then at me.

"Like mother, like son. A homewrecker's son will always be a homewrecker."

The crowd erupted in laughter.

Nathan wasn't finished. He smirked and looked me up and down.

"My wife and I have been raising our child for three years, and you're still willing to throw your own life away just to get into your sister-in-law's bed."

He lifted his glass with a mocking smile. "How about you pour me a drink? Maybe if you play nice, I'll let you get a little closer to my wife."

The laughter around us grew louder, filling the room as mocking, contemptuous eyes turned toward me. Every word felt like a knife twisting deeper into the wound they'd spent years carving into my mother and me.

I stood there in silence, my face drained of color.

Madeline noticed. Her brow furrowed slightly when she saw how pale I'd become, but she said nothing.

Nathan must have noticed Madeline's reaction because, a moment later, he glanced at his phone. His expression changed, and he grabbed her.

"Madeline, the nanny just called. Benny is missing!"

He looked at me, panic flashing across his face.

"It has to be Sebastian. He hates me for taking you away from him, and he blames me for his mother's death. He must have hired someone to kidnap Benny!"

Madeline's face immediately darkened. She stormed over to me, grabbed me by the arm, and hauled me to my feet.

"Sebastian, where's my son? Benny's only three. He can't handle being scared like this. Tell me."

Pain shot through my body, and I shoved her away in frustration.

"How would I know where he is?"

The moment she saw that I refused to confess, anger flushed her face. She stared at me for several seconds, her jaw clenched, before grabbing a glass of ice-cold liquor from the table and dumping it over my head.

"You brought this on yourself," she said coldly. "If you won't tell me the truth, then sit here and cool off until you come to your senses."

The liquor soaked through my clothes, and the sudden cold made my entire body shudder.

Rage overwhelmed me. I raised my hand and slapped Madeline in the face.

"I said I don't know!"

That shocked Madeline, but before she could react, Nathan suddenly dropped to his knees in front of me, sobbing as he repeatedly slapped himself.

"Sebastian, whatever happened between us, it's my fault. Please, just give Benny back. I'll do anything you want."

Madeline immediately pulled Nathan to his feet, shielding him from me. She wrapped her arms around him reassuringly. "Nathan, this isn't your fault."

Then she looked me directly in the eye.

"Sebastian, if you're not going to tell me where Benny is, I'll make sure you regret it."

In full view of everyone, the bodyguards dragged me into the center of the banquet hall. I barely had the strength to fight them as they forced me down in front of the entire crowd.

Madeline walked over and stepped on my leg, forcing me to wheeze in pain.

Humiliation burned through me as I struggled against the men holding me down. Just as I tried to fight back with whatever strength I had left, Madeline crouched beside me and leaned close to my ear.

"Sebastian, tell me where my son is."

Her voice dropped to a vicious whisper. "Or I'll have your mother's entire grave destroyed."

My blood ran cold.

"You wouldn't want there to be nothing left of her resting place on the anniversary of her death, would you?"