Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Madison

The time flew by, and over a month had passed since Madison had started her studies. After Dylan told her that she had to pass the acceleration test, she tried her best to absorb all the knowledge she had been taught. So far, she was pretty satisfied with the outcome of it all.

Fortunately, Madison picked things up very quickly. Moreover, she was surrounded by people who were always willing to teach her, assist her with her lessons, and help her adjust to university life.

Meanwhile, Rael and Zia were occupied at the moment, so only Dexter was with her as she left the lecture hall. While walking, Dexter turned to her and asked, "Madison, I'll go with you to the gate and wait with you just in case the person who'll come to fetch you hasn't arrived yet."

Madison answered, smiling at him, "All right."

Dexter offered, "I'll help you with that." Before she could respond, he took the four books Madison was holding. Madison didn't even know why she borrowed these books from the library. They were not related to her subjects. She was just tempted to read it since it was a romance novel. She was sure she could learn a lot of things by reading it. However, if she read this book, she might need a translator.

Suddenly, a stunning woman wearing sunglasses came toward them when Dexter and Madison were about to leave through the gate. Perhaps because of the sunglasses, Madison didn't recognize her immediately.

"Can we talk?" the woman haughtily asked Madison as she removed her sunglasses. Madison was surprised when she realized who the woman was.

"Miss Scarlett?" Madison hesitantly asked to make sure she didn't recognize the wrong person.

"It's me. Slut, how did you have the guts to seduce my boyfriend?" Scarlett asked directly while sneering at her. Madison instantly became confused and insulted.

"What? Miss Scarlett, who are you referring to? As far as I know, I'm not flirting with..." Madison quickly denied it.

Then, Madison looked at Dexter, who grabbed her arm and asked her, "Do you know her?" She nodded and turned to Scarlett again with a solemn look.

Scarlett cocked an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "Is that so? So, you're not flirting with Dylan, huh?" She then looked at Madison from head to toe before saying, "I heard you're getting better," but Madison could only stand there and let Scarlett insult her. She had no intention of fighting Scarlett back.

"I'm not flirting with Mr. Carter, Miss Scarlett. Maybe you should talk to him and not me. I don't know anything about your accusations," Madison said in a severe tone, extremely irritated at being accused of something with no evidence to support it. "Let's go, Dexter. Someone is quite delusional here, and she's losing her sanity so that she may bite anyone at any moment. Did you know that getting an anti-rabies shot costs a lot?" Madison then remarked aloud, expressing the irritation she was feeling, and dragged Dexter towards the gate.

Scarlett, however, refused to let them go and stood in their path. Annoyed, Madison ignored her and was about to pass her when Scarlett suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me! You bitch!" Scarlett roared and tightened her grip on Madison's arm. Madison was sure it would leave a bruise and marks of how tightly Scarlett was holding on. Although it was painful, Madison didn't show it on her face. She didn't want Scarlett to feel satisfied over this fact.

Madison scowled as she glanced at Scarlett and the hand tightly clutching her arm, saying, "I'm sorry, but what do you need from me? If you're looking for Mr. Carter, I don't know where he is."

Scarlett arrogantly looked at her and spitefully said, "You're bold, Madison. What are you proud of? You're just an insignificant maid. You should know your place." Madison arched an eyebrow.

"What's your problem with me being a maid? I'm not ashamed of my job; I'm more proud of it. Why? Are you jealous? Do you want me to ..." Madison paused and thoughtfully looked at it Scarlett before speaking again, "... recommend you to Madam so that you will not be jealous of being a maid. Well, I received a lot of benefits for being one." She said proudly and tried to shrug off the hand holding her arm. However, it didn't lose a bit. Instead, it tightened even more. Madison gritted her teeth as she suppressed herself to let out a cry. Scarlett was furious at her.

"Hey, you're hurting her. Get your hands off her," Dexter growled angrily and forcefully removed Scarlett's hand from my arm. Scarlett initially showed no signs of releasing it. Fortunately, Dexter could remove Scarlett's clutches since he was physically stronger than her. Madison let out a sigh as she felt her arm freed. Still, Madison could feel the throbbing pain in her arm. When she closely examined it, she saw that it had Scarlett's fingernail marks left on it.

"Thank you," Madison gratefully said to Dexter.

"Are you okay?" Dexter worriedly asked and pulled her away from Scarlett. He caressed her arm lightly while staring at it, making Madison wince. When Madison was about to answer, Scarlett, this witch, beat her to it. That was right. She was so annoyed at Scarlett that from now on, she would call her "witch" rather than Miss Scarlett.

"Wow! You got a knight in shining armor here, huh! I got to say; your ability to seduce men is rather great, Madison," After saying this, Scarlett clapped her hands and mockingly added, "If there were a competition on who's the greatest in seducing men, I think you would be the champion." She looked at Madison in an insulting way.

To anger Scarlett even more, Madison raised an eyebrow at her and yelled in Italian, "I won't waste my time on people who don't deserve any of my attention. Let's go, Dexter." Madison saw the shock on her face. Perhaps Scarlett didn't expect that she would be able to speak Italian. Even Madison didn't know that she could do it, nor even knew if what she said was right. It just came out of her mouth naturally, as if she were a native speaker. If not for Madison's current situation, she would already burst out laughing because of the talent she accidentally discovered. Nonetheless, she decided to leave it later because Dexter and Scarlett might think she was crazy.

When Madison saw Scarlett was distracted, she immediately pulled Dexter away, attempting to leave. However, Scarlett blocked them again. This time, she looked so furious as she pointed at Madison.

Scarlett screamed, "I'll remember this!" Madison consciously looked around and noticed that many people were paying attention in their direction because of this witch. Wasn't Scarlett feeling ashamed about being watched by so many people? Madison clicked her tongue.

Madison sighed exasperatedly and said impatiently, "You talk a lot. Just tell me what you want. We need to leave, and we feel hindered from going. If you want, why don't you come back tomorrow? I don't have the time to listen to people like you who have lost their reasons. And next time, make an appointment before meeting me so I can accommodate you properly."

Seeing that Madison didn't take her seriously, Scarlett shouted hysterically, "You bitch, stay away from Dylan! He's mine! I'm warning you, Madison! If you don't want me to ruin your life, you'll do as I say!"

Being insulted and pointed fingers at, Madison lost her patience and said, "Damn you!" while pointing her finger at Scarlett. "If you want Mr.Carter, he's yours! No one's out to get him! How irritating! If you still have anything against me, then feel free to complain in court!" Finished speaking, Madison then rolled her eyes at her. Scarlett said something that made Madison dazed for a while when they were about to pass by her.

"I'm pregnant, and he's the father. We're getting married soon so stay away from him. You're ruining the family we're about to build! You slut! If I learn that you're still approaching him, I'll make sure you regret ever doing that. Remember that, Madison," Scarlett threatened one last time before going to the car nearby and leaving without looking back.

Madison was left speechless as she looked at the car's retreating figure. She didn't know what to think. All she knew was the throbbing pain she felt in her heart when she heard from Scarlett that she was pregnant and Dylan was the father. Then, after learning they were getting married, it was as if a bomb had been dropped in front of her. Madison paled, and her breathing became erratic.

"Are you okay?" Dexter asked worriedly. She flinched when he raised his hands to brush the tears on her cheeks. "Why are you crying?"

Stunned, Madison raised her hand to touch her cheek. She looked blankly at her tears. She didn't even realize she was crying.

She quickly reasoned, "Suddenly, I miss home ... Right, I just wanted to see my family. It's nothing, don't mind me." Then, Madison wiped the tears from her eyes. She knew he was not convinced by what she said but, right now, she didn't have the strength to explain it. Thankfully, Dexter never asked again.

"I'll drive you back. Didn't you have tutor class later?" He asked and escorted her to the parking area.

"I don't want to go home yet, Dexter. Could you accompany me?" she whispered pleadingly. Dexter only nodded and smiled at her.

He opened the car door for her and waited for Madison to get in before walking around and getting in the driver's seat. Then, Dexter turned to her and put the seatbelt on her before starting his car and driving away.

"So, where do you want to go?" Dexter asked while his eyes were still on the road.

"Anywhere. As long as there's a body of water," Madison answered and fell silent for the entire duration of the ride. She looked out of the window at the buildings they passed by.

While staring blanking, several questions came rushing into her mind, 'Why do I feel like this? Why does it feel that there is a dagger lounged against my heart to the point I can't seem to breathe? Why is it so painful after knowing those things?'

An hour later, Madison felt the car come to a halt. Hence, she immediately looked at Dexter before her eyes wandered around.

Dexter looked at her and gently asked, "What about this place?"

Madison said, "It's okay. I want to breathe some fresh air." With that, she slowly opened the door and went out. The air here was not as refreshing as in Northville, but it was okay.

She walked over to the enormous rock and sat down. The sea waves were so calming, so she closed her eyes and felt how the air caressed her skin. Still, the uncomfortable feeling didn't disappear. She didn't seem to understand why it brought so much pain after knowing that Dylan and that witch would have a child and were about to get married.

Dexter quietly sat down next to her and watched as Madison took off her sandals, dipped her foot in the water, and lay down on the rocks. The last thing she could remember before falling into a deep sleep was the lullaby of the breeze that seemed to linger on her skin. Perhaps it was because Madison had been staying up late and feeling tired for the past few days, adding to it the information she had learned just now. She surrendered to the feeling of tiredness and was swallowed by the darkness.