The woman quickly took her hand out of Sydney running towards her husband and interlocking their hands. "Luther. You're home early.", she spoke excitedly. He was indeed home early. It was only three in the afternoon and the earliest he'd come home was at ten in the evening. "I heard what happened.", he spoke, his gaze moving from his wife to the woman with a pixie cut.
"Mr. Blackford." The man gave a short hum. "Ms. Williams." With this, Sydney knew she had to leave. Her chances of spending the day with Madeline had gone down the drain. After mouthing a 'sorry' to the pouting Madeline, she left.
The old housekeeper, after seeing his employer's gaze on his wife, made himself scarce. Luther, they didn't speak. Madeline didn't either. The man led Madeline to their room and shut the door. The woman stood at his side, watching as he took off his tie. "Luther." She fiddled with her fingers before moving to hold on to his arm.
"Luther." The man paused his actions, staring down at the guilty looking woman who held on to him like her life depended on it.
Madeleine. She had an obedient look in her eyes. "You got hurt today." She stared down at her bandaged hands pursing her lips. "You said the mirror fell." She blinked before nodding continuously. The man slid her hand off his arm and turned to face her. He lifted her chin, moving her head to a particular direction.
"I rarely turn on the cameras in this room but today, I did." He gently turned her head to face him. "I saw what you did." The woman stiffened; all color drained from her face before she burst into tears. "I'm sorry. I-." She hiccupped. Luther rubbed his thumb against her lips. They were soft. He then lowered his head to cover her lips with his.
"Don't cry." He raised his head after a few seconds, wiping her tears. "It's all right to be impulsive sometimes. But not when it can hurt you." She sniffled. "It won't-won't happen again." The tears had stopped at Luther's command. Her cheeks were clear of their tears after he had wiped them clean. "It better not."
He leaned into kiss her. Slowly and gently. He was in command, full of control as he dominated the action. He engulfed her, not giving her a chance to breathe. It was almost like he wanted to devour her. But he wouldn't. He couldn't. It was too early for that. Luther was a gentleman, not a savage.
Madeline made a whimpering sound which caused him to break off their kiss. She was panting. He was too. He brought his forehead against hers trying to calm himself down. "I am hungry." The man let out a low chuckle at her words. "I thought you said you weren't." Crimson stained her cheeks.
She shifted out of his arms and ran downstairs. He stared in the direction she left and then in the direction of the previous mirror's location, his eyes darkening
…
The Reyeses, Madeline's maiden family, were throwing a celebratory party for the birth of Madeline's nephew, which was held in Dahlia Hotel, owing to the reason why Luther came back home early. "Don't leave my side." Madeline nodded obediently. She twirled, her knee length blue dress going along with her movements.
"Do I look pretty?", she asked she asked, her blue eyes twinkling like stars. Luther stared, enraptured, before gently grabbing her hand and giving a kiss to which caused her to giggle. "You look lovely"
"Madeline." Miranda, Madeline's elder sister approached her, pulling her into a hug. "I've missed you. Madeline spoke eagerly causing her brunette sister to give a chuckle. "Of course, you will since you never visit anymore." She gave a knowing look to her sister, her eyes then moved to Luther who stood next to her husband, his eyes on Madeline as he conversed.
"Is everything okay between the two of you?" Madeline blinked, not understanding her sister's underlying message, but she nodded.
"Can I see the baby?" Madeline had changed the topic and there was no going back as far as Miranda knew. "He's in the room with Lacey and Dana."
Before Madeline could speak, a loud male voice was heard from behind. "Madeline." The woman squealed and ran into an older man's arms, a look of excitement all over her face. "Daddy." The woman jumped up and down once she left her father's arms. With a look from Luther, however, she stopped.
The man patted his daughter, giving her a tender smile. "I'm so glad you could make it." There was a lazy grin on Madeline's face. "I wanted to see the baby."
Her father guffawed. "If you want to see babies, you can have some on your own." Madeline giggled, a blush staining her cheeks.
Madeline was considered dumb, but she wasn't oblivious to such matters. Her elder sister and aunt taught her everything she was supposed to know. Even her mother-in-law would not leave her lacking such knowledge.
Madeline was meant to carry the baby when he came out with his eight-year-old sister and paternal aunt. Congratulations went round as she handed her nephew to his mother.
"Linny." Her elder brother, Markus, gave her a [at on the head which caused her to shut her eyes with a smile. "How have you been? "She smiled, muttering an 'okay.' It had only been a day since she saw her brother. He frequented her and Luther's villa a lot.
A wave of dizziness overtook her, causing her to stumble. "Is something wrong?" Markus was quick to hold on to her. "I'm fine." She gave a quick smile. "I want to go to the restroom." The man nodded.
Madeline splashed water on her face. She had promised the make-up artist that she was going to keep her make-up intact but unfortunately, she couldn't keep that promise. She exhaled and stared into the mirror, unblinking.
"Well, if it isn't Madeline Reyes." An irking female voice came from behind. There was no response. The woman's face was blank. There was no response as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Natasha Freeman, annoyed at her lack of response, moved to stand next to her. "You are indeed retarded.", she scoffed. "I wonder how you got with Luther. Probably the same way your mother got together with your father." She was too absorbed in her rant to see Madeline's finger twitch.
"Either way, Luther is going to divorce you. Jordan's back and with their history, they're not going to keep their hands off each other." There was nothing but silence once she paused. "Unfortunately, your s**t of a mom is not here to teach you how to keep a man. You would have been-." Her hair was grabbed and she let out a screeching sound, almost like that of a dying chicken.
Natasha was filled with fear. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman standing before her was not the same woman she knew. The Madeline she knew, the whole world knew, was nothing but a retarded woman who had no thoughts of her own. But this woman was different. Very different. Too different.
The innocence in her eyes was gone. She stared down at her with a dark, malevolent gaze, her eyes lacking any sort of forgiveness. Natasha felt she was going to die. Right there. At that moment.
No words were spoken. Natasha was tongue-tied, Madeline was indifferent. Natasha was led into one of the cubicles, her head was then shoved into the toilet. Water flooded her senses. Flush after flush, she felt her consciousness leaving her.
The woman above her wasn't letting her out. She couldn't struggle. She was breathless. Dying. She needed h-.
Natasha then felt the pressure on her head leaving her as she was pulled out. She stared with half-lidded eyes as the woman who looked like Madeline but was not Madeline stared at her.
Her lips moved. The voice that came out was not lively and cheerful as she knew it to be. It was cold and unfeeling, menacing even.
"When you speak, watch your tongue. I may not spare you the next time."