Chapter 52


    The golden dagger flew past Bruno, almost nicking his ear in the process. When he realized what had


    happened, he was so terrified he almost wet himself!


    The dagger had a folded strip of paper attached to it. Bruno waited for a moment to be sure that no


    more weapons woulde flying at him before he slowly detached the strip of paper and unfolded it.


    Written in a small, elegant script was a message.


    "Daddy dearest, why do you and Mom insist on mistreating my son? He''s your grandchild after all, and


    he''s just a little boy still. How can you treat him like that? I can''t understand it at all, so I have no choice


    but to return and sort this matter out with the two of you."


    When Bruno read this, his brow knitted tightly together. This had to be a malicious prank. However,


    when he saw that the signature was Madeline''s, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat!


    Madeline? How could this be? She had been dead for ages; how could she possiblye back from


    the grave after so many years?


    The thought of it made Bruno''s scalp prickled, and he felt an icy hand clutch at his heart.


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    "Kingsley! Kingsley!"


    "I''m here, Mr. Bruno sir, what''s the matter?" Kingsley, the Grant family''s butler, came hurrying over. He


    noticed that his master''s face was as white as a sheet as if something had frightened him badly and


    hastily moved to support him.


    "It''s Madeline! She''se back!"


    "Sir, do you mean Ms. Madeline? She died five years ago, though, didn''t she?" Kingsley was puzzled


    and assumed that Bruno had be confused in a moment of senility. Patiently, he corrected his


    master, attempting to help him upstairs so he could lie down and rest.


    At this moment, something shattered the wall of the vi. ss and tiles went flying everywhere.


    Bruno scarcely had time to take in what was happening before the grappling hook that had been hurled


    through the wall tightened. In an instant, the entire wall was ripped out of the Grant residence.


    Bruno could only stare in stunned disbelief.


    The house was being demolished!


    He and Kingsley had originally been standing in the living room, but now that one wall of the house was


    gone, they were both visible from the outside.


    Bruno involuntarily took a step forward to try and discover the perpetrator of this outrage, but his path


    was immediately blocked by a fiery arrow.


    The mes licked hungrily at the parquet flooring, which immediately zed up.


    Bruno was so terrified his legs turned to jelly. "Run for it, Kingsley! Someone''s trying to kill me!" He


    grabbed Kingsley''s wrist and fled for the back door.


    They had barely scrambled out when the entire vi copsed with a thunderous crash, and fire


    swallowed everything up.


    Bruno stared wide-eyed at the raging inferno, and his legs gave way. He copsed limply to sit on the


    ground. Despair engulfed him in a massive wave. He had lost everything! His home was gone, just like


    that, destroyed by the fire!


    Who was responsible for this outrage? Who on earth was so eager to drive him into his grave? Could it


    be that Madeline had actually returned? She was dead, though!


    Bruno''s mind was spinning. Gradually, however, despair and hopelessness overcame his terror.


    At that very moment, Madeline was alive and well, sitting atop the roof of her car with a crossbow in her


    hands.


    Gazing with satisfaction at the zing inferno, she hopped down and got into the car.


    "Mission aplished! Let''s go and celebrate." The simple act of taking revenge had made her feel


    much better, even though she had let Bruno off this time. The darkness in her heart had lightened


    considerably as well.


    "Yes, Ms. Madeline! As you wish!"


    …


    Angie was in the Enchanteur Bar, sitting quietly in a corner of the VIP cardholders'' lounge. Dressed in a


    pastel pink evening gown, she looked thoroughly out of ce in the gaudy, glitzy surroundings, like a


    pristine angel who had been soiled by the cares of the world.


    She had heard that Noah would be here today, so she had taken particr care in dressing up. She


    was now seated in a spot that he was sure to pass on his way to the private rooms, hoping that she


    might find an opportunity to way him.


    Her father was the one to me for all this. If Bruno had not behaved like a pig-headed fool and


    kidnapped Colton, she would not have needed to take such a risk and put her scheme into action much


    earlier than expected.


    A grandfather who kidnapped his own grandchild would certainly not be invited to the birthday party of


    a said grandchild!


    Bruno''s ill-judged stupidity had resulted in the entire Grant family being cklisted from Colton''s


    birthday celebrations.


    This meant she had lost any chances she might have had to get closer to Noah! She had no choice but


    to find another way around the situation. As long as she became pregnant with Noah''s child, any


    hardship and humiliation she suffered now would not signify any longer in the future!


    The information she had received stated that Noah would arrive at 8 o''clock. There were still ten


    minutes to go, but he was nowhere in sight. Quite a number of inebriated individuals approached her to


    strike up a conversation, however, making her feel extremely ufortable.


    Bars, karaoke lounges, and this sort of entertainment were things she had indulged in previously until


    she grew tired of them. She knew better than anyone why these men were trying to approach her. They


    were all unattractive and as ugly as toads, yet they still wanted to attach themselves to someone


    beautiful! How utterly disgusting!


    That was why Angie had settled herself in the corner of the lounge before Noah''s arrival, trying her best


    to keep a low profile and not draw attention to her presence.


    Unfortunately, too much dirt had been dug up on her recently. Even though she was wearing a ck


    mask and a hat to hide her face, someone still recognized her eventually. "Ooh look, isn''t that Imperia''s


    very own charitable princess over there? Who would have thought even princessese out to drink


    at bars as well? Doesn''t that make her the same as us ordinary folks here?"


    The speaker was an oleaginous, chubby man with arge head,rge ears, and an equallyrge rotund


    stomach. He practically oozed sleaze from every pore.


    Angie kept her head down and refused to look at him. Noah would be arriving soon; she did not wish to


    stir up unwanted trouble.


    The man''s loud, the delightedment had caught the attention of a significant number of people, who


    flocked over to see what was going on. When they discovered Angie sitting there, the gossip mongers


    immediately began wagging tongues.


    "Hey, our charitable princess is unusually shy today. Why would you need to wear sunsses in here


    when the lights are already so dim?"


    "What charitable princess? Don''t you mean charitable ck widow? She''s probably done one too many


    unsavory things and is afraid of retribution. That''s why she''s wearing shades, so people don''t give her


    shade!"


    "Don''t talk nonsense. What do you mean, charitable ck widow? She''s an abandoned fiancee now,


    don''t you know? Young Mr. Quincy''s already dered that there''s never been any sort of marriage


    agreement or engagement between them; it''s all just rumors!"


    "That''s right! I saw the Quincy family''s public announcement too! Well, I''ll have to say she brought this


    upon herself. She''s just too shameless for words!"


    A crowd of people surrounded Angie, a heated discussion taking ce.


    Angie felt like a b of meat on a chopping board, at the mercy of anyone who wanted to take a piece


    out of her. Her indignation knew no bounds; who were these people to judge her anyway?


    Furthermore, the chubby man from earlier had even dared to pull off her hat. Since when had she ever


    been subjected to such humiliation?


    She was furious!


    "Shut up, every single one of you! If not, I''ll sue you for libel!"


    "Ooh, that makes me mighty scared. Whatever shall I do now? Our meek little princess has suddenly


    turned into a murderous ck widow!" A man standing in front of Angie adopted a deliberately


    exaggerated, effeminate tone of voice, shrinking back dramatically as if he were scared to death.


    "You…" Angie wanted nothing more than to harangue these people, but she hade here alone, and


    they outnumbered her by far. If she stirred up any trouble, she would be at a distinct disadvantage. As


    a result, she decided it would be best for her to swallow her anger and leave the bar.


    However, these troublemakers did not appear to be willing to let her go just like that and used their


    hands to block her path.


    Angie was about to shove aside the people in front of her when she suddenly became aware that one


    of them was missing a hand. In astonishment, she swung around sharply to get a better look at the


    individual in question. Only then did she realize who the chubby troublemaker was.


    It was none other than Asher!


    Truly, it was a small world after all!