Chapter 20: Who Is Leaving? (2)

Madeline's heart was already hanging at her throat as she stood beside Cassian. Different scenes on how bad this meeting could get flooded her mind and she hesitated, shuddering slightly in fear and giving her plans with Cassian a second thought.

But every uncomfortable feeling vanished in a split second when she felt Cas's warm hand holding hers, his fingers intertwining with hers as if to reassure her she had nothing to worry about.

She looked at him with surprise, but his eyes were fixed on Amadeus who halted at the entrance of the main door. She saw the guilt in his Amber-brown eyes, like he was silently blaming himself for getting Amadeus into this mess, but the guilty look disappeared when they started going down the stairs together.

All eyes were now fixed on the two couples, and Madeline drew in a deep breath as she remembered their plan. All she had to do was pretend to be in love with him. That's it.

The three brother's who finally got a chance to see what Cassian's wife looked like, had expected a ragged ugly looking lady to show up in front of them. They barely visited the other quarters of Carmarthen, so they don't have much idea on what the people there are like, and only pictured them due to how they were addressed.

She was wearing an off-shoulder yellow appliques gown that altered the color of her milky white skin. Her midnight black hair was neatly packed and styled on her head, exposing her beguiling shoulders to the eyes of everyone present. She looked slender and attractively graceful.

If they wanted to be honest with themselves, she doesn't look like someone from those downgraded quarters at all.

"Brother hasn't lost his sight for good things after losing his sanity." Inna commented, looking impressed by her brother's choice for a wife, but she wasn't sure the same would go for everyone else.

"Uhm, good_"

"Hold on." Cassian silenced Madeline who was about to greet his family, and she looked at him.

"What happened?"

"These people seated before you are not my family, they're creatures from a midnight coven and I don't associate with them. You need to be familiar with those who I consider family. Come." Taking the blank Madeline away from the living room, he ushered her to the dining room where his sister and lovely mother stood.

"Maddie, meet my first love, the beautiful woman who brought me to this world, my mother." He introduced properly while the young lady respectfully courtesies in front of his mother.

"It is an honor to meet you, Lady Elaine."

Elaine gazed at the young lady for some seconds. As uncomfortable as she was with the situation, she couldn't ignore the girl's genuine greeting and only responded with a nod of her head.

"And that one over there is my little sister, Inna."

This time around, it was Inna who gave a respectable courtesy with a smile, "lovely meeting you Miss Albert. Thank you for taking this big step to tolerate my brother's nuisance."

"Madeline or Maddie will be better." The two ladies exchanged heartwarming smiles. Cassian led Madeline towards Amadeus, still ignoring the people who were seated in the living room.

"You've met Amade already."

She nodded with a smile before casting an apologetic look his way, "I don't know if it's possible, but I hope you can forgive me for causing you the_"

"Ah! What are you doing? I hold no resentment towards you." Amadeus quickly cleared her doubt. "It is fine Milady, there's really nothing to be sorry for, you did nothing wrong, but I must take my leave."

"I already told you what will happen if you leave through that door." He stopped Amade, "you can't come into my life and leave when you see fit. My father has the right to fire you, he's the one paying your salary. But since he's decided to fire you, I don't mind hiring you for myself, I'll pay the bills and you won't have anything to worry about."

Fredrick and the rest of the housekeepers who listened from the kitchen, continued to pass silent whispers among one another. Fredrick wasn't part of the gossip as he was more worried on how the tables will turn.

The tension in the air was already rising negatively.

"Cassian! What gave you the right to defy your father in the midst of everyone?" Juliana was about rising to her feet when Cassian shot her a glare that paused her movement.

"Sit down." He uttered. "You aren't allowed to speak, until you're required to do so."

"Hey! You don't get to speak to my mother in that tone! Know your place!" Abbot fired back, unwilling to sit down quietly and let his mother be spoken to in such a manner, but Cassian only smiled his way.

"I won't say a word, as long as you tell your mother to mind her own goddamn business."

"Have you lost your senses?" He rose to his feet when he could no longer take it, looking ready to challenge Cassian who was only enjoying himself.

"In Fact I have." Cassian admitted calmly, "I was generous enough to give my senses to a few people and left none for myself. But I am ashamed, cause no one's willing to use it properly."

"Sit down Abbot, he's trying to get into your head." Jeremy advises his brother, but Abbot doesn't seem to take the hint.

"Listen here!" He pointed a finger at Cassian. "Because of your marriage with this low life! Father is being questioned, it's fine you have no respect for us, but do your father some favor, don't you care about his reputation?"

"The only reputation I care about is mine." His lips curled, "but I can't help but be nice too, which is why I'll be leaving the house today, to keep father's reputation intact."

"W_what??" His father's eyes widened, even Cassian's mother was struck by his sudden decision, as well as Amadeus.

"Maddie is my wife now," he said to his father. "I'm not sure if you're familiar with her father, but what I do know is that she's the woman who owns my heart. Nothing you say can make me desert her, I mean you've physically tortured me from childhood, but hey, I only got worse each year father. So if you're thinking of using the same trick, it will only increase my undying love for her."

He looked right into his father's eyes that were currently burning with fury.

"We'll just take our bags and leave, tomorrow's headline report maybe, 'The great Duke Richard has finally kicked his son out of the mansion', but that isn't as bad as today's news, is it?" He sneered

He was deliberately putting his father in a very tough position, and it got on Juliana's nerves that he was getting the upper hand here.

Juliana got to her feet when she couldn't stand Cassian's ruckus, eyeing the woman next to him from head to toe. "This woman, you're at the center of everything! What gave you the nerve to marry someone as the Duke's son? You could have gone for an earl, or someone else, but I see you poor things are starting to have a lot of guts_"

"That isn't my intention." To everyone's surprise, the young lady responded firmly, even daring to interrupt the duchess.

"We fell in love and got married like every other couple. But then I see that I don't have to explain myself to you since you're not his mother."

"How dare you dirty_"

"Someone's very interested in losing a tongue." Cassian protectively pulled Madeline behind him, "sigh… you can't break our marriage, it was legal and the deed has been done. We became one last night. Forgive me mother, I know you said we shouldn't but a man can't control his emotions as well as his hormones, right father?"

Turning his attention to the beautiful Madeline, he dropped a tender kiss on her knuckles. Despite trying hard not to react from the softness of his lips on the back of her palm, she could tell her cheeks had blossomed against her will.

"I don't think these people will understand, we should get our bags and leave. Shall we?"

"Mhmmn." She nodded.