Chapter 2

It was Alexander's number.

I didn't call back. I was too busy running to the bathroom to throw up.

The back of my head throbbed with a dull, persistent ache, so I had no choice but to drive to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

While waiting in the hallway, I saw Alexander and Madison.

They were supporting a middle-aged woman, one on each side, laughing and talking. They looked just like a family.

"Mom, look how much Alex cares about you. Ever since you got sick, he's been coming with me to see you every day, no matter how busy he is."

"Maddie, don't say that.

If it hadn't been for you and Aunt Linda taking care of my mother, she never would have made it to my graduation from Yale.

I'm the one who should be thanking you."

Linda smiled and was about to say something, but when her eyes met mine, she looked down guiltily and pretended to cough.

Seeing Linda, the head nurse from all those years ago.

I suddenly understood why Alexander had fallen in love with Madison.

A tickle rose in my throat, and I let out a soft laugh.

Hearing the sound, Alexander noticed me. His brow furrowed instantly as he walked over.

"Blair, where the hell did you run off to last night?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line and replied flatly,

"I was home the whole time."

The man’s smile was humorless, and he looked angry:

“You were at home and you didn’t answer my call?”

Ever since we got together, I’d never missed a single one of his calls.

At that thought, Alexander gripped my chin with one hand:

“Do you take me for a three-year-old fool?”

He was taken aback by the cold, damp feel of my skin against his hand, and his eyes widened in shock:

“Blair, why are you sweating so much?”

Before I could open my mouth, Madison’s tear-choked cry of “Alex”

immediately drew him back to her side.

Linda was clutching her heart, groaning in pain.

Alexander immediately accompanied Madison and her mother back to the hospital room.

And he summoned all the hospital's specialists for a consultation.

Two whole hours.

I waited endlessly for a doctor to call my name, growing dizzy and nauseous, until I finally collapsed from shock and a passing nurse rushed me to the emergency room, where I barely managed to get treatment.

When I finally dragged myself home, exhausted, Alexander was blow-drying Madison’s hair.

They had just finished bathing in the jacuzzi and were wearing the matching bathrobes I had bought for us.

Her robe gaped open at the collar, and her neck was covered in hickeys.

"Blair, please don't misunderstand. Alex and I weren't doing... anything like that in the room..."

Sensing Madison trembling in fear, Alexander glared at me, his face clouded with displeasure.

"You have no manners. Didn't your parents ever teach you to knock before entering a room?"

"Sorry. They died young, so they never really got the chance."

For once, the man was silent.

Opening the closet to get a change of clothes, I announced, "I'll take the guest room."

The man froze for a moment, then let out a contemptuous scoff.

"Blair, stop putting on an act."

"I only brought Maddie back for dinner. No one's coming after your bed."

Running a low fever, I couldn't be bothered to respond and went straight to the guest room to take some medicine and rest.

That night, Madison didn't leave.

The next day, as soon as I stepped out of my room, I overheard the housekeepers whispering.

"I've been working for the Knight family for years, and this is the first time I've ever seen Mr. Knight so attentive to a woman."

"When they were watching a movie, Madison casually mentioned wanting to go to an amusement park, so he had the entire Universal Studios Orlando rented out and spent the whole night there with her..."

“Tell me about it. He was just in the kitchen cooking for Madison himself. He even tested the temperature of her milk before bringing it to her.”

Through the French doors, I saw that the rooftop garden I had meticulously cared for for years was completely destroyed.

Madison had deliberately stomped all over the flowerbeds in her high heels. She’d even ripped the lavender I planted out by the roots and tossed it onto the ground.

I calmly dialed my lawyer's number, telling him to sell the beach house in the Hamptons.

Just as I hung up the phone, a voice came from behind me:

“Blair, why are you selling the engagement gift I gave you?”

Alexander, standing at the end of the hallway, glared at me, his face contorted with anger:

“Weren't you the one making such a fuss about wanting to get married there?”

I said nonchalantly:

“I've changed my mind.”

What did she mean, she’d changed my mind?

Our wedding was in just ten days.

How could there possibly be enough time to change venues now?

Could it be that she didn't intend to marry him anymore?

At the thought, Alexander scoffed, amused by the utterly absurd idea.

He was about to ask me which venue I was considering instead,

when a barefoot Madison appeared, wrapping her arms around his and standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"Oh my, so Blair's already awake..."

Madison pretended she only saw me after finishing the kiss, hiding shyly behind the man and saying with an innocent expression,

"Um, Blair, Alex prepared a huge, delicious French feast.

I'm so full my stomach aches, and I still can't finish it all. Could you possibly help me out?"