Free Web NovelChapter 3: Chapter 3
Madeline didn’t believe her.
So she came in person with Elise—to Orchard Residence.
The white Porsche Panamera was still parked in the same spot as yesterday.
Inside the car, Madeline, seated in the passenger seat, pointed at the villa ahead. "This architectural style... it’s not just similar to your marital home with Dylan. It’s practically an exact replica."
The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Covering her lips, she glanced nervously at Elise.
Elise showed no reaction. Her eyes remained fixed outside the window.
"The new amendments to the marriage law were issued yesterday," she said calmly. "Knowingly cohabiting with someone who is married and living together as husband and wife can constitute bigamy. I don’t just want Dylan to leave with nothing—I’m going to sue Quinn too. I want both of them ruined."
"...You’ve really done your homework for this divorce," Madeline muttered, studying the unwavering resolve in Elise’s eyes. Then she hesitated. "But... Elise, you’ll need solid evidence to prove they’re living together."
"That won’t be difficult," Elise replied coldly. "The evidence is right in front of us."
Madeline still looked troubled. "There might be some misunderstanding... Dylan’s personality is cold, sure, but he’s treated you well. He doesn’t seem like someone who would—"
"Madeline." Elise turned to look at her.
"Until yesterday, I thought the same as you," she said quietly. "I knew he was distant, but I loved him. He was the husband I chose. So in the five years after losing my children, even when I knew he was annoyed by my grief, I never blamed him."
"I looked for faults in myself. I was determined to change, to redeem myself..."
Her voice remained steady—so steady it felt as if both love and hatred had died the day before.
"...but it never once crossed my mind that, while I had just lost my children, he had already had a child with Quinn Foster."
When the heart dies, a person becomes calm in a way even they don’t recognize.
Madeline stared at her, stunned.
Before she could say anything more, Elise lifted her hand and pointed out the window. "Look. They’re celebrating over there. Today is that boy’s fifth birthday."
Madeline turned instinctively.
On the second-floor terrace, a child’s laughter rang out—bright, carefree, as though he possessed the most precious happiness in the world.
Thinking of her own son, Elise decisively rolled down the passenger-side window. She opened her phone, switched to video recording, and aimed it toward the terrace.
Then she pressed record.
At a round table draped in a French-style tablecloth, Dylan held the little boy in his arms. The child clutched a limited-edition Transformer toy. Quinn, dressed in a cream-colored dress, sat beside Dylan, holding up her phone.
All three leaned in, looking at the screen in her hand.
The boy flashed a playful peace sign. Quinn tilted her head, resting it gently on Dylan’s shoulder. And Dylan—who had always been indifferent to photos—was smiling softly, warmly, like a man completely at ease.
A perfect, idyllic family of three.
Elise pressed pause.
Saved the video.
As the window slid shut again, she turned to Madeline, a faint, self-mocking curve tugging at her lips. "Do you still think it’s a misunderstanding?"
By now, Madeline was already in tears. She looked at Elise, voice trembling. "How could Dylan cheat? Back then, even though your marriage was arranged, he spent so much on your wedding... even had your ring and dress custom-made. We all said in private—you’d chased him for so many years, and finally got your happy ending..."
Yes.
Their marriage hadn’t been built on a sweeping, passionate romance—but it had been harmonious, stable.
No one had imagined Dylan would betray her.
What she couldn’t forgive the most... was that the boy was five years old—only four months younger than the twins she had lost.
Which meant... He had cheated while she was still pregnant.
Even when her children had barely been laid to rest... he had been celebrating the birth of another child with someone else.
Pain twisted violently in her chest.
Elise shut her eyes tightly, forcing herself to breathe.
She couldn’t collapse.
She had to hold on—for herself, and for her children.
"Madeline," she said at last, her voice cold and resolute, "I’ll ask you one more time. Will you take this case?"
Madeline broke down completely, sobbing harder. "I’m sorry, Elise... I really am... it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but going up against Dylan in court—I can’t do it!"
Elise’s heart sank—but she understood.
After Dylan took over the Bennet Corporation, its market value had multiplied several times in just five years. The company’s legal team had also become one of the most formidable in North City.
For a small private firm like Madeline’s, going up against them would mean starting at a disadvantage—with almost no chance of winning.
"It’s fine. I’ll figure something out myself." Elise started the car.
"Elise, I can introduce you to all the contacts and resources I have," Madeline said quickly. "But have you really thought this through? Do you really want to divorce him?"
Elise’s hand paused on the gear shift. She turned to look at her.
"Maddy... do you think I shouldn’t?"
Madeline fell silent.
"I have to," Elise said firmly. "Dylan is not worthy of being my child’s father."
She turned forward again and pressed lightly on the accelerator.
The white Panamera made a smooth U-turn and drove off.
Up on the second-floor balcony, Quinn lowered her phone. Her gaze flicked toward the retreating white car, and then she looked down. In a place no one could see, a faint, satisfied smile crossed her eyes.
***
Although Madeline couldn’t take the case herself, she introduced Elise to her well-known senior—Alexander Hayes.
He had been something of a legend in the law department back in university, and Elise, of course, knew of him.
Elise had always been decisive—bold in love and hate, never pretentious. Once she made up her mind, she never hesitated.
The next morning, through Madeline’s arrangement, the three of them agreed to meet at a café in the city center.
When Madeline and Elise arrived, Alexander hadn’t come yet.
They found a table and had just sat down when a childish voice rang out from the entrance—
"Daddy, Robin wants chocolate cake!" freёwebnoѵel.com
Elise froze.
Almost instinctively, she looked up toward the door.
Dylan walked in, holding Robin’s hand. The boy wore denim overalls and pointed eagerly at the display case, his little face—so strikingly similar to Dylan’s—full of innocent excitement.
Even though she had already resolved to divorce him, the sight still made Elise’s heart clench painfully. A wave of bitterness surged up, stinging her nose.
Beside her, Madeline was completely stunned, staring wide-eyed at the pair.
At such close range, even she had to admit—the boy looked like a miniature version of Dylan.
As if sensing her gaze, Dylan turned his head and looked over.
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment, his expression faltered.
Elise, however, remained expressionless. Only her hand, gripping the glass of water, tightened unconsciously—her fingertips turning pale.
Under her breath, Madeline muttered, "Damn... this is a full-on battlefield."
Elise had originally planned to gather all the evidence and finalize the divorce agreement before confronting him.
She hadn’t expected to run into him here.
But now that they had met...
She wanted to see—right in front of that child—how Dylan would explain himself.
