CHAPTER 232

"Joel's right," Sebastian praised with a grin as he rewarded Joel with a pat on the head. Oh, how he loved his son.

Madeline was rendered speechless.

What was right about that statement?

Was it about how she was not as smart as Sebastian, or the declaration that she was the best woman in the world?

She sighed internally.

There was no way she was the best woman in the world.

She should not even think about it.

Not wanting to continue on the topic, she said, "Okay, let's have breakfast first. We'll talk to Ethan afterward."

She did not have a good relationship with him anyway, and he had already waited for her for hours. Twenty more minutes was nothing compared to that.

Breakfast was delicious, and her two sons enjoyed it very much.

Joel had been a fussy eater, but ever since they moved in with Sebastian, he had improved. It was because the table would always be covered with his favorite dishes. As he could not fit that much food

into his stomach, he would be done after taking a few bites of every dish served. As he insisted on having some of everything, he made it look like he was not a fussy eater, like Quincy.

Sebastian was such a thorough caretaker with the kids that there was nothing to complain about his methods. She was particularly thankful for that.

Since she had to talk to Ethan after breakfast, she could not send the kids off to school. As such, Sebastian took over the task.

It was only after moving in with him that she realized Sebastian, the head of Hart Corporation, was a homebody. In the morning, he would have breakfast with them before going with her to send the boys off to school. While he would have lunch at the office instead of coming home, he would always come home after work to spend time with the kids. He never stayed out for business dinners.

Madeline found it rather strange. How could Hart Corporation be so profitable if he did not network? She had asked him about it. After all, executives of big corporations had to socialize once in a while at the very least, right?

It was an unavoidable part of life for businessmen. Hart Corporation was a huge corporation. There was no way he was never invited to anything.

His calm reply was that although the company received a lot of networking invitations, he had a special tool just for that purpose—Lucas. "Joel's right," Sebastian praised with a grin as he rewarded Joel with a pat on the head. Oh, how he loved his son.

Anyone familiar with him knew just how close the two brothers were. Lucas was able to represent him in all matters. Hence, it was Lucas who attended those events in his place.

After all, he did not like to mingle while Lucas did. They were perfect partners.

She was rendered speechless by that explanation.

While she did not think that was what it meant to be perfect partners, it was also not the wrong description of their friendship. Frankly speaking, it sounded more like Sebastian was exploiting Lucas.

Anyway, all of this was to say that Sebastian acted less like a company executive in his twenties and more like a veteran.

Quincy and Joel adored their father for this. They loved how their parents would send them to school together and spend their evenings with both of their parents.

It resulted in more smiles from Joel, while Quincy grew closer to Sebastian.

Life was perfect.

She would do her best to protect their current way of life by making sure Sebastian was happy with her. She wanted to make this marriage last just a little longer.

After seeing Sebastian and the kids to the door, she had Zacharias escort Ethan into the house.

This place was originally called Sun Garden, and it had two sets of gates. One was located to the east, while the other was located to the south.

As the eastern gate was closer to the boys' school, they would always walk the kids to school that way.

Ethan did not know that, though, so he had been waiting by the southern gate.

When Madeline finally let him in, he was seething with rage.

However, he did not dare to show it in front of her.

She was no longer the girl who had to rely on the Taylors.

He was here to ask for a favor, not to make enemies. exclusive content.

After he was seated and tea was served, she started the conversation with some polite small talk, conveying her apologies.

However, it was clear she was only apologizing to be polite.

Ethan knew that, but he could not rage at her for the treatment. Instead, he forced a smile on his face and replied, "We are family. Why are you apologizing? After all, I came here without prior notice. It is expected of me to wait."

"That's true," she said, smiling back. "In the future, you can let me know beforehand that you wish to meet me. You would not have to wait then. I could not bear it for you to waste your precious time waiting around."

That made him furious. After all, she did not look upset at all by that notion.

Of course, no matter what he thought, he dared not say a word about his anger.

"Maddie," he continued, forcing himself to continue smiling, "I am here for my mother."

There was no way he could air Holly's dirty laundry in public. Hence, he briefly summarized the situation in a few vague sentences before stating, "I would like to meet with Leigh to discuss this. Can you help me, Maddie?"

"Of course I can." She smiled. "I can contact her on your behalf, but it is up to her whether or not she will meet with you."

"That's a given," he replied, nodding. "Thank you, Maddie."

She smiled. "Please give me a moment."

Then, she went to the room next door to call Leigh and tell her the situation. "I am not particularly close to him, Leigh. We are merely acquaintances, so do not think about me. It is entirely your decision. Do not force yourself."

"I'll talk to him." Leigh let out a mean little chuckle. "Why not?"

The Harts were keeping a close eye on her family's case and would inform her the moment something happened.

Hence, she knew what was going on right now, which meant she could guess why Ethan wanted to talk.

It was the Taylors who wronged her. She was the victim here. However, she wanted to know what Ethan was going to say to her. Was he just like his mother?

Thus, why would she refuse to meet him?

A few minutes later, Leigh walked into the room where Ethan was waiting.

When he saw her walk in with the light shining in from behind her, he shot to his feet in astonishment.

This was someone he never thought he would see here.

During last year's winter, he was in Talvit for a business meeting. When he left the building with his new business partner, the man fainted.

Everyone was shocked. Someone began to call for an ambulance while another shouted at their driver to hurry over with the car. Another person began asking around for a first aid responder.