CHAPTER 236

Even if Ethan could love her without resentment, would Leigh even fall in love with the son and nephew of the people who killed her family?

It was evident that she could not.

Their happy ending died sixteen years ago when Scott killed her parents.

No matter how much he liked her, nothing would come of it.

Distress tore its way through his heart as he forced out through the pain, "I am very sorry about your family. If you ever need my help, please tell me. I will do my best to make up for your loss."

"Thanks," she calmly replied. "But there is no need."

She then left without saying another wonder; if nothing good was going to come of it, why waste the effort of speaking? She had never wanted to even share the same space as him anyway.

He blankly stared after her.

If his family had not hurt her family all those years ago, their reunion would definitely be full of joy.

They would meet once more because of Madeline, and he would be able to say to her with a smile, "How lucky we are to meet again." He would then do everything he could to befriend her and pursue her. One day, he would be rewarded with the perfect love.

Unfortunately, it was as if it was never destined to be...

They were not destined for a happy ending together.

When Leigh returned to the office, she told Madeline, "Your aunt may be a cruel, inhuman woman, but her eldest son is not bad. He just seems a little crazy or stupid."

Madeline stared at her. "That's a joke, right? Ethan is one of the best men in Dusktown. How could he be any of that?"

"I don't know." Leigh sat down on the couch and absentmindedly flipped through a magazine. "Anyway, there's something weird about him, particularly the way he looks at me. It is like... he is looking at his lover just before going away to die or something..."

Shaking her head abruptly, she continued after snorting, "Oh, for heaven's sake! There is a feud between us, and he is upset about his mother. He did not need to look at me like that, right? No matter how distressed he acts, I will not feel the same. I only want his mother and uncle to die!"

"You must be mistaken," said Madeline. "Ethan..."

Her sentence was interrupted by her phone ringing.

Glancing down at it, she saw that it was a call from Quincy and Joel's homeroom teacher.

"Hello?" she hurriedly answered as she lifted the phone to her ear. "How are you, Ms. Brooks?"

"Good day, Quincy's mother." Ms. Brooks sounded quite panicked. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, but

your sons just got into a fight with their classmates. Your younger son and the other child are both injured. Can you come to the school now?"

"Joel is hurt?" Madeline exclaimed. "Where is he hurt? Is it serious?"

"Do not panic," Ms. Brooks hurriedly placated. "Your son only suffered some slight injuries. It is nothing much. However, your sons broke the nose of the other child. There is a lot of blood. It looks quite serious. Can you come over? We need to talk about this."

"I will be there right away."

She hung up and said to Leigh, "Rest here. I have to go to the boys' school. Their teacher says they got into a fight with another kid, and Joel was hurt."

"I'll go with you," Leigh responded with a frown as she stood up. "They are good kids and would not start a fight without reason. Someone must be bullying them. That's why they attacked."

"Probably." Madeline quite agreed with her. "You don't need to go with me. You have not rested for days now. Go take a break."

"I'm fine." Leigh followed behind her as she left the building. "How can I not worry when I know they are being bullied?"

"The little masters were bullied? By whom?" Emory overheard what Leigh said when he came by to hand Madeline something.

His eyes were wide with surprise as he tensed up.

"Well, it's not really a bullying incident," Madeline said. "It's just a little tussle between kids. I'm going over now."

"I'll have the others come with you!" Emory was furious.

Madeline looked at him, baffled. "There is no need. I am not going to start a fight, merely to assess the situation. It would look bad if you guys go."

He frowned, evidently unhappy about the decision.

However, he had to obey Madeline.

As she continued walking away, he strode behind her to argue his case. "Well, I'll have some men wait outside the gates. One call from you, and we will come rushing in."

As Madeline did not want to waste more time, she briefly replied, "Very well."

It was truly just a fight between kids, and children always had a short memory. Today, they would be fighting; tomorrow, they would be happily playing together. There was no need to kick up such a fuss.

Although she knew that, she still worried.

She loved her children after all.

While she had suffered a lot growing up, she kept her children well-protected. They had never suffered at all. At the thought that they might have been bullied in school, her heart throbbed with pain.

Even when the school was right across the road and within a ten-minute walk, she was too worried so she drove there instead.

She arrived at the school gates within a few minutes. After a quick call to Ms. Brooks, she found her sons at the nurse's office.

"Mom!" As soon as Joel saw Madeline, he let go of Quincy's hand and rushed into her embrace.

She quickly caught him. Looking down, she saw a bump the size of a quail's egg on his forehead. "Baby, does it hurt?" she asked, clearly upset.

Throughout the years she had spent training in martial arts, she had been hurt countless times. However, she had a tough life growing up, and so did not care about her scrapes. No matter how bad the injuries were, it was nothing to her.

Still, the mere sight of a bump on Joel's head was enough to make her heart squeeze in pain. Her eyes burned with tears as they slowly turned red.

"It doesn't hurt at all, Mom!" Joel buried his face in her stomach as he whined.

"Come, let me see, Joel. Are you hurt anywhere else?" Leigh knelt down beside Madeline and checked him thoroughly.

"What about you, Quincy?" Madeline asked, grabbing his hand and checking him as well. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not." Quincy looked at her guiltily. "I'm sorry, Mom. I did not protect Buddy. He got hurt..."

"That's not it, Mom!" Joel interrupted. "He was protecting me the entire time and took a lot of hits for me. None of the punches hit him in the face though. But, the punches were so loud that Quincy must be hurting!"

As he spoke, he began to sound like he was going to cry. content.