CHAPTER 294

Sebastian was so charming that Madeline, who was at a loss, couldn't stop his advances.

With her face red and her heart thumping, she stretched out her hands to push him in the chest. "Didn't you already say goodnight?" she muttered.

"I did." Sebastian laughed and kissed her again before he reached for the wall lamp to turn it off. "Good night!"

The next day after breakfast, Sebastian and Madeline sent the three children to school, and they dropped the kids off at the gate. That was when Sebastian asked Madeline, "Do you have time? If you do, follow me to the Hart Manor for a bit."

The Hart Manor he was talking about was where Philip lived.

"I'm free. Is there a reason we are going there?" she asked him in return.

"Yeah." Sebastian put his hand on the door frame of the car as he helped Madeline into the car. He then got into the car and sat down beside her. "Why aren't you asking me who it was that drugged me? You are not curious at all, are you?"

"Everything was a mess at first. I couldn't afford to be curious about it, and I felt a little embarrassed to ask afterward. After all, it is your personal affairs."

Upon hearing that, Sebastian tilted his head and looked at her half-smilingly. "You are my wife. You have the right to ask about something like this."

"Uh…" Madeline couldn't find the right words to say then.

She noticed how she often found herself speechless when it came to Sebastian.

She might not think of herself as an eloquent person, but she was definitely not a mush-mouth. However, she seemed to lose her tongue frequently when she was speaking to him.

It was so upsetting for her!

"It's alright," he continued to speak with a smile on his face. "You are probably not in character yet. You will be fine after you are used to your new role in the future."

She was still at a loss for words.

Her brain seemed to have turned blank suddenly, and she couldn't think of any rebuttal at all.

Still, it was fine.

Silence was golden anyway.

Staying quiet was a form of answer, too!

Seeing that she wasn't going to answer him anytime soon, Sebastian changed the subject. "It was Ann Evans who drugged me last night."

"Oh—I remember her," Madeline said. "She is your cousin from your aunt's side of the family, right?"

She then looked at him sympathetically. "It is no wonder you fell for her ruse. It is hardest to avoid backstabbing when it comes from the people closest to you."

He only smiled without saying anything at that.

Sebastian couldn't possibly tell her that he purposely drank the coffee Ann handed him even though he knew it was spiked.

He figured it would be better to maintain his virtuous and upright image in front of her.

All those about plots and schemes would be best kept in the dark from her.

When Madeline realized that he hadn't said anything in return, she thought that he felt hurt by the betrayal, so she quickly comforted him. "It's okay. Even though your cousin is plotting against you, don't you still have a few younger brothers? Your brothers look like good people. I can tell that at a glance."

"Of course!" Sebastian boasted. "Lucas and the lot were all brought up by my father. Of course they are all great guys."

"Um… About Ann Evans… Does she really like you, or is she trying to climb up the social ladder with your help?" Madeline tried to feel him out.

As Sebastian was a man whose appearance and status were both like honey to bees, Madeline couldn't help but wonder if Ann was interested in him as a man, or as a tool to propel herself forward.

He softly chuckled at that. "You will have to ask her."

Fine, then! She couldn't find her words again.

"You have the right to ask her." His smiling face turned serious in that instant. "You are the Mrs. Hart in our household registration book, and she clearly covets your place. It is reasonable even if you went and scratched her face."

Hearing that, Madeline forced a laugh. "That sounds too difficult for me. I can't do something like that."

Sebastian gazed at every inch of her face then. "That can only mean that I am not attractive enough, and you haven't fallen in love with me yet. If you really think of me as your husband, and if someone is trying to take me away from you, you would have gone and tore her apart even before I told you to."

"Probably," she mumbled.

"Mrs. Hart—" Sebastian raised his hand and patted the top of her head. "—I will forgive you this time since we haven't had a wedding yet. You will make me sad if you remain calm after I fall for another woman's trap after this."

Madeline remained silent after hearing his words. As much as she didn't want to look like a fool who couldn't even speak, she really had no idea what she should be saying in this situation.

Someone help me!

They continued with the awkward conversation until they arrived at the Hart Manor.

After entering the living room, Madeline noticed that Philip and Ann were both there. Other than them,

Sebastian's two younger brothers, Grayson and Lucas, were also there. There was also a middle-aged woman who sat across from Philip with a soft smile on her face as she conversed with the old man.

Even though Madeline didn't know who she was, she had a guess that the woman was Sebastian's aunt, Emma.

Sure enough, after Sebastian greeted Philip, he turned to call the middle-aged woman "Mrs. Emma".

Her eyes were full of tender kindness when she looked back at Sebastian. "There you are, Seb!" she gushed. "Are you not busy with work today?"

"I can manage." He then introduced Madeline who stood beside him. "Mrs. Emma, this is my wife, Madeline Taylor. You can call her Maddie."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Emma," Madeline greeted as she gave a polite nod.

Emma stood up to say hello to her. "So you are Maddie? You look good. You and Seb look like a match made in heaven, standing next to each other."

Ann, who was sitting beside Emma, looked like she was in a terrible mood when her initially sour face fell further. "Mom—"

With a hint of warning in her eyes, Emma immediately cut Ann off by glancing at her from an angle that Sebastian couldn't see.

After all, Ann was her daughter that she raised with her own hands. She had a deep relationship with her. She couldn't help but come up with creative ideas, and even created an opportunity for Ann to drug

Sebastian.

Emma used to have a crush on Philip when they were young, but alas, she could only suppress her feelings for him because he was her brother-in-law. Not only did her love not bear any fruit, she had also kept it a secret only she knew.

In the end, she had gotten married to a scumbag of a man, and had lived a tumultuous married life without ever knowing how it felt to be mutually in love with her partner. She had never known how it felt to have a happy family.

Now that she had suffered her whole life, she didn't want the daughter she had personally raised to repeat her mistakes.

That was why Emma had used her identity to help give Ann a push.

Ann would never have had the chance to bring the cup of spiked coffee to Sebastian if it wasn't because Emma had given her a leg up.

Ann even managed to get Sebastian to drink the cup of drugged coffee.

In all honesty, she was envious of her daughter for doing something that she didn't have the guts to do back in her days.

After learning that Sebastian had been drugged, Emma had thought that Ann would be able to have Sebastian at least once.

It didn't matter even if Sebastian refused to take responsibility and still refused to marry her after they

had done the deed. At the very least, Ann would have experienced what it was like being Sebastian's woman.

This was something Emma had always dreamed of for herself.

Just one time was enough.

She would be satisfied with being her brother-in-law's woman just once.

But not even once did she ever have the chance to make her dream come true. Content is property © .

Ann was far more blessed than she was.

Of course, it would be great if Sebastian would marry Ann for her honor's sake after they had sealed the deal.

That way, Emma herself could become in-laws with Philip's family, and her relationship with him would improve and hopefully get more intimate.

She had celebrated the fact that things were going exactly as she had planned regardless of the outcome after she saw with her own eyes how Sebastian drank the cup of coffee that she put the drug in.

She would never have thought that she had been terribly wrong with her assumption.