CHAPTER 204

"Whatever, I never care about these things." Luke shrugged. "My father is serving a life sentence now. There's no way he can be released."

"Life sentence?" His statement was a surprise to Madeline. "Your father committed homicide, but he's only serving life imprisonment? Shouldn't they impose the death penalty on him? He murdered a person!"

"What a surprise, isn't it?" Luke laughed in amusement. "This was my uncle's idea. He hired a lawyer on Logan and my behalf for our father and claimed that Delilah was the one to blame. As a result, my father has to serve a life sentence. To my father, death is the only escape from his imprisonment, while living means he has to suffer. My uncle doesn't want to spare him easily, so he can suffer in misery for the rest of his life."

"Your uncle has good thinking," Madeline stated. "He hired a lawyer on your behalf, so nobody can blame you for not saving your father. It will help your reputation too."

"This is merely one of the reasons. He did so mainly out of his resentment toward my father. He didn't want to let my father get away easily." The light in Luke's eyes darkened when he thought of his uncle. "Uncle has been suspecting that my father was involved in my mother's death. You need to know that my uncle is very fond of my mother."

Luke sighed and turned to look at the scenery outside with a gloomy expression.

Madeline frowned when she saw his expression. "What's the matter?"

"Maddie, you are perceiving my uncle as a loving person, aren't you?" Luke muttered with a chuckle.

Nodding to his question, she answered in the affirmative.

"He isn't." Even though Luke tried to force a smile, it was bitter nonetheless. "Uncle has always suspected that my father planned my mother's death. As a result, he loves us. But at the same time, his hatred toward us doesn't become any less."

Madeline stared at Luke in disbelief. "Just because you guys are your father's kids?"

"You're right." He nodded in response. "We are born as members of the Adams and we have their blood. Although my father wasn't good, our grandparents loved us. My mother never took a liking to my father back when she was alive. Besides, with her bedridden condition, she never managed to warm up to Logan and me. Therefore, we were raised by our grandparents during our childhood. They had given us the affection we longed for from our parents. Can you understand?" "Whatever, I never care about these things." Luke shrugged. "My father is serving a life sentence now. There's no way he can be released."

Madeline thought back to the way Philip treated his grandsons, and she nodded. "Yes, I understand."

"My grandparents treated us with care." Luke sighed. "You know older generations care about carrying on the family lineage. If we change the family name to my mother's, I'm afraid that their souls can never be at peace. Logan and I will never leave the Adams Family for my mother's family name."

Madeline had mixed feelings when she heard that. "So, things are awkward between your uncle and you?"

When she was listening to Luke's story, she was having the impression of their uncle being a loving elder. Never would she think that there would be a twist to his image.

"Yeah." Luke sighed with resignation and shrugged. "Forget it. Maybe this is just the way we were born to be, which was to be deprived of affection from our elders."

Suddenly, he held Madeline's wrist and looked at her with a serious expression. "Maddie, promise me that we won't fight anymore from now on. You are all my brother and I have."

She struggled out of his grip and glared at him. "I never thought of starting a fight with you! You are just being unreasonable!" exclusive content.

"Alright, alright. I'm the one being unreasonable. It's all my fault." Luke nodded a few times to indicate his defeat. "I've learned from my mistakes. I apologized. Let bygones be bygones and we can start over. Okay?"

Madeline nodded. "Didn't I tell you? If you promise to behave, then I will not bring up the past."

"The past?" Luke then played dumb. "Did anything happen to us? I don't think so. We are siblings, always and forever."

His antics made Madeline laugh, and she shook her head. "You really are one of a kind!"

Luke asked, "Of what?"

"For your shameless attitude!"

"It's one of my charms." Luke wasn't bothered by the remark. "If I have more self-awareness, I would not dare make an apology; if I have not apologized, you will not have forgiven me; if you haven't forgiven me, I will lose my sister, and a life without you is totally unacceptable! All I need for my whole life is Logan and you. I can't lose either one of you."

At this moment, all the grudges and hard feelings Madeline held for Luke had disappeared after listening to his story.

Most importantly, he was a family, above all else. As long as he reflected on his mistakes and made amends, she would always forgive him.

"That's enough for today." She got up from her seat. "You should not stay outside for too long when your wounds are healing. You need to take proper rest."

"It's nothing." Luke had little care for his injuries. "Logan is fond of me, so he is reluctant to hurt me for real. I'm fine."

What a lie! However, she wasn't persuaded by him.

Even though only the first punch of Logan's caused Luke to bleed, the following punches were strong enough to leave marks on him too. How could it not hurt?

Annoyed with him acting tough, Madeline grumbled, "Don't push yourself so hard. I'm staying at the agency and not going anywhere, so I don't need bodyguards with me right now. Now listen to me and go home for a rest. I'll let you know when I'm going out. Then again, what caused you to abandon your life as a young master and become my bodyguard? You know I don't need more bodyguards!"

"Yes, you have enough bodyguards, but to me, I'm losing my only sister!" Luke let out a harrumph indicating his annoyance. "If only you could see Sebastian. He was looking at me like he could eat me alive! If I haven't decided to become your bodyguard, then I can only stay for a few days as a guest before he would chase me away. Even if he doesn't do it, Logan will find a way to stop me from overstaying, but I don't want to go! I am staying here with you!"

"If you decided to stay, then what about Logan?" She teased, "You forgot about your brother?"

"Logan's a grown man. He can handle himself." Luke waved away her worries. "Besides, he will not stop his worries by having me around, thus he has no time to find love. Without me, he can finally have time to pursue love and get married."

Luke then spread his hands as he stated, "Once he finds the love of his life, I will only get in his way. My future sister-in-law will hate to see me following him everywhere. "

Madeline could only stare at him with mixed feelings.

At last, he snapped his fingers with a hint of excitement. "Ta-da! You got the correct answer! I chose to stay and become your bodyguard, only to get on Sebastian's nerves. He couldn't steal our beloved sister without consequences. I have to show him what I am capable of, or else he will mistreat you."