Chapter 189
Brunoâs spirits rose as he continued scheming.
When Noah had come back into Madelineâs life, it was as if the wretched girl had won the lottery, acting
as if she owned the entire world. She wouldnât even acknowledge her own father. Now that Noah had
abandoned her, she no longer had his protection!
Bruno decided on his course of action. Dusting off the trash that clung to his clothes, he headed
straight for the Maple Forest Villa with Kingsley in tow.
When he reached Madelineâs residence, he stood outside and studied it. The more he gazed at it, the
better it looked.
âMr. Bruno, a residence in this area ought to be worth a considerable amount, shouldnât it?â
âOf course it is. The three main roads are easily accessible from here, and itâs a large villa as well. Itâs
worth one billion, at the very least. Mm, thatâs not bad at all. As long as we can find someone
trustworthy to buy this place, weâll have the start-up capital for what we want to do.â
âMr. Bruno, this is Ms. Madelineâs residence, though. Isnât it rather inappropriate for us to do that?â
Even Kingsley was shocked by Brunoâs outrageous scheme.
âPah, I raised her! Iâm her father, and Iâm in difficulties now. What objections could she have to helping
me out? Anyway, I wouldnât be in this sorry position now if she hadnât tricked me!â Bruno indicated the
dirt and debris on his clothes, feeling perfectly justified in his course of action.
At Brunoâs reply, Kingsley let the matter drop. After receiving his orders, he quietly contacted the real
estate agent.
Bruno felt extremely satisfied when he heard Kingsley making arrangements on the phone and
swaggered right up to the front door, ringing the doorbell.
Inside the villa, Madeline was relaxing on the sofa, feeling very sleepy. Noah had gone back to the
company headquarters after lunch, and she had brought Thomas back here with her. She was in a bit
of a food coma after eating a little too much.
She was planning on taking a good long afternoon nap when the doorbell began ringing insistently
without signs of stopping.
The noise hurt her ears and gave her a headache. Reluctantly, she got up and went to open the door
groggily. When she saw Bruno standing outside, her headache got even worse.
âWhat are you doing here?â Madeline frowned, not bothering to conceal her displeasure. She was far
too drowsy to engage in a battle of wits with her wretched father. Furthermore, the unpleasant odor
wafting from Brunoâs clothes was hard to stomach.
âWhat do you mean? Iâm your father, canât I show up whenever I like? Move out of the way!â When
Bruno saw how groggy and disheveled Madeline was, he felt even more certain that Noah had
abandoned her, and she was now wallowing in self-pity.
Without waiting for her to speak, he shoved her aside and strode through the door.
Madeline blinked stupidly at him, and an unpleasant premonition assailed her. Nothing good could
come from Brunoâs presence here today.
Meanwhile, Bruno swaggered into the villa and openly cast a covetous glance around. Already, he was
mentally calculating the value of this place.
The villaâs location and architecture was one thing; the interior also had to be taken into consideration.
If this place was furnished with expensive luxury items, the price of the
entire residence would soar through the roof.
âMadeline dear, the Quincy family is powerful and their business is worth millions. Iâm sure Noahâs
compensated you handsomely now that youâve parted ways. He gave you this villa as well?â Bruno
took another look around, now that he had a clearer idea of how much this place could be worth.
At a rough estimate, the villa was worth at least 15 billion dollars. On his last visit, he had been in a
hurry and not in a position to take a closer look around. He had not expected that Madeline would
furnish her house with antiques! This was only the ground floor, no less. He was quite sure that the
other two floors would have tons of expensive items.
Brunoâs mental calculations filled him with the utmost glee! Once he managed to find a buyer for this
place, the Grant family would be able to reverse its fortunes!
âWhat?â Madeline stared at Bruno, half-suspecting the man had gone mad.
âDonât bother pretending, my girl. I already know that you and Noah have separated!â Bruno could not
hide his glee as he spoke, as if such a calamity was an occasion for celebration.
âSo, what are you planning to do?â Madeline was not in the mood to explain to Bruno that she and
Noah were still very much together. Instead, she immediately demanded to know the purpose of his
visit.
âWhat am I planning to do? I want to help you safeguard your property, of course! I know all about your
scandal with that pretty boy; itâs all over social media. Let me drop a word of advice in your ear. Even if
Noahâs given you a good sum in compensation, you shouldnât let other people take advantage of you.
That pretty boy is bad news!â
Madeline almost burst out giggling. Pretty boy? Joseph could certainly pass for one, provided one
looked only at his strong jawline.
âLetâs do things this way. Whatever money Noah gave you as compensation, keep that and use it for
your living expenses. It would be better to sell this house, though, since itâs definitely pretty valuable.â
âBruno Grant, are you telling me that you came all the way here this afternoon, just so you could sell
my house?â Any lingering drowsiness Madeline might have been experiencing dissipated at once.
What was more, she felt that her eyes had been opened in no uncertain manner.
She did not know if normal fathers would behave like Bruno if they found out that their daughter had
been cruelly abandoned and divorced by her husband. Would they hurry over as well, intent on selling
her possessions?
Up until now, Bruno had not uttered a single word of sympathy or even tried to console her.
âMadeline, donât be so harsh. Iâm only doing it for your own good. You should stop assuming my good
intentions are schemes to swindle you!â Bruno was displeased that his motives had been unmasked so
quickly.
âIf itâs for my own good, then I think itâs better if I stay put here. Itâs a good location, and I donât plan on
moving any time soon. If thereâs nothing else, please do leave.â Madelineâs temper rose.
What sort of shameless person was Bruno anyway?
âWhatâs the point of you living alone in this gigantic house? Are you still under the impression that
youâre a rich manâs idle wife? Anyway, my reputation is in tatters because of you! I donât even have any
clean clothes left. Shouldnât you take some responsibility?â
âI see. Thatâs your true motive. You think that Iâve been abandoned by Noah and Iâm not under his
protection anymore, so you hurried over to seize control of my possessions?â
âSo what? If you hadnât tricked me during that livestream, Iâd have been able to reverse my fortunes. All
I want now is for you to compensate me. Is that so wrong?â Bruno retorted eloquently, feeling unusually
self-righteous.
âBruno Grant, are you really my father?â Madeline was so furious her hands were shaking.
âOf course Iâm your father. You ungrateful little snake, youâd refuse to acknowledge your own father just
for the sake of a bit of money, wouldnât you?â Brunoâs matter-of-fact admission was like rubbing salt into
Madelineâs wounds.
She had really hoped that Bruno would say he was not her real father, so she could deny any sort of
blood relation to such a grasping, shameless, unscrupulous man.
Unfortunately, Bruno had not done so. He was indeed her biological father. Her entire body crawled at
the thought of such a humiliating bloodline.
âVery well then. Since you want to sell this house, sell it.â Madeline steadfastly suppressed her desire
to chop Bruno into tiny pieces and forced herself to calm down. She looked at him, her gaze becoming
increasingly colder.
Since he had stooped to this level, there was no reason for her to be considerate any longer!
Madeline did not want to bother with Bruno anymore. She went to the bar counter and sat down, then
pulled out her phone. Rapidly typing a message, she sent it off.
âYouâre serious? Well then, Iâve always said that you were a smart girl, Madeline, even when you were
little. When I finally turn my fortunes around, Iâll make sure I repay you handsomely!â