Chapter 445

The painting was laid out on the table, with Madelyn’s name written on the reference number column.

Ethan brushed his fingers over the painting, “Is she the winner of this competition?” Whenever he saw anything related to her, he would instinctively calm down.

Leyton responded, “The organizer sent this. They wanted to know your opinion.”

Actually, Leyton knew Madelyn would surely join this competition. He knew Madelyn loved painting, and he believed her skills were on par with professional artists.

“Does she know the Arnold Corporation jointly organized this competition?” Ethan asked.

“No one knows about that, so I assume Ms. Jent isn’t aware of it either.”

“Understood. You may leave for now.”

“Okay.” Leyton said as he left and closed the office doors behind him.

Ethan carefully looked at every detail of the painting.

‘So that’s why she hasn’t contacted me for the past few days. Seems she wanted to focus on creating this painting. She’s clear- headed and knows very well about what she wants. No matter what happens, she can always maintain her composure.”

Sometimes, Ethan wished Madelyn would act recklessly rather than doing nothing; at least that would show that she actually cared about him. He was disappointed that she had given him up to someone else so easily.

Not long later, Ethan called someone from the organizing committee.

Meanwhile, five days passed.

One afternoon, Madelyn was hungry and asked Margaret, “Is there anything to eat, Margaret? I’m hungry.”

She had not changed her clothes for a few days and her hair was scruffy and oily. She smelled very unpleasant too.

Margaret was picking vegetables, but she widened her eyes in surprise when she saw Madelyn’s slovenly appearance. She said, “Ms. Jent, it isn’t mealtime yet, but I can make you an egg toast.”

Zach ordered, “Don’t make it for her.” He turned to Madelyn and continued, “From now on, if you’re hungry, you can come down to eat during mealtimes. No one will cater to you.”

Madelyn had already finished all the snacks she had brought back to her room. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through her hair and squinted as she walked downstairs. She then saw Zach, who was casually sitting on the couch with a laptop on his lap and seemed to be dealing with company matters.

Zach stopped doing his work when he saw her come downstairs.

Madelyn pretended not to notice him and walked past him to open the pantry. She found that the snacks usually stocked there were gone, leaving only an empty plastic bag.

‘I should go and buy some snacks soon.’

Madelyn did not respond to Zach. After closing the cabinet, she went to the kitchen. Margaret could not bear to see her like this. She was worried that Madelyn would get sick if she kept acting this way.

When Madelyn opened the fridge, she saw some vegetables and milk. She then glanced inside the fridge before taking out a bottle of cold orange juice. She looked weary as she asked, “Where are all the other servants?”

Margaret replied, “Sir and Madam probably won’t be back for a long time, so they let the other servants go.”

“Well, you should go too then. I’ll pay you three times your salary. It’ll be enough for you to live on until you find a new job.” Madelyn said.

Margaret thought, ‘Oh my goodness, does this mean I’ve lost my job?’

She then carefully glanced at Zach and timidly said, “If I leave, there’ll be no one to clean this villa and no one will cook for you.”

Madelyn replied, “I won’t die from hunger. I don’t need anyone to take care of me either.”

She thought, ‘This family has long fallen apart anyway. What’s the point of trying to hold it together?’

Just as Madelyn was about to go upstairs with the bottle of juice, Zach blocked her path.

Before Zach could speak, Madelyn calmly looked past him and said, “You should leave too. Don’t waste your time on me; I won’t die so easily.”