At that, Luke stated, "I want the three of us to stay close together so that I can see you every day, no matter what our relationship
is."
Staring at her for a moment, he then added, "If you happen to love me and are willing to marry me, I will do so gladly. I'm happy
with you being either my wife or my sister."
With a heavy heart, Madeline murmured, "I am not marrying you. Aldo and Buddy are Sebastian's sons and they need their
father. As long as he doesn't plan to divorce me, I will never be the first one to declare a divorce."
"Let us be siblings, then." Luke didn't have a strong opinion on this matter. "I've been diagnosed with a mental problem, anyway.
The books state that mental illness is hereditary. I have been worried that our child will inherit this problem from me after we get
married but now, I don't have to worry about our child's health and can avoid making you sad if we are not married to each
other."
"What are you talking about?" To stop him from thinking lowly of himself, Madeline interrupted, "There's nothing wrong with your
mind. You are just getting out from your hardship and a lot is going on in your mind now. Your condition is not genetic and will not
be passed along to your offspring."
"Nobody is certain about that." Luke shrugged her off. "After all, my wife will be no one but you. I will not marry just anyone to
have a child with a mental problem. If so, not only have I wronged them, I would always be concerned about their well-being and
worrying about their health."
Upon hearing that, Madeline mumbled, "You're like a brother to me. Even if it wasn't Sebastian, it would not be you either."
"A brother?" Raising his eyebrows, Luke asked with a hint of interest, "Now that you have met your real brothers, who are you
going to choose? Them, or Logan and I?"
Without any hesitation, Madeline answered resolutely, "I am closer to Logan and you, for sure."
The Adams brothers and her had been depending on each other for almost ten years. They were the only ones who took care of
her when she was seriously ill and thought she was on her deathbed; they were the only ones who genuinely treated her with
kindness before she found her origin.
To Madeline, the only link between the Wendel brothers and her was built on their blood connection and her appreciation of their
capability, nothing more. The Adams brothers were the ones who shared a stronger bond with her.
At that, Luke stated, "I want the three of us to stay close together so that I can see you every day, no matter what our relationship
is."
As she sorted out her relationships, a thought occurred to her. At this moment, she could finally understand the reason behind
Cedric's defense of Angie.
If Angie had behaved herself, there was no way the Wendel Family would have severed ties with her easily.
The Wendels' decision was only temporary and not directed at Angie. It was merely out of their hatred toward Cameron and an
act of impulsion upon learning the truth.
Once they had overcome the feelings and thought about the time they had lived together, it was not impossible for Angie to
return to the Wendel Family.
However, Angie was desperate to return to her old life. In looking for a guy whom she could take advantage of, she plotted
against Nicholas, who once considered her as family. By doing so, the Wendel Family learned about her true nature and isolated
her.
Madeline's answer brought a smile to Luke's face and he ruffled her hair with force. "Maddie, since I have apologized, promise
me that you will forgive me and remember only my good deeds."
Needless to say, she had already forgiven him after listening to his tragic story. Feeling sorry for him, she nodded at his request.
"Of course. As long as you promise to behave from now on, I'll pretend nothing happened."
"What a good girl you are!" Once again, he ruffled her hair, a trace of blooming happiness on his face.
"Luke, you haven't finished your story." Madeline then inquired, "I heard there were rumors that the b*stard actually isn't your
father's biological son."
"You bet!" He gloated over the fact when her question reminded him of something. "My father had always thought his only true
love was loyal to him. Even though he failed to marry her, she still managed to withstand all the hardships and gave birth to his
child. After my uncle returned to the country, he initiated an investigation on the b*stard child, and my father was unaware of it.
The results show that the b*stard's biological father is not my father, but another man. As my uncle thought that we were at an
advantage, he asked me and Logan to return to the country."
"He got his karma coming!" Satisfied to hear Luke's father getting what he deserved, Madeline couldn't wait to hear the rest of
the story. "I assume learning the truth drove him mad?"
"Of course." The smile on Luke's face grew. "My uncle was happy about that too. My father may be a loser, but the Adams
Family is the most prestigious and wealthiest family in Capitol, while my mother's family's influence has declined. My uncle met
his wife abroad, and her family is the richest of the locals, but they hold no influence over Capitol. Having her as our only ally, we
would have probably taken a longer time to overthrow my father from his position of power. However, knowing that the b*stard is
not my father's son, his mistress and the b*stard were defeated on the spot when they lost the bargaining chip to win his heart."
She nodded. "Regardless of his love for your stepmother, there is no way a man will raise another man's child without holding a
grudge. Learning the truth must have been hard for him, and he would surely be resentful toward your stepmother."
"Indeed." Luke scorned as he recalled, "Once we were back in the country, the first thing my uncle helped us with was to
cultivate power in Capitol instead of telling the truth to my father immediately. As our power grew, we began to attend all kinds of
social activities. One day, we pretended to come across my father and that b*tch at a party. He accused us of not being filial, but
we showed the result of a DNA paternity test to him. We told him the truth there and then, before all the guests, and he wasn't
too happy about that."
Sharing his encounter, Luke laughed uncontrollably.
Madeline urged him to continue, "He must have had a hard time believing your words."
"He refused to believe it." Luke nodded as he explained, "Even though he had his doubts, he still needed to hide them in front of
others. All this time, he harmed his sons for a b*stard and gave the b*stard all of his love. How ridiculous things would be if his
efforts were wasted on someone else's son. He couldn't accept the truth and accused us of slandering him, but we didn't let him
off the hook easily."
"What else other than the test result did you prepare to prove your words?"
"We were well aware that anyone could fake the result, but we knew facial features would never deceive. Not only did we use
our father's and the b*stard's hair for the test, but we also found the biological father of the b*stard. Knowing my father and his
mistress would attend the party, we brought the man with us. We then tricked him into standing next to the b*stard, right in front
of all the guests."