Chapter 40: Behaving Like Children

"Really? Then, quickly apply it to me and let me try it!" Maddie became ecstatic. Her palms were really hurting!

"Well...you can apply it, but it might hurt a bit." Diana said seriously.

Maddie hesitated for a moment, but thought that it's better to endure short-term pain than to suffer for a long time. "It's okay, apply it."

A sly smile flashed in Diana's eyes. Well, you said it yourself! She opened the cap and squeezed out a large blob of transparent ointment into Maddie's swollen palm.

"Ah!!!" As soon as it touched her skin, Maddie felt like her entire hand had been pricked with needles. The pain she had felt before was instantly magnified many times, making her doubt her life. "Why does it hurt so much?" Maddie desperately shook her hand, tears streaming down her face. She looked at Diana in shock, wondering if she was playing a cruel joke on her.

"It hurts so much!" Maddie was in so much pain she felt like rolling on the ground. Serena was scared and quickly helped her up.

"Diana, what kind of medicine did you give Maddie?" Serena was angry and anxious.

"Look, Maddie's palm is less swollen now!" Diana suddenly pointed at Maddie's hand, which had been as swollen as a pig's trotter. Serena took a look and sure enough, the swelling had gone down a bit in just a short time. Was it really effective?! "There's no perfect medicine out there. I just wanted Maddie's hand to heal faster. I didn't expect you, Ms. Stewart, to not believe me!" Diana looked unhappy. "Since you don't believe me, I'll just take it away. But with college starting soon, Maddie's hand probably won't be able to heal in time..."

Maddie snapped back to reality as she heard Diana's words. She couldn't afford to have any problems with her hands as she was going to perform on the piano as a representative of the art troupe during the freshman welcoming party at the university. "Wait... Diana, that's not what my mom meant. We trust you..." Maddie struggled to stand up, her face dripping with sweat from the pain.

Diana chuckled, "Okay, I'll leave it here then. And Maddie, remember to apply it every day!" Suddenly, she added, "Oh, by the way, I just saw a post about Luke on the university forum. He got into trouble again. I'll send you the link on your phone. Check it out later."

"What happened to him?"

"You'll see for yourself. After all, he really likes you. You should care about him, don't you think?" Diana's ambiguous smile made Maddie feel extremely uncomfortable.

"I have nothing to do with Luke..."

"Okay, Maddie, no need to explain. I understand. If there's nothing else, I'll go now." With that, Diana clapped her hands, put her phone in her pocket, and left in a hurry.

As soon as Diana was out of sight, Maddie had Serena open her phone and check Diana's message. To her horror, it was a picture of Luke, beaten and bruised like a pig. Maddie's anger boiled over. What a loser! He was so stupid that she wouldn't even glance at him if she didn't need him for her own benefit!

Serena looked at Maddie's state and sighed, "Stop thinking about it, the most important thing now is to recover from your injury."

Hearing this, Maddie became even more agitated. She looked at the small bottle on the table, her emotions complicated. The medicine was effective, but it was too painful! If it weren't for the university's welcome party, she would prefer to recover slowly. Everything seemed to be going wrong lately!

On the other side, Diana had just left and was laughing uncontrollably. The medicine was indeed effective and, when applied to the wound, it had a soothing and cooling effect. However, Diana had added something to the medicine without Maddie's knowledge, making her suffer even more. After playing a prank on Maddie, Diana happily returned to her room. As soon as she lay down, a message appeared on her phone - the location tracking had been successfully implanted. It seemed that Maddie had opened the link that Diana had sent her. Diana smirked. Now, Maddie's whereabouts were completely under her control!

The next day, Diana got up early. She had thought that John would call her last night, but she received no message. Did he lose interest once he had her? She couldn't let that happen. She decided to go find John today and see what he was up to.

As Diana ate breakfast, she thought about her plan. Her father and Andrew had to go to work early, Colin didn't have the habit of sleeping in, and Ben had to go back to the entertainment company. By chance, the whole family was having breakfast together, without Serena and Maddie.

"Maddie didn't come down today?" Ben was surprised. After all, she had always been a well-behaved and sensible person.

James said solemnly, "She was punished yesterday and can't eat with her hands. Serena is upstairs taking care of her."

"It's good that she didn't come, it's more peaceful!" Ben's handsome face showed a hint of happiness. He spoke out what everyone was thinking. "Who knows if she invited Luke to the engagement party yesterday with good intentions? I don't think she did it with a good heart..."

"I agree," Andrew continued. "Maddie's words yesterday, if carefully considered, cannot withstand logical scrutiny and cannot fully explain her actions."

"Hmm." Colin didn't say anything more because he knew their father's character, and there was no direct evidence to prove what they were saying, no matter how much they said.

Sure enough, James glared at them and said, "Nonsense, you have no filter in your mouths! We cannot easily develop a sense of mistrust towards them. They are all our family, and we should give each other trust!"

Diana stayed silent, quietly eating her bread. She knew that her father was a traditional and responsible person. Although he had not voluntarily married Serena, since they were together, he considered them a family. Diana had created this mess herself, and she had to make her father see the true face of the Stewart mother and daughter. Then... she would kick them out!

Hearing their father's words, Ben stuck out his tongue and said nothing. Colin sat next to Diana and handed her a glass of milk. Diana smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Colin!"

Ben took advantage of the opportunity and immediately rushed over to take up the other seat next to Diana, then shoved a piece of bacon into her mouth. "Come on, Diana, this is your brother's love."

Diana was choked and almost rolled her eyes. She finally managed to swallow it down and saw Andrew with an apple in front of her.

"Andrew, I can't eat anymore."

At these words, Andrew made a plaintive expression: "Does Diana not like your oldest brother anymore?"

Diana: Are you serious???

"Why accept Ben and Colin's feeding but refuse me?"

"This... Andrew, are you acting a bit too much?" Diana had no choice but to open her mouth wide and bite the apple in Andrew's hand.

Andrew instantly smiled with joy: "That's more like it~"

James looked at his three sons vying for attention and shook his head. Even though all his sons were grown adults, whenever they were with their sister Diana, they would revert back to behaving like children. James didn't bother to intervene and instead enjoyed watching them act like they did when they were young. It was almost as if time stood still when they were together, and James relished in those moments.

Suddenly, he remembered something: "Last time I was home, I saw a motorcycle parked in the spare garage. Whose is it?"

"A motorcycle?" Everyone except Diana looked a bit surprised. Diana almost sprayed the apple residue from her mouth. Oh no, she forgot to tell Andrew!

"Ahem~" She pounded her chest a few times, swallowed her food, and then grabbed Andrew's arm. "Andrew, is this motorcycle yours?"

As she spoke, she quietly twisted Andrew's arm. Andrew immediately understood her meaning. He rubbed his nose and calmly took the blame: "Um, it's mine."

"You have a car, why did you buy a motorcycle?" James was a bit confused.

"I use it for work." Andrew opened his eyes wide and bullshitted, "Sometimes there's traffic, so I bought a motorcycle."

James gave him a strange look. Riding a motorcycle in a suit? Young people's tastes are getting weirder and weirder. With Andrew's cover, Diana temporarily escaped the trouble.

After breakfast, the family prepared to go out and do their own things. Ben clung to Diana's hand, expressing his many reluctances. In the end, Andrew pinched his neck and threw him into the car.

After saying goodbye to Ben, Diana had the driver Lynn take her to John's private villa. It was called a villa, but it was actually located in a secluded area outside the city, for dozens of miles around were all Matthews family's territories. A European-style mansion stood in the middle, looking like a castle. When Diana arrived, she stood in front of the villa's door, feeling a mix of emotions. This place was too memorable for her. In her previous life, John brought her here and imprisoned her.