Chapter 14 Leaving Madelyn For Alicia

Later that night, Alicia's fingers were still hurting, and she was tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep. Louis lay next to her, holding her hand. Suddenly, his phone vibrated, and he tried to quietly silence it so as not to wake Alicia. He slipped his arm out from under her neck and stood up, planning to step outside and take the call. But Alicia woke up and looked at him with groggy eyes, asking, "What's up?"

Louis pointed to his phone and said, "Gotta take this call."

"Just take it here, don't go outside. It's cold out there," she said, trying to be considerate.

Louis just nodded and answered the call. "Morris, what's goin' on?"

Morris Monroe, Madelyn's brother, said politely, "Sorry to disturb you so late. Maddie got her hand smashed with a hammer, and her four fingers are all broken up really bad. She's in rough shape and crying, asking to see you. Can you come see her now?"

Louis's face changed, and he sat up straight, asking, "When did this happen?"

"Over two hours ago," Morris answered.

Louis frowned and said, "I'll be right over."

"Thanks. I'll send you the ward number on your phone."

After hanging up, Louis quickly started getting dressed. Alicia could tell that he wasn't coming back tonight and that he would be going to take care of Madelyn, just as he did for her. The thought made her heart ache like a knife.

Suddenly, Alicia remembered what Jaheer had told her that she needed to be more wild and aggressive if she wanted to keep up with Madelyn. But at this moment, she couldn't play coy. Instead, she decided to play the part of the weak one, since she had just had surgery and was already weak. So she threw her arms around Louis's waist and buried her head in his chest, making it clear that she didn't want him to leave.

Louis stopped getting dressed and stroked her head, his voice softening as he said, "Listen to me, I'll just go take a look and then come back."

Alicia refused to let go, clinging to his waist and pleading softly, "Can't you wait until daylight to go? I'll go with you when it's light out."

Louis frowned slightly, his tone tinged with mild annoyance. "You're usually so levelheaded. What's gotten into you tonight?"

Alicia knew that she was being unreasonable, but sometimes, it was OK to be unreasonable. In their three years of marriage, she had never been unreasonable, but tonight had to be the first time. This moment had less to do with love and more to do with the competition between her and Madelyn.

Alicia had decided to make Madelyn suffer and let her know her intentions clearly. She had never hated someone so much in her life.

Louis waited for a while, but seeing that she still wouldn't let go, he pried her fingers away one by one and got dressed. Then he left.

Alicia stared at the closed door. Her self-esteem shattered as she thought, "He couldn't even wait two hours until daylight. I'm just a stand-in for Madelyn. No matter what I do, I can never compare to his true love in his heart."

Alicia laughed bitterly to herself as she endured the pain in her hand. She got out of bed, and locked the hospital room door. She lay back down, her eyes red and her heart heavy.

Louis strolled into Madelyn's hospital room to find her in agonizing pain, curled up on the bed. Her face was drained of color, her eyes swollen and exhausted. Four of her fingers were in splints, and her hand was so swollen that the skin was stretched thin, revealing gruesome wounds.

Bella was bawling her eyes out, and Madelyn's dad, Rex Monroe, was puffing on cigarettes by the window.

When Louis caught sight of him, Morris welcomed him with a courteous greeting, "Louis, it's not the best time for you to come over; it's pretty inconvenient."

"No worries," Louis replied nonchalantly and approached Madelyn's bedside, gently calling out to her, "Hey, Maddie."

Madelyn's vacant stare slowly turned to meet Louis's gaze. At the sight of him, she broke down in tears. Louis sat beside her, softly patting her arm and whispered, "Stay strong, Maddie."

Tears streamed down Madelyn's face as she cried out, "Louis, my hand is ruined."

Louis tried to comfort her, "You're young. It'll heal."

Madelyn wailed, "It's a comminuted fracture, Louis. The doctor had to piece my fingers back together with bone fragments. I seriously doubt if I can hold anything with the hand ever again. My life is over."

Louis looked at her, recalling Alicia's heartbroken expression when she suffered the same injury.

He wiped away her tears with a tissue and reassured her, "Don't cry. You'll find a way out."

Madelyn cried even harder, "And where is that way? Gosh…"

Louis tried to console Madelyn for some time, but she just kept crying. After almost an hour, Louis became restless, realizing Alicia must be fuming.

He pulled out a bank card from his wallet and placed it on the table, "I came in a hurry and didn't bring anything. Please take this. The password is my birthday. It's too late now, and Alicia is waiting for me in the hospital room. I'll come to see you tomorrow."

Madelyn stopped crying abruptly, staring at him in disbelief. "Louis, I'm seriously injured, and you still want to leave?"

Louis nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'll come back tomorrow."

Madelyn's eyes welled up with tears again, begging, "Please don't go."

Louis gently withdrew his hand from hers, which still had a needle inserted in the back, and said in a soothing tone, "Be good. You have your folks and brother with you, but Alicia only has me."

Madelyn wasn't satisfied, "But doesn't she have her mom?"

Louis replied, "Her grandma is in the hospital, so her mom is taking care of her these days."

Madelyn was deeply disappointed. "Louis, you've changed. You used to care about me so much. When I had a fever, you stayed up all night with me." She broke down into tears again, and Morris scowled, "Louis, you should head back now. We'll take care of Maddie."

Louis gave Morris a nod before standing up and asking, "Who did this? Did they catch the person?"

Morris shook his head and replied, "No. Someone ambushed Maddie in the parking lot. As soon as she stepped out of her car, they knocked her out, dragged her to a corner, and smashed her left hand with a hammer. They didn't steal anything valuable or violate her. It's clearly an act of revenge."

Louis pondered for a moment before saying, "I'll send someone to look into this."

Morris responded, "No need; we've already reported it to the cops. Thanks, though."

"Alright." Louis turned and left the room.

As soon as the door shut, Madelyn grabbed a pillow and chucked it on the ground. She wailed and cried so hard that she couldn't even catch her breath. "Louis and I have been childhood sweethearts for over ten years. Why can't we measure up to his three-year marriage with Alicia? Damn, I hate her. I hate that hick!"

Morris picked up the pillow and placed it back on the bed, saying, "When Louis was with you, he was young and driven. But when he was with Alicia, it was the most trying and challenging time of his life. As the saying goes, true love shines during tough times. Your ten-plus years don't compare to their three years."

Madelyn suddenly lost control of her emotions and yelled, "Why are you also taking his side? Are you my real brother or Alicia's?"

"I'm just analyzing the situation, not taking sides," Morris said calmly.

Madelyn's crying only got worse.

Rex stood by, gloomily saying, "Morris, why don't you just shut it? Can't you see that your sister's hands are injured?"

Louis returned to Alicia's room and pushed the door, but it was locked from the inside. He knocked for a while, but Alicia refused to answer. Louis rubbed his forehead and asked the bodyguard to unlock the door.

After a few minutes, the lock clicked open. Louis walked into the room, but Alicia was lying with her back to him, ignoring him. Louis changed into his pajamas and cuddled up to her. When Alicia tried to get away, he held on tight. Her eyes were puffy, and her voice was icy when she said, "Get the divorce papers ready for tomorrow."

Louis held her hand tightly, and after a long silence, he spoke, "I'm beat. Let's get some shut-eye."

In the morning, Louis joined Alicia for breakfast. He caressed her face with tenderness in his eyes and said, "I've got a meeting to attend, but I'll be back for lunch."

Alicia turned away and said dismissively, "Don't bother. Don't forget about the divorce papers."

Louis's face fell, "Grandma's been ill lately, and your hand's injured again. We'll talk about it later." He got up, got dressed, and left. After the doctor redressed her bandages, Alicia grabbed a book and sat quietly on the bed.

At noon, the bodyguard knocked on the door and said, "Mrs. Martinez, Mrs. Bella Monroe is outside and wants to see you."

Alicia remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Let her in."

The door opened, and Bella walked in, eyes swollen with anger as she glared at Alicia and ground her teeth, "It was you, isn't it?"

Alicia was stunned, "What?"

Bella shot back, "You're the one who paid someone to smash Maddie's hand with a hammer, right?"

Alicia paused for a moment before calmly replying, "No, it wasn't me."

Bella stormed over and grabbed her by the collar, "You heartless monster! You stole Maddie's man and then had her hand smashed! I only have one daughter, and I've been as protective as a hawk since she was born. But you actually had the nerve to do this to her! I'm gonna take you down today!"

Doris rushed out of the bathroom, trying to pull Bella off Alicia. But even as she was being dragged away, Bella kept charging at Alicia, cussing like a sailor.

Alicia listened patiently for seven or eight minutes before turning to Doris and said, "Doris, can you step aside for a moment?"

Doris was surprised but stepped aside as Alicia grabbed the cup on the bedside table and hurled it at Bella's face. The steel thermos hit her nose with a loud smack, and blood gushed out immediately.

Alicia pointed to the door and demanded, "Get out!"