Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 352

The two seemed to be in a heated debate.

Nathan glanced at Madeleine, who was lounging on the couch, his gaze icy and intense.

He left the room, the door left ajar and descended the stairs.

"Hayden, my mind is made up. It's late and you should head home."

Keith's face was hardened, his expression as cold as ice.

Upon entering the room, he didn't even sit down, and he headed directly for the stairs. He had only taken a few steps when he saw his father descending from upstairs, his face flushed, possibly from too much whiskey.

"Big bro."

Upon seeing his older brother, Hayden bypassed Keith, accelerating up the stairs. "Big bro," he started, "Pete made a small mistake, and now Keith's shipping him off to a branch office." Keith responded icily, "Pete's mistake wasn't small. He cost the company a billion-dollar deal."

Hayden ignored Keith, who never missed an opportunity to put his son down. Pete was exceptionally talented, holding a vice president position when he first entered the company. However, after the incident with Keith's wife and sister-in-law, he was severely disciplined by Nathan.

Ever since then, Pete had been the target of Nathan and Keith's retaliation. He held the title of vice president but was reduced to doing an assistant's work under Keith's thumb and at his mercy. Hayden was seething with resentment.

"Big bro, Pete has been working like a mule for the company, even harder than Keith. He just made a judgement error this time, and it cost the company a billion-dollar deal. We, the Blue family, can afford to lose that deal. Keith has already blown up at Pete in the office, threatening to dock his bonus for a year. Wasn't that enough?"

Even though Pete was being sent to a branch office as a manager, the competition within the Blue Corporation was fierce. If Pete were kicked out of the headquarters, it wouldn't be easy for him to return. Nathan tried to suppress his discomfort, speaking in a low voice. "Let's deal with company matters tomorrow at the office. Hayden, I'm not feeling well, and Madeleine is sleeping in my room. Could you please send her back to the Porter family?"

Hayden instinctively responded, "Don't we have plenty of rooms here? Madeleine often stays overnight. Why not let her stay since she's already asleep? Why bother sending her back to the Porter family?" He then asked with concern, "Big bro, are you okay? Your face was quite red. Do you have a fever?"

Keith, too, looked at his father. After a moment of silence, he said, "If you're not feeling well, we could call a doctor. Or we could go to the hospital."

Nathan touched his own face. It was burning. He continued, "I think I caught a cold yesterday. I took some medicine, thinking it would help, but it seemed I have a high fever now. Keith, could you take me to the hospital? It's late, we shouldn't disturb Dr. Louis."

Dr. Louis was the Blue family's personal physician.

But neither Nathan nor Keith trusted him.

Whenever they fell ill, they would go to their family's private hospital. The director of the hospital was a trusted confidant of Nathan's.

"Okay."

Although the father-son relationship seemed strained, Keith was genuinely concerned for his father's well-being. Despite his exhaustion from work, he immediately assisted his father down the stairs and out the door.

Leaving Hayden behind, they departed. Before leaving, Nathan reminded his brother to send Madeleine back to the Porter family.

After they left, Hayden muttered to himself, "She's stayed here countless times before. She wouldn't be clinging onto Nathan so tightly if she was concerned about her reputation." Nonetheless, he went upstairs.

He was curious as to why Nathan insisted on sending Madeleine home. Had something happened between them?

Madeleine had claimed that she hadn't slept with Nathan yet, a fact that surprised Hayden. He had assumed that they had been intimate on numerous occasions.

Perhaps Madeleine had tried to seduce Nathan again that night, which was why he had insisted on sending her home.

Hayden was skeptical that Madeleine was merely asleep.

Given Nathan's fever, wouldn't Madeleine be by his side, caring for him? It would be strange if she were asleep.

Upon reaching the second floor, Hayden approached Nathan's room. The door was slightly ajar. As he pushed open the door, a wave of perfume hit him. He took a deep breath, unable to identify the fragrance. Seeing that the windows were closed, he entered the room and opened a window. He muttered to himself, "What's with all this perfume? It stinks."

He didn't understand why women were so fond of perfume. His wife was the same, always delighted when he bought her a new bottle. The women he kept on the side were no different, always appreciative of perfume and skincare products.

Madeleine was no exception.

After opening the window, Hayden returned to the couch, looking down at Madeleine.

Noticing that her face was flushed, he frowned, "Are you running a fever, too?"

He bent down and touched Madeleine's forehead. It was warm, but not as if from a high fever.

Could it be that she had drugged Nathan and had accidentally consumed the drug herself?

As these thoughts raced through Hayden's mind, he quickly withdrew his hand.

Just then, Madeleine stirred awake.

She had been knocked out by Nathan earlier.

Although she was awake, she was still groggy. Upon seeing Hayden, she instinctively reached out for him, pulling him down on top of her.

Before he could react, she embraced him, kissing him fervently.

She murmured, "Hot. so hot."

Hayden felt a wave of heat as well.

What was Nathan thinking, not even turning on the air conditioning in such heat?

Madeleine was a beauty, her alluring figure enhanced by the subtle hint of feminine perfume. She was locked in a passionate embrace with Hayden, a man known for his weakness for beautiful women. It was no secret that he had a string of mistresses stashed away.

Despite their close working relationship, Hayden had never dared to entertain thoughts about Madeleine. This was partly due to her status and partly because she was practically attached at the hip to his elder brother. As much as Hayden was a womanizer, even he knew better than to covet his brother's woman. It was just like when he first laid eyes on his sister-in-law, the shock of her beauty still fresh in his mind. Now, with Madeleine's fervent advances and an inexplicable spark kindling within him, they were quickly entangled in a heated tryst.

Meanwhile, Nathan, who had managed to slip away unnoticed, watched the scene unfold through his phone, a surveillance feed giving him a live view of the room. A cold smirk played at the corners of his lips as he watched the two of them. This quickly turned into quite the show, and he knew it was only a matter of time before things blew up.

He knew Madeleine better than anyone else. If Hayden crossed the line with her, she wouldn't be thinking about forging closer ties with him. Instead, she would despise him, which would mean she could never become the head of the household. And Hayden's wife, Ashley, was not an easy woman to deal with either.