Chapter 12 Madelyn Getting Jealous

Alicia crouched down to pick up the shattered pieces, saying, "No biggie, I accidentally knocked over the vase."

Louis rushed into the bathroom and stopped her. "I got it, don't touch it. You might cut yourself," and pulled her aside, forgetting to hang up his phone.

Alicia handed him a trash bin and said, "Be careful, OK?"

Louis threw a few larger pieces into the bin and replied, "My skin's tough, can't get cut."

Alicia chuckled, "That's just nonsense. Skin can always get cut," and helped him gather the remaining pieces.

Louis stopped her. "Back when I had a terrible temper, I would always throw things around. You must have been so annoyed having to clean up after me all the time."

Alicia's eyes watered at the memory, "No, I didn't mind it at all. Really."

Louis gazed at her. "You're too good to be true."

Alicia smiled, "Don't get too cheesy now."

Madelyn heard their banter through the phone and hung up in frustration. Then she yelled out, "Dammit!"

When Bella saw Madelyn's wrapped finger and pale face, she asked in concern, "What happened to your hand? And why are you so upset?"

"It's fine, just a minor cut," Madelyn grumbled.

Bella persisted, "Then why are you so mad?"

Madelyn rolled her eyes. "All because of some small-town girl who's been Louis' nanny for three years. He's so protective of her. I made a few remarks, and he got all defensive and hung up on me. When she broke the vase, he was more worried about her getting hurt than the vase. He was supposed to take me to the hospital tonight, but he got a call from Jaheer saying that Alicia got into a colleague's car. So he hailed a taxi to find her."

Bella was also puzzled, "If he cares about her so much, then why did he divorce her?"

Madelyn kicked off her high heels, "Who knows. Last time Louis got drunk, he said that the divorce wasn't all because of me, and that mentioning me was just a front. I don't know if he was telling the truth or just talking nonsense."

Madelyn slipped on some slippers and plopped down on the couch, thinking back on the events of the day, getting angrier by the minute.

Bella tried to console her by saying, "Louis married Alicia because she looks like you. It's clear that he still has feelings for you. You're the real deal. Why compare yourself to a fake? Don't rush things. Take your time and give him a chance to accept you again."

Madelyn wrinkled her brow, "But they have such a great relationship. How can I not be impatient?"

"Rushing things won't help. Take your time and think of a plan to win him back," Bella handed her a glass of water.

Madelyn took the glass and grumbled, "It's all your fault. A year ago, when Louis started to recover, I said I wanted to go back and be with him. But you insisted on waiting for a year. And now, they're in love, and I'm left with nothing."

Bella rolled her eyes, "Car accidents have after-effects. If you didn't wait, he could have relapsed, ended up in a wheelchair, and you'd be stuck taking care of him for the rest of your life."

Madelyn fell silent and drank her water.

Bella broke the silence, "Did Alicia take that fat check you gave her?"

"No, she didn't," Madelyn replied.

Bella was shaken and exclaimed, "What the heck? That girl is so greedy! I mean, she was willing to get hitched to a paralyzed dude for two million, and now that she's with Louis, she's acting like she's all that."

As they continued talking, Madelyn's anger boiled up and replied, "You have no idea how cocky she is. She straight up threw the check in my face and bragged about how she could've made ten million even if she didn't marry Louis, just from her own skills."

"Ten million? For real?" Bella snorted, "She thinks she's all that just because she restores old paintings?"

"I did some digging, and turns out her grandpa was a big shot in the industry before he kicked the bucket. She inherited his skills," Madelyn explained.

"So what?" Bella sneered, "If she's disabled, how is she still strutting around like she's the hottest thing on two legs?"

Madelyn's eyes widened, and she glared at her mother, "Mom, don't say that!"

A week later, at Oddities of Time, Alicia locked up the repair room and headed downstairs to grab some grub at a nearby restaurant. She ordered some seafood paella and ate it in silence. Her demeanor was calm and collected, with delicate features and flawless, porcelain skin. Her fingers, long and slender, held the shiny silverware with grace and poise, as she chewed slowly and elegantly.

After finishing her meal, Alicia paid for the tab, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door. She lifted her right hand to push the glass door, but it was tough to budge. She used her left hand to brace herself and pushed harder. Suddenly, a figure outside came rushing in, and with a bang, the door was pushed open.

Alicia tried to pull back, but it was too late. Pain shot up her fingers, and she felt like she was about to pass out. She struggled to stay on her feet, tears streaming down her face, as she crouched down, clutching her injured left hand. The four fingers were swollen and broken, with blood oozing out and staining the ground bright red.

In her daze, she heard a woman's apology, "Oh my god, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do that." The woman's voice was rough, and she was wearing a yellow take-out uniform and a motorcycle helmet. She took out a wad of cash from her bag and put it at Alicia's feet. "This is for your medical expenses. I gotta bounce, but I'll hit you up later, cool?"

Alicia couldn't speak due to the pain, and her tear-filled eyes gazed at her injured hand. She had dedicated almost two decades of her life to preserving the art and techniques of her grandfather. Her hands, which had always been more valuable to her than her own life, had been destroyed in a blink of an eye.

She shivered uncontrollably, with a pale complexion and a mournful expression in her eyes, a look of complete hopelessness. By the time the restaurant owner came over to investigate, the person who had hurt Alicia was long gone. The owner drove her to the hospital, where she received first aid and an X-ray.

And soon, Louis arrived at the hospital. When he got the call that Alicia was hurt, he was barely a third of the way through a meeting, but he didn't hesitate to toss the task to his underlings and bolt out the door.

Alicia was being helped by the restaurant owner as she came out of radiology. She looked like a wilted flower, barely able to keep herself upright, her eyes red from crying. Louis rushed to her side, his heart heavy with worry, but his face a mask of cold fury. He demanded, "Who hurt her? Where's that piece of garbage now?"

The owner, a middle-aged woman, was quaking in her boots as she stuttered, "From what other customers said, it was a delivery driver, and she's long gone."

Louis ground his teeth, commanding his assistant, "Track her down. I don't care if you have to scour every inch of this city. Bring him to me!"

The assistant could tell Louis was on the verge of flipping his lid, so he didn't waste a second. He led a squad to investigate while the restaurant owner hurried to help comb through the security footage.

The X-ray results were slow to arrive, so Louis helped Alicia sit in a chair, cradling her like a precious doll. She was still shaking, her hands and feet like blocks of ice. Louis unbuttoned his suit jacket and draped it over her, holding her tight with a fierce expression.

When the X-ray results finally came in, the doctor explained that Alicia had broken the middle and ring fingers on her left hand, and that she needed surgery. Louis dispatched his team to find the best orthopedic surgeon available.

After an hour-plus surgery, Alicia was moved to a hospital room, with her broken fingers wrapped in a splint, looking like plump carrots. She needed an IV and was in a terrible condition, lying there like a lifeless log, gazing at the ceiling as if the sky had crashed down on her.

Louis silently watched over her for a while, then took a towel and soaked it in warm water, wiping her face and feeding her water and medicine. Alicia was docile, sipping on the water and medicine without a word.

Around 8 pm, the person who had hurt Alicia was caught. The assistant walked up to Louis and whispered something in his ear. Louis grew colder and colder as he listened, his face like a block of ice. When he heard the last part, he gritted his jaw and twitched his eyebrows in anger, taking a deep breath several times to calm down.

Bending down, Louis said to Alicia, "I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back soon."