Chapter 57

“Where are you taking the bags?” Madam Collins demanded, her voice laced with barely contained fury as she watched several men carrying luggage from both the guest room and Adam’s room.
Though the housekeeper had already informed her that Adam had personally ordered for their belongings to be moved, she still refused to accept the reality of their impending departure. If they left now, how would she succeed in keeping them under control? How would they ensure that the bond between Adam and Melanie fractured the way they needed it to?
Her gaze flickered towards the old man as she spoke indignantly, “Father! Do you see this? Instead of showing respect by explaining themselves, they’ve sent people to gather their things so that they can move out. They want the Collins estate, but they refuse to live with the family?”
Before Robert Collins could say something, the two people in question walked in at the right time… or the wrong time, depending on whose point of view one considered.
Madam Collins wasted no time. She immediately turned on Melanie, advancing toward her with sharp, clipped steps, her eyes gleaming with accusation.
“Didn’t you accept Father’s invitation just last week to stay here?” she snapped, her voice biting. “And now, without so much as a proper discussion, you want to sneak away? Is this how you repay his generosity? Do you take this estate for a mere guesthouse, one you can waltz in and out of whenever it pleases you?”
Melanie’s expression darkened. She really really wanted to give this woman a piece of her mind… And then as she watched Adam shrug she realized she could. So, she did.
“Then should I think of it as a prison?” she countered coolly. “One that, once you step into, you can never leave?”
Melanie knew exactly what would happen the moment she dared to answer back. She had learned her lesson well- that Madam Collins did not take kindly to defiance. That woman enjoyed violence—no, she relished it. And her favorite pastime? Slapping Melanie. Over the past three years, she had tried to avoid confrontation with this woman, as a basic defence and also because she’d wanted to save her relationship with Spencer. But now, she didn’t need to avoid anything.
But this time, she was prepared. The second Madam Collins raised her hand to strike, Melanie had every intention of pushing her back and making it clear that she was done being treated like a punching bag.
Yet, she never got the chance.
It wasn’t because Madam Collins had suddenly found it in herself to show restraint. That would have shocked Melanie to the core, of course. No, the older woman had already lifted her hand, fingers curled in anticipation of the slap. But before she could bring it down, her wrist was caught mid-air—firmly, unshakably—by Adam.
He had moved so fast that Melanie barely registered it. She blinked and suddenly she could only see his broad back…
And then he spoke, in a tone so light that if she had not heard his threat, she would have thought he was discussing the weather in a normal conversation,”I really like my wife’s face. So, if you touch her and dirty it or mark it, I’ll have no choice but to break your hand. Please refrain from making me harm you.”
Adam’s words seemed to push Madam Collins over the edge, sending her into a frenzy of uncontrollable rage. Her face twisted with fury, and with a sharp intake of breath, she let out a piercing scream that made everyone wince.
“Adam! Very good! So this is your idea of filial piety?” she spat, her chest heaving as she glared at him. “This is how you repay me? After everything I’ve done for you? I raised you for fifteen years, gave you a home, a name, a future! And in the end, you dare to turn around and threaten your own mother?”
She glared at him and pointing a finger at his shoulder as she continued venomously,” They say a street dog will always remain a street dog, no matter how much you try to dress it up in finery or bring it into a mansion. And you—you’re living proof of that! You ungrateful bas*ard!”
It was as if a light bulb went off in her head. Adam was probably adopted. Even while Melanie was processing this, Adam had let go of Madam Collins wrist as he lenaed down and spoke in a whisper like voice, making Melanie strain to hear what was being said, “Since Grandfather is holding a celebration should I let the world see what an exceptional mother you’ve been to me? Let’s tell them all how wonderfully you’ve raised me, how you treated me with love and kindness, how you shaped me into the man I am today. I’m sure they’d love to hear the stories and see the pictures.”
Madam Collins gasped as he finished the threat while Melanie tried to listen what he was threatening her with. She wanted to find out.
But Adam had already straightened and then announced, ” Melanie and I are a newly wedded couple. We need our space and though the Collins Mansion is not small, we would like our privacy. We will be staying at a hotel for our wedding night and then after the celebration tomorrow, we will go for our honeymoon.”
“You cannot do that!” Madam Collins shouted, shaking her head.
But Adam simply shrugged and questioned her,” Madam! Are you intending to stop us on going for our honeymoon? Or are you intending to join us?”
Madam Collins paled as she heard his words and quickly shook her head, turning to her father in law,” Father. Please. What will the people say when it is made known that there is rife in the Collins family? We have always been living together…”
“Living together? Have you forgotten that for the six years, I have not lived with the family? If I am not mistaken, you even sought to make people forget my existence, so what is this about them talking?”
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