Veiled Auction Queen: Bidding For His Ex-Wife's Heart

At last, Daniel spoke, his voice heavy with tired surrender. "Fine. Take them. They belong to you now."

Olivia's tears ceased instantly, and she stretched both hands toward him, plainly asking him to pass over every piece of candy.

......

Madison had already been guided upstairs by a hotel staff member arranged by Daniel, and when she reached the door to the suite, a faint ripple of anxiety still stirred in her chest.

After all, the person she was about to face was Daniel.

The staff member pressed the doorbell, the door swung open, and he courteously gestured for Madison to enter.

She drew a steady breath, quietly reminding herself to be fearless, and walked into the suite.

Archie led her closer to where Daniel was seated.

Daniel lifted his eyes and fixed his gaze directly on Madison.

Uneasy, she scanned the room for Olivia, terrified the little girl might be distressed under Daniel's watch.

Instead, she spotted her lounging comfortably on the sofa, cheerfully enjoying several lollipops in different flavors.

She froze in astonishment. Emilia was practically falling apart outside, yet Olivia was inside here, perfectly content and savoring candy.

Shoving the thought aside, Madison quickly stepped forward. "Olivia, Mommy's here."

Olivia raised her head. The instant she saw Madison, she nearly called out "Aunt Madison", but Madison immediately shot her a meaningful glance.

Olivia blinked. Though she had no clue why Madison was pretending to be her mother, she caught the hint at once and played along. "Mommy, you're finally here."

Madison immediately pulled her into her arms.

Daniel observed them quietly. "You're her mother?"

Beneath the sharp weight of his stare, Madison felt her pulse hammering with nervous tension.

Making herself stay calm, she replied, "Yes. I already know what happened. Any damages caused will be completely paid for."

Daniel's eyes narrowed, as if he were attempting to see straight through her.

"You're not the one who spoke to me on the phone," he said.

Madison steeled herself, determined to persuade him and keep her identity from unraveling. "Sir, I was the one who answered your call. Are you implying that I'm not her mother?"

Daniel gave no response. He simply kept watching her, the unspoken pressure in the room growing heavier.

"If you doubt me," she said calmly, "you can call that number again right now and verify it."

Olivia looped her arms around Madison's neck and asked, "Mommy, can we go now?"

"Just wait a little, dear. I need to finish handling this with him first, and then we'll leave," Madison replied.

There was hardly any reason for Daniel to challenge Madison's claim, especially since Olivia had addressed her as "Mommy".

Yet Daniel was not a man who could be fooled so easily. "Then tell me why your daughter scrawled those words on my car, accusing me of being a heartless man who abandoned his wife and children! Do we even know each other?"

In truth, Madison and Daniel had encountered one another several times before, though that had been six or seven years ago, and naturally he didn't recognize her now.

"I'm sorry. She mistook your car for someone else's," Madison said.

"Mistook my car for someone else's?" Daniel repeated skeptically.

"Yes," she answered, drawing a slow breath as she forced tears to gather in her eyes. "Actually, her father betrayed me. When my mother passed away, he was busy celebrating his mistress's birthday instead. After I found out, I left him and took our children with me. Today, you were dressed very much the way he usually dresses, so my daughter confused you with that bastard."

Daniel's eyebrows knitted into a tight frown. It suddenly struck him that her account bore an unsettling resemblance to an incident from years ago, the time Emilia's mother had passed away while he himself had been busy celebrating Isabel's birthday.

For a brief, passing moment, the thought flickered through his mind that Madison might know something and was quietly making a mockery of him.

Yet almost immediately, he reminded himself that he had never kept a mistress. Nor did he possess the faintest recollection of the woman standing in front of him.

With that in mind, he reasoned that she couldn't possibly be taunting him and that he was merely letting his thoughts run wild.

Madison's explanation sounded plausible enough that Daniel found no obvious fault he could point to.

Even so, whenever his gaze drifted toward Olivia, an odd and persistent sense of familiarity stirred somewhere deep within him.

A faint irritation began to simmer in his chest, and just as he opened his mouth to press the matter further, Archie walked in holding a file that contained someone's profile. "We've located the information on the person you asked us to look into."

It was Amelia's profile.

"Sir, are you done with your questions? I still have things I need to take care of. I'll pay for the damages. Please allow us to leave," Madison said.

Daniel offered no additional response. Taking the file from Archie, he said in a firm tone, "Take care of this situation immediately."

"Yes, sir," Archie answered.

Daniel then carried the file with him into the study.

Outside the hotel, Emilia sat in the car on the verge of panic, because more than twenty minutes had already passed and Madison still had not brought Olivia out.

She knew Daniel was far from an easy man to handle and feared Madison might struggle to deal with him.

"Leo, Asher, can either of you tell what's going on inside?" she asked.

Her sons were constantly tinkering with computers, and Leo in particular had a knack for breaking into surveillance systems.

Leo was already focused on his laptop. Since there were no cameras inside the hotel rooms, they had no way of seeing what was happening in there.

However, he managed to tap into the surveillance feed from the hallway.

He brought up the hotel footage and said, "Aunt Madison went into the room and hasn't come out yet."

Emilia's unease grew even heavier.

A moment later, Madison hurried out of a suite with Olivia cradled in her arms.

"Mom, it's them," Asher said.

The moment Emilia caught sight of Olivia, a powerful sense of relief swept over her.

She pushed the car door open, and Madison quickly slipped inside with the child.

"My dear," Emilia said as she instantly gathered the girl into her arms.

"Mommy." Olivia immediately tucked herself against Emilia's embrace.

Madison released a long breath. "That was way too close."

"What happened?" Emilia asked with worry etched in her voice.

"Just start driving. I'll explain everything on the way," Madison said.

"Alright," Emilia replied.

She settled Olivia in the back seat and started the car.

Inside the hotel, Daniel gazed at the file resting in his hands.