Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law

Chapter 337: Close Save

Marianne breathed a sigh of relief as she was informed of the task she had given her assistant as she disconnected the call. Then, she looked at Melody who was was busy eating the ’cake’ that Adam brought her and glared at her, scolding coldly, "Look at you. You want to pretend to be Melanie, but you don’t even bother to hide evidence. Did you know that the entire video of you arriving at the hospital was available for anyone to see? One look at the video and Adam would know that you are not Melanie. Why are you so thoughtless, Melody?"

Melody looked up at her mother and gave a tremulous smile as she realized that her mother had once again stepped up to protect her. Pushing the cake in front of her, she stood up and went to her, "Are you really going to help me pretend to be Melanie? You’re not going to expose me? Or are you? You’re not angry at me for what happened?"

Marianne gave her daughter a sad look before walking over to her and patting her head. "I can do anything, but I cannot see you harm yourself, Melody. Do you have any idea, how scared mom was when you threatened to harm yourself just now? How can I be angry at you under such circumstances when I know you did what you did to protect yourself?"

"If anything, I’m angry at myself that I could not teach you to be stronger." Marianne paused and then immediately took Melody’s hand in hers, "I won’t reveal anything. But you have to promise me to behave yourself, Melody. You cannot cross the line with Adam. Only in this way will Melanie not blame you when she finds out what she did. Your mother has always covered up for your mistakes and I will continue to always protect you in the future! But breaking your sister’s marriage would be a sin. So,promise me you won’t do it."

Melody let her tears fall and immeidately hugged her mother. " Mama! I thought that with Melanie having returned, you would love me less. Or at least be less tolerant of my mistakes. But that is not so. Thank you, Mama. Thank you for loving me more than anyone."

Marianne Thomas patted her back and sighed as she kissed the top og Melody’s head, a frown on her face and tears in her eyes. "Foolish girl. You’ve been by my side for more than twenty years. I’ve raised you myself. How could I see you suffer?"

Then she wiped her tears and looked moved away, looking at Melody carefully. "Mel, your older sister has suffered a lot as well, with no parents by her side to protect her. And even now she is suffering in your stead. You have to be good to her when she returns. You cannot cling to Adam. Until she comes back, treat it as though you are going to live your lifetime of love in this short period. Okay?"

Melody nodded her head vigorously at that. "Don’t worry, Mother. I won’t create trouble if Melanie returns."

Relieved that Melody was willing to compromise, Marianne nodded, even missing out on the words that Melody uttered, her intentions clear that ’if’ Melanie returned and not when. Instead, she said, "I’ll go now. You take care, okay? And if you fear anything, just come to your Mom."

She stood up to leave but as she would have walked away, she paused at the door, and turned back again. "Also, in a few days, talk to Adam about sending you to me. If you stay with him too long, he might get suspicious. But if you come to us, you can always claim stress and emotional imbalance as excuses. Okay? Now, Melody, tell me- where could this man have taken Melanie? I’ll tell Adam and your father to look up in those places. We should find her as soon as possible, before something untoward happens."

Melody shook her head vigorously then and clenched her hands. Never woudl she tell her mother where Melanie could be found. She knew Cadence hated crowded places so she said, "I don’t know where he might have taken her. I... I think it should be a crowded place so that they would be able to merge easily. Like densely populated areas. He does not have much money..."

Marianne frowned. "Merge? What do you mean merge with the crowd?"

Melody hesitated. She knew she had to say just enough, not too little, not too much. "Just... that if someone wanted to keep her hidden, a place with constant foot traffic would be ideal. A transit hub, maybe a railway station, a large shopping complex, or a market. Somewhere people wouldn’t look too closely." noveldrama

"You’re sure you don’t know anything else, Melody? Where did he take you?" Marianne pressed, her tone sharper and her eyes narrowed.

"I swear it, Mama," Melody whispered, her eyes wide and pleading. "If I knew where she was, wouldn’t I have told you? When he took me to that place that he claimed was his villa, I was asleep. I don’t even know how long we had driven when we arrived there..."

Marianne stared at her for a long moment, her instincts warring with her reason. Finally, she sighed. "Alright. But if anything comes to mind, even the smallest thing, you tell me. Don’t lie to me, Melody. Not now."

Melody nodded quickly, "I won’t. I promise."

There was a moment of silence before Marianne stepped forward and tucked a stray lock of Melody’s hair behind her ear in a small gesture. "You’re still my child, Melody. No matter what lies you’ve told, no matter what role you’re playing now. But remember, pretending to be someone else always comes at a price. And I don’t want you to suffer for it. So, remember what Mom has told you and be careful. Okay?"

Melody nodded at the older woman with a grateful look but when the woman had walked out, she gave a triumphant smile. By now, something ’untoward’ would already have happened to Melanie...