Becoming A Step-son's Mistress

Chapter 4

Arther's POV

"Mr. Edward Madison, your father wants you to go to the study."

"Alright." I ignored Mark and continued to explain to Chris what I was working on. 15 minutes later he finally stopped sweating with his pen in his hand.

"Okay, I've got it all done. Also, Mrs. Davis wrote you a letter, and it's already on the desk in your study."

"Got it, I'll write back. You may go now." He was relieved and hurriedly packed up the mess of papers and left the room.

I grabbed my coffee and walked to the window to admire the view. Mark, who had been standing in the corner of the room for 15 minutes, spoke up again, "Sir, your father has been waiting for you for a long time." Onlookers may think he was just reminding me. But I could tell that Mark was warning me. The corners of my mouth curled up and I didn't turn my head.

"Mark, how many years have you been a butler at this place?"

"Forty years sir."

"My father has always been very fond of you."

"I'm very honored to be Mr. Madison's butler." He didn't look directly at me, but I clearly sensed his smugness.

"Is that so? Well now remember, he's dying."

​I was uninterested in his response, I walked straight past him out of the room toward the study.

The moment I opened the study door a faint scent hit me, with a hint of blood in it. I walked to the chair opposite my father and sat down, idly surveying the room's decor. The man sitting across from me looked at me discontentedly, "What took you so long?"

"Father." I didn't answer his question and gave him a casual smile.

He took a deep breath before speaking, "Do you know why I called you back?"

"You made it very clear in your letter."

"Then I guess you've thought it through too."

Without waiting for my answer, his face eased a lot and his words began to carry contempt.

"You are my son, the sole heir to my estate and property, and all that I have will belong to you."

"Of course, if you really have no other sons."

"I do have only one son, you." His tone was condescending. "But the inheritance is contingent on you moving back to your country, including the money you took with you in the first place, and you staying by my side at all times." I felt ridiculous as I watched him lift his head and take it for granted that I should obey his request.

"So you're making a deal with me?"

"It's not a deal, you are my son, and you should serve me by my side at the end of my life. As for the money, it was mine wasn't it?"

He was really brazen, when I left I took the property my mother left me, and I didn't touch a single thing of his, and now he claims that this money is also his.

"Well, how about..."

"You give me the property properly while I make you feel better for the rest of your life."

He was irriated. "Don't you dare!"

"Let try it, you won't think you can control me with your little fortune, do you?

I squeezed his shoulder to bring him closer to the edge of the balcony and slowly pulled him back and pushed him back to the table after seeing him panic and prepare to call for help.

"I think you might want to think about my offer, Father." I smiled at him as I finished.

"You really like your shameless mom."

He looked at my face with resentment, and had he been about ten years younger, he might have strangled me to death.

"Don't forget I am your son too."

He growled and told me to get out. I walked out the door just in time to see Mark downstairs in the living room with some servants, that woman I saw last night hadn't shown up.

"Mark, pour me a cup of coffee and bring it up." The maid next to me was just about to answer, so Mark stopped her with a wink and nodded at me. "Yes, sir, in a minute."

I let out a snort; the man was unexpectedly smooth.

Cynthia's POV

I had a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from.

In the dream I was watching the sunset with my mom and dad on a merchant ship at sea, we were standing on the deck with the sea breeze blowing, and they were looking at me with relief not far away, I felt happier than ever, but the next moment, pirates attacked the ship with the cargo and my parents died tragically in front of me.

They were covered in blood sitting on the boat, and a large hole in their chest, I wanted to plug their wounds with my hands and stop the constantly gushing blood, but the blood seemed endless, I looked up in despair and found that the person beneath me had turned into dead Jeff, followed by Mr. Madison, and finally into the cold-blooded monster, Arther.

Fear made me scream out, and I realized that my body had been soaked in a cold sweat, the wounds had not been cleaned in time, and the clotted blood stuck my skin and sheets together in what looked like a mess.

I hadn't dreamed about Jeff in a long time.

I had dreamed of him every day for almost a year since he was killed and then dumped on the lawn of the estate, he looked at me with dead eyes, his mouth constantly spitting out black bits of entrails while constantly asking me to come with him, promising that he would take me away, and the more times he repeated it, the more his body rotted away.

I didn't dare think about it anymore and turned to get up and clean my wounds, medicate them then put on my outdated clothes and slowly walk down to the attic.

After a night's rest, I was barely able to stand, though not at all enough for me, I had to get up because I was already up late, but to my surprise, all the rooms were already cleaned, so I went into the kitchen to prepare lunch for everyone.

By the time I brought the last of the finished dishes to the table, Mr. Madison was already sitting in his usual spot with a somber look on his face and Arther happened to walk downstairs and sat down. I looked down and stepped aside to try not to be noticed, after yesterday's ordeal, I really didn't want to be noticed by these two again. But things didn't go as I expected, and before I could stand I heard Mr. Madison call my name.

"Cynthia, come here." His voice was softer than usual, but I shivered unconsciously, not daring to move.

"Sir, I..."

"Come here, my love."

Arther's gaze also stopped on me, and I just had to walk stiffly to Mr. Madison's side. He didn't turn his gaze to me but looked steadily across at Arther.

"I didn't get to introduce you yesterday, son, this is my wife, your stepmother, Cynthia."

Arther's low magnetic laugh came from across the room, ending with a meaningful glance at me.

"Cynthia, of course, we already met yesterday."

Mr. Madison looked at me fondly, as if I were really his beloved wife.

"I met her five years ago in an auction house, she looked lonely and miserable at that time, I could not bear it, so I brought her back, thinking to give her a place to live. I didn't expect her to let me marry her, and she willingly took care of me all the time as an expression of her gratitude, so I let her stay."

I looked up incredulously when I heard what Mr. Madison said, and Mr. Madison looked at me with a threatening face. I didn't know why he was saying that, but thinking about it, I knew that Arther had lost her mother and held an unknown amount of hatred for the woman who occupied the position.

"Right? Sweetheart." Mr.Madison smiled, and his eyes were indeed threatening which made me fearful.

I just had to bitterly follow his words and continue.

"Yes, Mr. Madison treats me well, I am very grateful and we… are also very much in love." I couldn't help but turn my head and run right into Arther's gaze.

I felt as if I was standing naked in front of him, my ears flushed with shame, and I lowered my head to avoid his gaze. At the same time, I was a little sad. I couldn't refute Mr.Madison's words, even though I knew it was a lie.

"How touching, in that case, I really should get along with Cynthia." He gave a bewildering smile, and all eyes in this room unconsciously followed him.

He looks a lot like the young Mr. Madison, but his looks are obviously better, I think because his mother was also a well-known beauty, so their son is naturally a handsome man, his tall, strong body makes people feel very safe, thick and upward eyebrows and thin lips somehow make him tinted with a dangerous temperament.

He pulled back the chair beside him, and then his eyes looked straight at me.

"How can the hostess of the manor stand there like a servant, sit down."

In the face of his invitation, my sanity told me I'd better not make any move, but my foot took a step forward uncontrollably.

Arther noticed my movement, and the smile on his face grew deeper and deeper, as if he was looking at a prey foolishly ready to throw herself into the trap, and I instantly came to my senses, and the memories of last night flooded my mind, causing my heart to sting again.

This man is really dangerous.

Mr.Madison then stared at Arther and said word for word, "She can't because she is my wife and will stand by my side and serve me."

A chill ran down my spine.

Arther snickered unsurprisingly at my flinching movement, not taking the warning in Mr. Madison's words seriously. He got up and walked towards me, the sound of his footsteps gradually approaching made me tense up and not dare to look up, the only sound in my ears at that moment was my rapid breathing and the sound of my heart beating like a drum.

A dozen seconds later, he stood beside me, which made me even more tormented.

His shadow loomed over me, I didn't know what he wanted to do, I could only pluck up the courage to ask, but before I could ask, a force grabbed my hand, and immediately a sharp pain came from my wrist so that I could not help but cry out in pain.

My wrist was dislocated.

"Ah!"

Mr.Madison: "Arther! You ......"

Arther frowned slightly, seemingly not expecting me to react that much, my face was full of cold sweat brought on by the pain, in fact, his force was not heavy, but since I had only taken a severe beating not long ago, my wrist itself was dislocated, and he squeezed it so much, just in time to aggravate my old injury.

"My bad, did you hurt?" He quickly regained his expression, a look of indifference, and gently loosened his wrist, wiping his fingers with a handkerchief one by one, as if he was disgusted to touch my skin.

The first time I saw him, he was not the least bit guilty or remorseful, but he was smiling like a demon. Mr. Madison, who looked very ugly, said, "Of course, she is your wife, but her hand is so badly injured, I'm afraid she can't do such delicate work, ask someone else to do her work."

"Lunch is very delicious, enjoy the meal, I have to go first."

He looked up and exchanged a glance with Mark, then left the place with ease.

The atmosphere in the whole hall was suffocatingly oppressive.

It took a while for Mark to see Mr. Madison take a deep breath before he let another "sweet" maid take over my duties, and the pain prevented me from thinking about it anymore, but it was clear to me that the day was over.