My Deceptive Wife: The Bumpkin With Endless Mysteries

The flashy boxer shorts in Madelynn's hand caught Ethan's eye, and his face tightened. Everything about her struck him as vulgar, cheap, and completely classless.

Why Eleanor insisted on marrying him off to someone like her was beyond him.

Ethan had no patience left for a reply. He walked straight past Madelynn and made for the door, unwilling to remain in the room with her any longer.

"Hey, where are you off to? You still haven't shown me which bedroom we'll share once we're married. I need to get my quilt on the bed!"

For a moment, Ethan stopped. However, he soon continued toward the exit without so much as a glance behind him.

The front door closed behind Ethan, and a pleased smile appeared on Madelynn's face.

From everything she had heard, Ethan was difficult to please and painfully picky about every detail of his life. Naturally, he would have even higher standards for the woman who would be living with him.

There was no doubt in Madelynn's mind that he would convince Eleanor to call off the engagement.

Her gaze wandered around the private residence. The elegant but simple decor revealed the owner's flawless taste. From the table, she took an expensive scented candle and inhaled its fresh pine fragrance, which reminded her of the air after a rainstorm. Almost immediately, the scent eased her tension.

Sooner or later, the Phillips family would kick her out. Until that happened, she planned to take full advantage of everything the estate offered.

By the time Ethan stopped, he had put considerable distance between himself and the residence. Some of his wounds had split open again, and small bloodstains dotted his white shirt.

Resting in bed was what he should have been doing. Still, staying beneath the same roof as Madelynn was more than he could stand.

After taking a deep breath, Ethan gave a quick signal. One of the mercenaries stepped out from a hidden spot nearby at once. "What would you like us to do, Mr. Phillips?"

His eyes shifted toward the residence among the thick greenery. "Give her a good scare. Make sure she runs back to the Fosters crying."

Meanwhile, one of the maids had drawn a bath for Madelynn. Warm steam and the scent of costly bath oils drifted through the bathroom.

Madelynn slipped into the water with a sheet mask covering her face and let out a long sigh of pleasure. Wealthy people certainly knew how to make themselves comfortable. She had no clue how long the Phillips family would let her remain there. However, she meant to enjoy everything she could before they showed her the door.

"Madelynn, are you even listening to me?" Keith Brown, one of her subordinates, spoke through the phone beside the bathtub.

The bath had distracted Madelynn so much that Keith's report about his investigation over the past few days had nearly slipped her mind. She sat upright, reached for the phone, and answered, "I'm listening. Go ahead with your plan."

As Madelynn prepared to hang up, Keith stopped her, and concern crept into his voice.

"Be careful over there, Madelynn. I heard Ethan's place is haunted."

Madelynn's eyes traveled over the polished fixtures and spotless tiles. The luxurious bathroom hardly looked like the sort of place where ghosts would linger.

"Apparently, Ethan tortures people there and kills innocent victims," Keith added. "Rumor has it their spirits can't leave the estate, so they attack anyone who comes inside."

"You don't actually believe that garbage, do you?" Madelynn said with a tired sigh. "Ghosts aren't..."

Something crashed before she could finish.

Beside the bathtub, the wineglass a maid had placed on a small table now lay shattered on the floor. Its red contents slowly flowed across the tiles.

Every sound in the bathroom seemed to vanish.

No one else was there. So who had knocked the glass down?

Madelynn immediately ended the call and snatched up a bath towel. After wrapping it securely around her body, she examined the bathroom and spotted a window that had been left slightly open.

Outside the window, dark clouds hung low, and darkness had swallowed the grounds. Several pale figures stood faintly among the trees, covered in blood and disfigured beyond recognition.

Keith's words surfaced in her mind. According to the rumors, the souls of Ethan's victims could not escape the estate and preyed on anyone who dared to enter.

Ready to defend herself, Madelynn backed away and quickly weighed several ways to take them down.

Ghosts did not exist as far as she was concerned. Whoever stood outside had to be wearing disguises, and one of her enemies had probably sent them to hurt her.

Waiting around for an attack made no sense. Madelynn chose to make the first move.

She climbed out the window and raced toward the spot where the figures had appeared.

Her sudden charge caught them completely off guard. None of them had time to fight back as she easily brought each one down.

Several disfigured bodies now lay scattered on the ground. Madelynn studied them briefly before calling Keith, who soon reached Ethan's residence with several members of their team.

"Bring them back for questioning. Find out if they'll finally tell us who's behind the attacks."

Keith gave a quick nod. "Got it. Are you sure you still want to stay here?"

Madelynn confirmed it with a nod. She planned to remain at the Phillips Estate until Ethan ended their engagement.

One thing still required her attention first.

A security camera nearby caught Madelynn's eye, and its red light continued to blink. Every piece of evidence from the attack had to disappear before the Phillips family grew suspicious.

Finding the security room inside the Phillips family's main residence took longer than Madelynn expected. She erased the relevant footage, slipped out unnoticed, and started back toward Ethan's residence.

Madelynn turned into another hallway and nearly collided with the refined butler she had met earlier that afternoon.

"Ms. Foster? Why are you here?" he asked with clear surprise.

Before Madelynn could invent an explanation, the butler asked, "Have you heard what happened to Mrs. Phillips, too?"

His question gave Madelynn the excuse she needed. She nodded and said, "Yes."

A troubled sigh escaped the butler. "Come with me. I'll take you to her."

Worry kept him talking throughout the walk.

"Mrs. Phillips could've asked one of the staff members to bring her whatever she wanted. She didn't need to get those old photo albums herself. She fell all the way down from the attic. I hope she'll be alright."

They soon reached the second-floor hallway below the attic, where several people had gathered. Eleanor lay at the center of the crowd. Violent convulsions shook her body, and sweat streamed down her face.

"Mr. Phillips, I've called Dr. William Carter," the butler said to Ethan. "He said he'll be here within half an hour."

Among the crowd, Ethan spotted Madelynn. Her reason for being there made no sense to him, but Eleanor was getting worse too quickly for him to question her.

"Thirty minutes is out of the question. Give him fifteen," Ethan instructed coldly. "If Grandma doesn't make it, all of you will answer for it, and so will Carter."

Not a single person dared to speak. Fear left the household staff rooted in place as they watched Eleanor and worried helplessly.

Severe spasms had seized Eleanor's muscles right after the fall. She had initially managed to cry out in pain and order the staff to call a doctor. Her consciousness was now fading, and she could no longer form a word.

She was in critical condition. Another wasted second could be the difference between life and death.

Fear held everyone else back, but Madelynn stepped through the crowd and bent down to examine Eleanor.

"Stay away from her!" Ethan snapped. "You might make her injuries worse."

His warning made Madelynn stop. She met his gaze with a cold look and blurted out, "You really think your grandma has another fifteen minutes? I won't hurt her. She and my mother were close, even with the age difference between them. If my actions cost Eleanor her life, you can have mine."

For a brief moment, Ethan said nothing. The woman before him seemed nothing like the one he had encountered that afternoon.

Something Eleanor had once mentioned came back to him as well. Corinne Jones, Madelynn's biological mother, had studied under a master of an old school of traditional medicine and eventually became an expert herself.

Was it possible that Corinne had taught Madelynn too?