Tangled in His Obsession

Chatper 315

Chapter 315

Magdalen’s face shifted, furrowing her brows at Conway, “Don’t talk like that. Look at how happy your life is now, with your grandkids and great-grandkid… If you want to see me, just give me a call and I’ll swing by. Otherwise, I won’t bother you, don’t want to get on your nerves.”

Conway chuckled and patted his chair, “Are you trying to wind me up?”

Before Magdalen could respond, the sound of footsteps echoed from the stairs. She turned to see Leandro leading Seraphina down the steps.

Seraphina, walking beside Leandro, glanced at Magdalen and quickly composed herself, striding forward with a calm demeanor.

Leandro merely nodded at Magdalen and Terrence, offering no greetings.

Given the relationship between Seraphina and Magdalen, it was difficult for Leandro to treat Magdalen like his real mother after the marriage.

Seraphina remained as obedient as ever, softly calling out, “Mom.”

Magdalen only gave a faint nod without any expression, not bothering to introduce Terrence.

Seraphina looked at Terrence and introduced herself, “Hi, I’m Seraphina.”

“Hi,” Terrence smiled and nodded, “I’m Terrence.”

“I know you,” Seraphina said, “You’re doing great in business and you’re a philanthropist.”

“I’m flattered.” Terrence replied, “How can I match Leandro in terms of success?” Seraphina shared a glance with Leandro and smiled without saying anything else.

The breakfast was a bit awkward between Seraphina and Magdalen, but thankfully, the three men dominated most of the conversation, making the atmosphere lively rather than silent.

Seraphina, however, was unusually quiet. Even Conway noticed her off mood, “Sera, are you feeling all right today?” This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“No,” Seraphina replied, pausing before standing up abruptly, “Excuse me, I need to make a call. I’m gonna go up first.”

Leandro, sitting beside her, showed no reaction to her sudden move.

This wasn’t part of their original plan.

She was supposed to sit quietly at the table, waiting for the arranged nanny to bring down Jasmine’s drawing from upstairs.

But now… she seemed to be wavering.

Indeed, Seraphina was wavering.

Facing Magdalen now, she found it impossible to bring out the painting and test her reaction.

It didn’t feel like-a-test, it felt more like a threat.

Despite having no expectations of Magdalen, she didn’t want to make such a threatening move.

Seraphina turned to head upstairs, but it was too late.

Before she could reach the stairs, the nanny had already brought down her drawing from upstairs.

“Seraphina, didn’t you say you wanted to take this painting back to your gallery?” The nanny asked, “You said not to forget it, but then you just left it lying around. I’ll bring it to the door for you.”

Seraphina quickly walked over, “It’s okay, I got it.”

“No need,” the nanny insisted, “I can handle it. Should I get the driver to put it directly into the car?”

Seraphina paused before replying, “Sure.”

To get to the courtyard from here, she wouldn’t need to pass through the dining room. Magdalen shouldn’t see the painting.

Seraphina glanced towards Magdalen, who was engrossed in her meal, not looking their way.

The nanny strode towards the door with the painting, but then Terrence interjected, “I heard you’re running a gallery. Seems like you’re really putting your heart into it?”

“Of course,” Leandro responded, “The gallery mainly collects works by Seraphina’s father. That painting is one of them.”

At these words, Séraphina froze, looking up at Leandro.

Leandro didn’t look her way, as if he’d just made a casual comment.

Magdalen’s grip on her cup tightened and Terrence’s interest was piqued, “May I see the painting?”

Leandro then turned to Seraphina, who was also looking at him.

They stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds before Seraphina reluctantly let the nanny bring the painting to the table.

When the painting was presented, everyone but Magdalen looked up. It was only after Terrence praised, “This painting is very elegant.”

Hearing this, Magdalen raised her head to look at the painting, her eyes flickering with obvious shock and pain.

Her shock and pain soon turned into anger.

She suddenly stood up, glaring furiously at Seraphina, “Where did you get this painting?”

Seraphina watched her quietly before calmly responding, “A friend brought it back from abroad.”

She expected Magdalen to say something more, but Magdalen just moved her lips a few times without making a sound.

She stared at the painting, her face growing pale, her eyes filled with anger. It was a terrifying sight. After a moment of silence, Magdalen abruptly stood up and strode towards Seraphina, raising her hand to slap her.

Leandro grabbed her wrist and fended off the slap. “What did she do wrong?” Leandro asked coldly, “You’re just going to hit her like that?”

Magdalen didn’t respond, just stared at Seraphina, her eyes filled with what seemed like deep-seated hatred.

Seraphina stood still, while Terrence and Conway stood up, trying to stop and comfort Magdalen.

Magdalen was being shielded in Terrence’s arms, and he was murmuring something to her, but it seemed like she wasn’t hearing any of it. All she could hear was a buzzing sound in her head, and all she could see was Seraphina and that painting – it was like a needle, stabbing straight into her eyes.

Finally, Magdalen couldn’t control herself. She shut her eyes tightly, broke free from all the constraints, and made a beeline for the exit.

This sudden situation left Terrence baffled, but he’s a pro at handling crisis, so he quickly regained his composure, bid Conway farewell, and hotfooted it after the departing Magdalen.

Seraphina was left standing in front of the painting, cold all over, and breathing heavily.

Leandro took two steps forward, reached out his hand and pulled her into his arms to comfort her.

Conway frowned, looking at the two of them, “What are you guys doing?”

Seraphina slowly looked up at Leandro, “Leandro, we shouldn’t have done this, I shouldn’t have done this… Have you seen how desperate she is?”

“If this has been her problem all along… Leandro said, “You’re helping her solve it.”

Hearing this, Seraphina fell silent for a moment.

Unable to hold back, Conway leaned on his cane and demanded, “Hey! You two, what the hell is going on? Can you explain?”

Seraphina stayed silent for a moment, then reached out and took Conway’s hand.

“Grandpa,” she said, “Mom might only listen to you. If my dad really hurt her, can you persuade her not to dwell on the past?”

That day, Seraphina didn’t leave the house, while Conway left in the afternoon to find Magdalen.

Seraphina didn’t know whether he had seen Magdalen or what the outcome was, she thought a lot but couldn’t come up with an answer.

When Leandro came home in the evening, Seraphina was soaking in the bathtub.

Not just soaking, her entire body and head were submerged in the water.

Leandro opened the bathroom door, saw her like this, walked over and pulled her out of the water.

Seraphina sat up from the water, wiped the water off her face with her hand, but remained sitting in the bathtub.

“Has grandpa not come back yet?” Leandro asked.

Seraphina nodded.

“What’s bothering you?”

Seraphina’s hair was dripping wet, but she didn’t mind. She remained silent for a moment before saying, “I’m not worried about anything, I just can’t figure some things out.”

This feeling, Seraphina didn’t know how to describe it.

It was like there were countless threads tangled in her mind, crisscrossing each other, but she just couldn’t untangle them.

If these threads were balls of yarn, then before, there was only a small ball of yarn in her mind, but now it was getting bigger and more complicated, she even couldn’t figure out what threads made up this ball.

Thinking about this, Seraphina suddenly looked at Leandro, “Leandro, what should I do? After marrying you, I feel like I’m just screwing up more and

more…”

Leandro heard this, looked at her deeply, then stood up and got a towel, wrapped her up in it, lifted her out of the bathtub, and gently laid her on the bed.

“I’m glad that there are still things or people that can affect your mood, Leandro said. “But for the current Seraphina, such a brief emotional outburst is nothing.”

Hearing these words, Seraphina looked deeply into Leandro’s eyes.

Leandro didn’t say much more, just picked up the towel and gently wiped the water off her hair.

His movements were so gentle… Seraphina thought, had she ever hoped for a gentle Leandro like this?

The Leandro in front of her seemed unreal, not real, but his rationality and decisiveness were so stark and clear.

It was him, and yet it wasn’t him.

But she was too tired, her brain couldn’t handle such complex issues anymore, so she chose to stop thinking.

Like Leandro said, what’s a little mood swing to her?

When she woke up, she would still be the fearless, go-getter Seraphina.

In Leandro’s gentle movements, Seraphina slowly closed her eyes and drifted into dreamland.

She slept very soundly that night, slept until dawn, and when she opened her eyes again, her mind was blank.

The room was very quiet, the light dim and hazy, but she could clearly feel that last night, she was the only one in the room.