Loving Madeline

Jack's POV

My ride arrived on time, and I left my hotel around ten o'clock in the morning, hoping I would come to the Divenson manor at lunchtime. I instructed the driver that we should have a stopover at the nearest Chinese restaurant since I was craving Chinese food, and Hunter also told me that it was one of her sister's favorites.

I enjoyed the entire ride since I loved watching the trees on the side of the road, and I could tell the location of their estate was secluded, and I saw a few houses, but they were still far away from the Divenson manor.

I am sure they are the families who worked for the Divenson family but temporarily stopped since Hunter asked them to cooperate with him. Hunter still pays them even without working just to teach her sister a lesson.

But according to Hunter, there is still staff working not so close at the manor. He instructed them to use the back gate to work on the land and continue planting vegetables, fruits, and other crops.

I am sure if Charlotte finds time to wander around the entire estate, she will know she can harvest fruits and vegetables, but I am sure if she ever leaves the estate, she will be at the capital buying clothes and shoes.

"Are you one of Hunter's men?" I asked the driver, and he looked at me sideways since I sat beside him in the front seat.

​ "Yes, but I am not one of his bodyguards; I am one of the staff of the estate; I worked on the maintenance side; if you need anything in the house, just call me, Mr. Divenson instructed me, you will be the one to give us order from now on." He answered.

"Okay, that is good; I am Jack Morigan, by the way," I replied.

"I am Mario Bagazo; I will give you my number so you can call me anytime," Mario replied, and I could tell he was only older than me by two years.

"Thank you, Mario; at least I will not find it hard to call someone if I need a place to stay tonight. I believe you are all aware why Hunter was doing all this for his sister," I responded.

"Of course, my wife was the last maid who left the manor, she wanted to stay, but I told her you were coming," he replied.

"So, you are married, and your wife is also working for the Divensons?" I asked.

"Yes, actually, the place where we stayed is still owned by the Divenson family; their mother has a heart of gold." He responded.

"Where do you live?" I asked.

"On the other side of the estate, don't worry, I will tell you the shortcut one of these days, we got access to the estate at the back part, and it was easier for us to continue working." He said.

"What made you think she will not accept you, Jack?" He asked.

"Well, Charlotte is not easy to get along with," I said, and he chuckled.

"That is impossible; my wife told me the opposite; she said she was so down to earth," he responded, and I laughed, and then I found him looking at me with seriousness on his face.

"I am sorry; I am not saying your wife was lying, but I couldn't believe that is the case; it needs a miracle before Charlotte would be friendly with the maids." I declared.

"I am not saying you are the one who is lying Jack since Hunter was doing all this so that she would change; the truth is when they were kids, I didn't see Charlotte mingle with us during their vacation; she usually stayed in her room." Mario declared.

"Hunter and Parker are the only ones who will join us, and when they become teenagers, she seldom comes here with her parents, and I only see their little sister once when she was only four years old." He added.

"Lily, she is now a beautiful young lady, Mario," I said with a smile since I knew Lily was Madeline's favorite amongst Hunter's siblings.

"Are you one of the elite bodyguards of Hunter?" He asked, and I chuckled.

"No, I don't know how to hold a gun, Mario. I am a chef cook." I replied, and his face lit up.

"That is why you looked so familiar, and you are the chef in a tv show; my wife adores you so much. She will kill me if I do not take her to meet you." He said, and I blushed. I didn't expect the TV show to make me famous here in Barcelonia.

"Wow, I am flattered that I have fans around here," I responded.

"Are you kidding me? The women in our community were crazy about you, even my mom," he said, and I wondered what was wrong with his sister and why he suddenly felt sad.

"What happened to your mom, Mario?" I asked, concerned.

"She passed away three months ago," he replied.

"I am sorry to hear that, Mario," I stated.

"It is okay, and I just couldn't stop myself from feeling sad every time I remembered her." He responded.

"Of course, she is your mom," I replied.

"I hope she got the chance to see you, Jack," he said.

"Me too; she must be a remarkable woman," I declared.

"Yeah, she is," he answered with a broad smile.

I could see the manor as we neared the archway of their estate, and I shook my head as I realized I could never win against Hunter Divenson, the white house looked so beautiful from afar, and the massive pillars of the front porch were enough to tell me that house cost a fortune.

"Wow! I couldn't even find the perfect words to describe that house," I said as I looked at it with awe.

"Yes, it's magnificent!" Mario mumbled.

"Yes, it is," I replied.

"It seemed the lady of the house was around, and I assumed that was her car," I said, and he chuckled as he darted a glance at me.

"She couldn't leave the house, I felt guilty, but Hunter instructed me to change her battery with the old one since he wanted you to play as the hero in Charlotte's life; the new battery is in the maintenance room." He replied.

I was shocked and shook my head, and I couldn't imagine Charlotte's reaction when she found out her car wouldn't start. I could say it was payback time, but I remembered Lianne's words.

My sister was correct; we don't have any right to judge Hunter's sister, but what she had done to Maddie's life was too much, especially when she made Madeline think Hunter was the father of Rebecca's child. It was unforgivable, but Maddie forgave her, and who am I to hate her?

"Well, good luck then, Jack, I hope you can tame her, but I guess no need to do that; maybe my wife was right, we could be wrong about her, but I wished you could tame her like what Hunter was hoping," Mario added, and I snapped back to the present.

"Thanks for the ride, Mario," I responded as I handed him a tip.

"No need to give me a tip, Jack. I am doing all this for the Divenson family and my wife; she was worried about Charlotte." He said, and I smiled at him as I put the money in his jacket pocket before I got out of the car.

"I couldn't believe you, man, but thanks anyway." He said, and I wondered why Charlotte hadn't come out yet; she must hear the sound of the engine of the car.

"You are welcome," I answered as I opened the trunk and pulled out my luggage while he handed me the takeout food.

"Goodbye, Jack. I hope I will not be picking you up today," he said, and I laughed.

I said goodbye to Mario and felt glad I had found a new friend in this secluded area.

I knocked on the massive wooden door, but no one answered, and I smiled when I saw the doorbell on the side of the door. I pressed the bell once and waited for a while. I thought she must be sleeping since she didn't answer, I pressed the doorbell again, and at last, I heard someone inside.

"Coming!" I heard her feminine voice, and I realized Charlotte had a sweet voice.

I could see the surprised look on Charlotte's face when she saw me, her face paled, and I was even more shocked even though I was expecting to see her.

She looked so different from the Charlotte I had seen before. Mario's wife could be right. I couldn't believe Charlotte would be barefoot and without makeup; she let her curly brown hair cascade on her shoulders like she didn't care how she looked.

Hunter's sister looked so beautiful that I hated myself that I couldn't take my eyes away from her lovely face, and it felt like I was seeing her for the first time, but when she spoke, I almost laughed when I realized I was right after all, she didn't change at all.

Charlotte accused me as a hired killer, and I shook my head as I realized the words that came out of her mouth were still like a bullet, and as expected, she yelled at me and told me to go to hell.

If Hunter didn't hire me to help her, I would have gone right away when she closed the door in my face. Still, I needed to be more patient and exert more effort to make Charlotte say yes to my proposal since I knew my charm wouldn't be enough to make her agree that I would be her tenant, and I realized my mission was more complicated than I thought.