Chapter 687

Hale Residence. Madeleine suddenly came back, and both Kimberly and Nicholas were on edge, carefully picking their words, afraid to set her off. But she looked surprisingly calm, just quietly helping the kids with their building blocks. "Maddy," Kimberly walked over and softly called her name, "are you hungry? I can make you something." Madeleine shook her head. "I'm good, Mom. I'm not hungry." She gave her mother a faint smile. "Really, I'm fine." Kimberly sat beside her, heart aching. "Are you sure your brother and I don't need to step in?" Madeleine shook her head again. "The Beach and Schroeder families—and whoever's pulling strings behind them—might have deep-rooted beef. If we jump in now, it could get messy. Business isn't just about our family; there are employees, executives—we can't risk everything because of personal issues." She really didn't want the Hale family dragged into this chaos. "My brother has already done more than enough. The PR team he sent has been helping non