Olivia ran towards Madison, who wore a wide smile, and gave her a warm embrace, one she had missed so much since her issues with Ethan began.

"Oh, Mom," Madison sighed, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Olivia pulled her away slightly to take a quick look at her and noticed the tear. She wiped it away with her thumb, holding Madison's face gently with both hands and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"My dear Madison, you're going to make me cry too. I've missed you so much," she said.

Ethan felt a bit left behind, but it didn't bother him; it wasn't the first time. They all eventually went in for dinner. Olivia had made sure the turkey was prepared to Madison's taste, heavily spiced, unlike what Ethan preferred. He liked it less spicy, but he wasn't here for himself anyway. They should probably finish up and leave soon.

A few minutes into dinner, Olivia began to question. "We can make a h

He silently cursed at whoever was calling before he snatched his phone from the nightstand but Madison already knew who it was before he saw the name flashed on his screen. 

A wave of annoyance hit her. Even though she wasn't fully on board with having sex with Ethan this way, that didn't mean she was happy about the intrusion especially if it's from Maya.

Ethan cleared his throat before he said. "Hey, why are you still up?"

"I miss you babe." Maya squealed from over the phone. "It's so lonely on this big bed all alone."

"I miss you too. I would've come tonight but something came up but I'll be there tomorrow." He said.

Madison could feel the anger swirling within her. She was angry about how gentle Ethan spoke to Maya and the audacity he had to even speak to her when she was just right beside him, especially when they almost slept together. 

"Tomorrow's so far Ethan. I really wish

"That won't be necessary Madison. I handle the voice acting; he handles casting. I'm the one in charge here," Antonio stated, breaking the silence after observing Marvin's misleading stare at Madison for a few moments.

"Actually, now that I think about it, why don't we consider having Madison in the new movie? She seems like a perfect fit for the role of Jenny," Marvin proposed, giving Madison a glance, waiting to hear her thoughts.

"I thought you already had two people for the role, Maya and the other lady. Why bother auditioning for it again?" Antonio replied.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Marvin, for the kind offer, but I'm not ready to fully return to movies. I much prefer being a voice artist for now," she said.

"Is that my girl?" A voice from behind interrupted the conversation. He had sharp, bushy eyebrows and a deep voice.

Madison could recognize the voice. She turned around to confirm who it was, and it was Mr. Daniel, her college tutor.

"Mr. Daniel," Madison called out with a big grin on her face.
She quickly rushed to give him a hug.

"How are you doing, girl?" Mr. Daniel asked, holding her hand.

"Very fine, and you? It's really good to see you again," she said with excitement all over her.

"It's good to see you always. It's been really long," Mr. Daniel responded.

Madison was one of his brightest students back in college. He had high expectations for her to take on the limelight in the film industry with all her talents but she got married to a very wealthy man immediately after college and never continued with her career.

“I must say, I'm still very disappointed that you have turned your back on your career. You are talented my dear, why would you give up your talent, just like that?” He continued

“I didn't give up on my career Mr. Daniel. I'm still acting, just not on camera, I'm using my voice..”

“Voice artist, really?” Mr. Daniel cuts in

“It's one of my talents and I'm using it” Madison responded.

Mr. Daniel calmed down for a bit and took her hand, staring at her eyes he said “my dear, you know what you want and you are responsible for all you do. I just really wish you utilize what you have the best way, not just some voice over art. You deserve better dear”

Madison nodded; she couldn't keep up with proving a point.

"Have you signed the contract?" he asked, turning to Antonio, who was awed by the fact that Mr. Daniel knew Madison, the mystery voice artist, and had calmly watched them have their conversation, like a father and child.

"Ah, what?" Antonio responded, not quite catching the question as he was lost in awe.

"The contract. Have you prepared the contract? Has Madison signed it?" He repeated 'contract' in sarcasm, hoping to get Antonio to understand his point.

"Oh, yes, the contract. I'll quickly get it for her to sign right away," Antonio finally snapped back to reality.

Antonio swiftly went to draft the contracts, allowing Mr. Daniels, Marvin, and Madison to catch up while he worked. 

A few minutes later, he returned with the contract for Madison to sign. Madison rummaged through her purse for a pen and heard another familiar voice from behind.

“I'm afraid she's not fit for the role, kindly find someone else “he said.

"Is this a joke?" Antonio and Marvin thought. It took them several auditions before Antonio would settle with Madison. How is that possible? Where would they start from? They thought as they turned to find out what exactly was going on.

Madison's jaw dropped as she turned in surprise at what she had just heard. "Excuse me?" Madison requested details as to why she couldn't sign the contract, but she was much more surprised because of the person that said it.

It was Ethan, her soon-to-be-ex-husband. He was very wealthy and owned about 80% of the shares in Blue Ray. His opinion mattered more than anyone in the industry. If he truly said no, then it's a no.

Everyone couldn't understand why Ethan would put an end to a contract that had barely begun. But Madison wasn't surprised at what; she knew what her husband wanted, and she wasn't ready to give it to him. She also wasn't ready to lose this contract.

"Sir, we've spent a lot of time auditioning numerous people for this role, and she's the only one who portrayed it so well. If you'd just give her another chance—" Antonio tried to convince Ethan.

"I don't think you heard me. She can't get the contract. Find someone else, or I withdraw my funding for this entire project," Ethan said, walking away as Madison ran after him.

"What's your problem?" She grabbed his hand, trying to stop him halfway.

"My problem is that my wife has stopped fulfilling her responsibilities, and until she does, I'm going to ensure she faces the consequences," he responded, continuing to walk away.

"Wife's responsibilities? Really, Ethan," she called out, rushing in front of him, visibly furious.

"What responsibilities? How can I fulfill them when you can't handle even one as an impotent," Ethan retorted, pushed to rage by her words? His eyes seemed to flare with anger.

"I can take anything from you: the insults, using my credit cards despite your irresponsibility. But what I won't take is you speaking about me that way," he seethed.

"I've been doing just fine without you, Ethan. I've built a name for myself," Madison countered.

"Magnifique? 

Indeed, you are. I mean, after 2 years of establishing your famous Magnifique name and earning as much as you do, you're still using my credit card. I bet everything about you was bought with my money."

Madison couldn't get any angrier. She let out a chuckle, about to respond to Ethan, when her phone rang. It was Miss Olivia, Ethan's stepmom. Miss Olivia was Madison's mom's best friend. 

She had looked after Madison after she lost her mom in an accident. Even though she had issues with Ethan, Madison didn't want to hurt Miss Olivia. She hadn't talked to her about her plans for divorce yet. She took a pause to calm down and answered the call.

"Hey, is this a bad time? I was hoping you guys could join me for dinner tonight," Olivia said warmly.

Madison couldn't refuse any request from Olivia. She gave Ethan a look; he nodded without hesitation.

"Oh, of course, we'd love to have dinner with you," Madison responded.

Ethan and Madison had a cold and quiet drive to Olivia's apartment.

"I don't want you to bring up anything about the divorce or any issues at all. You know she's not feeling well," Ethan finally broke the silence as he parked the car in front of Olivia's apartment.

"I'm here for Olivia, and I wouldn't want to bring up anything that will stress her out," Madison replied, unbuckling her seat belt and opening the door.

Olivia quickly rushed out at the sound of a car parking outside her house.



Olivia ran towards Madison, who wore a wide smile, and gave her a warm embrace, one she had missed so much since her issues with Ethan began.

"Oh, Mom," Madison sighed, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Olivia pulled her away slightly to take a quick look at her and noticed the tear. She wiped it away with her thumb, holding Madison's face gently with both hands and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"My dear Madison, you're going to make me cry too. I've missed you so much," she said.

Ethan felt a bit left behind, but it didn't bother him; it wasn't the first time. They all eventually went in for dinner. Olivia had made sure the turkey was prepared to Madison's taste, heavily spiced, unlike what Ethan preferred. He liked it less spicy, but he wasn't here for himself anyway. They should probably finish up and leave soon.

A few minutes into dinner, Olivia began to question. "We can make a happy family, you know. Why the divorce?"

Startled by the question, Madison and Ethan exch

6 The Aphrodisiac