Chapter 517: Chapter 517: So You Knew It All Along (27)
The sun was setting in the west, and the sky gradually darkened as neon lights slowly lit up. It was then that Steve Burton’s phone rang.

The call was from Edward Woods, saying that he had arranged a dinner at Grand Ciawell Restaurant for their French clients, and asked when he would be able to join them.

Steve glanced at Ruby Gregory, who was still sitting in the cafe, dazed and confused. He swallowed hard, his tone somewhat rigid, saying: “You guys go ahead, I’ll contact you later.”

Having said that, he hung up before Edward could respond.

After an unknown amount of time, Ruby finally showed some reaction. She slowly sat up straight, raised her hand to call the waitress, then took the menu from her hands and stared at it for a while. She then whispered a few words to the waitress, who left with a smile.

Less than ten minutes later, the waitress brought a plate of fried rice to Ruby’s table.

With her head bowed, Ruby ate gracefully, seemingly having a good appetite. She ate nearly half of the large plate of fried rice before stopping. Then, she gently took a napkin, wiped the corners of her lips, picked up the glass of water on the table, and slowly drank in one go. Only then did she turn around, take her phone out of her bag, and make a call.

She only spoke two sentences before hanging up. Then, she stared at the phone screen for quite a while, finally pursing her lips forcefully as if making up her mind. She tapped the screen again and, in less than a minute, the phone beside her rang.

Steve glanced at the incoming call display, which flashed the two characters faintly: Ruby.

–

It took Ruby a long time to muster the courage to make this call to Steve.

The dream she had last night at Madeleine’s house was still fresh in her memory. The slap from her mother had stopped hurting, but she could still feel a residual pain.

She had sat in the cafe alone, pondering for a long time before making this decision.

However, making a decision didn’t mean that she had the courage to act immediately. In order to procrastinate, she asked the waitress for a menu. There weren’t many main courses in the cafe, and because she was pregnant, she could only choose the fried rice.

Thinking about her decision made her feel too anxious to eat, but for the sake of the child in her stomach, she forced herself to eat more than half the plate.

After finishing her meal, she hesitated for quite some time before finally picking up her phone. The first call she made was to the Gregorys, asking the maid to bring her a heavy coat. Only then, having completely run out of excuses to delay, did she muster the courage to call Steve.

The phone rang seven times before being answered, and there was no sound from the other end. Ruby waited for a while before asking, “Steve, are you there?”

There was a long silence on the other end before the man’s usual calm, detached voice came through: “Yes, what’s up?”

“Um,” Ruby softly replied and then took a deep breath before continuing, “Do you have time tonight?”

Steve couldn’t quite guess why Ruby was calling him and what it was about. He thought for a moment and said, “I have a dinner party tonight.”