Chapter 542: Chapter 542: Let’s Pretend She’s Dead (12)
There weren’t many times when he and she were intimate, and he never kissed her. It was less about them making love, but more like his punishment for her.

Howard Coleman had great stamina, tossing and turning with Madeleine for quite a while. Madeleine thought she could finally get some rest, but less than five minutes later, Howard pressed himself on her again.

Madeleine, who was new to the world of love, could not bear it any longer and tried to refuse, but Howard sneered at her: “Why are you pretending in front of me? Didn’t you go to the Colemans’ Mansion to complain about me neglecting you after getting married? How many days have we been married? Three? Haha… I’ll make up for it all tonight!”

As he spoke, Howard disregarded Madeleine’s comfort or lack thereof and pulled her into another round of intimacy.

When Madeleine finally lay out of breath, Howard released her, went to the bathroom, and took a shower. Then he went directly to the guest room.

If not for the lingering scent of their love-making, Madeleine would have thought that everything was just a dream.

The next day was the engagement party for Steve Burton and Ruby Gregory. Madeleine woke up early and got dressed, choosing a beautiful gown. She was about to change when Howard suddenly burst through the door and said, “Come with me.”

It was the first normal sentence he had spoken to her since their falling out over his true love affair. A smile flickered across Madeleine’s eyes, but before she could ask, “What’s the matter?”, Howard bluntly said, “Russell just called, Ruby has gone missing.”

–

Howard’s car sped through red lights with Madeleine in tow, all the way to Steve Burton’s apartment.

Edward Woods was waiting outside the apartment. Upon seeing Howard and Madeleine arrive, he hastily asked, “Madeleine, did you call Ruby? Did she answer?”

Madeleine shook her head, “I’ve been calling all the way, and nobody answered.”

“What on earth is going on? How could Ruby suddenly go missing?” Howard asked.

“I don’t know. This morning, Russell and I brought the make-up artist to deliver the wedding dress for Steve and Ruby, only to find that he was alone at home, standing silently in the living room. We called Ruby and found that nobody was answering. That’s when we knew something was wrong,” explained Edward Woods as the three of them entered the apartment together.

Steve was standing with his back to the door in front of the French windows, while Russell was positioned two steps behind him. As soon as they heard the door open, Russell glanced back at them before turning to Steve and cautiously saying, “I just went to the property management team to check the CCTV footage. Last night, someone picked up Ruby… ”

Pausing for a moment, Russell finally added, “It was Edric Reat.”

Upon hearing that a man had taken Ruby away, everyone was terrified and dared not make a sound.

Steve, however, remained motionless, standing in place.

The atmosphere in the room had reached rock bottom.

After a long while, Edward Woods mustered the courage to speak, “Bro, Russell and I will send our men to find Ruby and bring her back as soon as possible… ”

Steve, who had shown no reaction all along, suddenly spoke with a cold voice. Then, he turned around to face the others, “Forget it, just consider her dead!”

PS: That’s all for today~~ we’ll continue tomorrow~~~ The upcoming plot is about getting Steve and Ruby back together~~ but they will not reconcile all at once~~ And there won’t be any storylines about leaving with a child for years before coming back!!!!!!