Translator: 549690339
Howard Coleman sat in the car, first looked at the silent Steve Burton, then turned his head to look at Ruby Gregory outside the window. After a pause, he squeezed out a smile towards Ruby and started, “Ru…”
Before the last syllable left his mouth, Howard saw Steve’s cold gaze through the rearview mirror. Startled, he quickly corrected himself, saying, “Miss Gregory, goodbye.”
Howard drove the car while continuously stealing glances at Steve sitting in the back seat.
The man seemed calm, eyes closed, appearing to be leisurely resting.
However, Howard felt an ominous atmosphere, which caused him not to dare to breathe too deeply throughout the drive. Even when he felt the urge to cough due to discomfort in his throat, he repressed it with all his might.
Howard slowly drove the car into the villa in the West Suburb. He was the first to jump out of the car and then personally opened the door for Steve.
Without giving Howard a glance, Steve headed straight into the villa.
Howard hurriedly followed behind.
On the first floor of the villa, several people were playing cards in the living room. Seeing Steve enter, they all called out, “Bro.”
It seemed as if Steve didn’t hear the greetings; his face showed no reaction as he took off his coat, handed it to a servant, changed his shoes, and headed for the elevator of the villa.
The card players all turned to Howard, who made a “shushing” gesture, cleared his throat, and cautiously said to Steve, “Bro, you must not have eaten anything at the banquet tonight. Are you hungry? Do you want Mrs. Bressett to prepare some late-night snacks for you?”
“No need.” Steve answered indifferently with two words, then stepped into the elevator, closed the door, and went upstairs.
The first-floor living room fell silent for a full two minutes before Edward Woods pushed the cards in front of him and asked Howard, “Howard, what’s going on with our brother? He was fine before he left; how come he came back like this? Look at his expression now; it makes my hair stand on end.”
“You guys don’t even know; I almost suffocated to death on the way back from picking up our Bro. You guys know I’m scared of his cold, silent demeanor,” Howard complained while sitting on the sofa, and then mysteriously continued, “Guess who I met when I went to pick up our Bro today?”
Rusell Henris was counting the money he’d won on the table, glanced at Howard trying to build suspense and asked, “I care about our brother; who cares who you met?”
Howard: “Rusell, isn’t that obvious? It’s got to be someone related to our Bro!”
After Howard spoke, the atmosphere in the room became tense, and after a minute of silence, Rusell put down the money in his hand and uttered three words: “Ruby Gregory?”
“Rusell, you’re clever, guessed right on your first try.” Howard replied.
“What’s that got to do with being smart? All these years we’ve been with our Bro, every time he’s in a bad mood, isn’t it because of Ruby Gregory?” Edward Woods remarked.
Rusell raised his hand, rubbed his brow, and said, “I really don’t understand what our Bro wants deep down. At first, it was him who wanted to sleep with Ruby, then he didn’t take responsibility after he did, clearly, Ruby is the one who was wronged, but every time, it’s our Bro who’s upset, as if Ruby did him wrong.”