To the Love of My Life

Upon seeing the disheveled Maya Mitchell, Steve Burton’s brow furrowed slightly, and he took a step back, leaving Russell Henris to ask, “Miss Mitchell, what are you doing here?”

Maya quickly glanced at Steve before anxiously replying, “Mr. Burton, I was shopping with Ruby, and suddenly, she disappeared. I called her, but she didn’t answer. I tried to make an announcement at the mall, but there was no response. I’m afraid she’s in danger…”

Before Maya finished speaking, Steve went around her and hurriedly walked out of the Capital Club. Lynn Woods, who was the last one, reached out to help Maya up from the ground and called out to a nearby waiter, handing over a wad of cash: “Please help take this lady to the hospital.”

After completing the request, Edward Woods turned his head to give Maya an apologetic smile before hurrying to catch up with Steve.

Through the bright and spacious windows of the Capital Club, Maya saw several people rush into a car, and before she knew it, the vehicle had already driven off.

The atmosphere inside the car was oppressive. Steve Burton’s call with Ruby Gregory remained connected, and neither of them continued speaking. Steve furrowed his brow as he constantly evaluated the situation on the other end of the call. Everyone else in the car was silent, and Howard Coleman, known for his excellent driving skill, drove with undivided attention. Usually, the most relaxed and casual person in the car was Russell Henris, but now even his expression was serious and focused.

Unable to see anything, Ruby responded to Steve’s questions with a weak, gentle voice before falling into silence.

She didn’t hang up the call. Instead, she listened to the sound of Steve’s footsteps, door closing, car engine starting, and his breathing on the other end of the line. This made the panic in her heart subside significantly.

Everything around her remained quiet, except for the sounds coming from her phone. After some time, Ruby heard the sound of someone knocking on an iron door.

Her body instinctively tensed up, and then she heard the iron door being pulled open and several footsteps entering.

“How is it? Did you get the money?” The voice that spoke first belonged to the man who had made the call earlier.

“We got it. US$200,000, all in cash. It’s all here.” The person who responded was a completely unfamiliar voice to Ruby.

“Where’s the girl?” Another unfamiliar voice chimed in.

“Over there.”

“Now that we have the money, let’s quickly wrap this up and avoid any unwanted surprises.”

As the sentence ended, Ruby clearly heard multiple footsteps approaching her.

The footsteps were chaotic, and Ruby could not tell how many people there were, but she knew deep down that all the calmness had passed, and the real storm was finally coming.

The footsteps grew closer, and Ruby’s own heartbeat accelerated.

When the footsteps finally stopped in front of her, Ruby’s heartbeat stopped as well.

She held her breath as she felt someone lean towards her, their hand tugging twice on the back of her head before the black cloth covering her face was abruptly lifted.