Chapter 637

Looking as pale as a sheet, Caroline pushed through the door. That villa right there was…

Ignoring the chauffeur, Caroline swept her eyes around the house. It was an old and unfurnished villa. There was dust everywhere. She could even see footsteps on the ground.

The footsteps were clear, so the person they belonged to probably came in here not long ago.

She glanced at the footsteps and thought that the person’s shoe size was similar to Kirk’s “Carol, is Kirk here?” Gwen asked after entering the villa and seeing the footsteps.

“He probably is.” Caroline took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She then followed the footsteps forward.

Soon, they saw a basement. Its door was open.

Panic washed over Gwen, and she gripped Caroline’s hand. “Carol, this place gives me the creeps.

It could be dangerous here. We shouldn’t head in.”

Caroline considered the suggestion and said, “You can stay outside. I’ll go in there alone. If I don’t come back up after half an hour-”

“No way!” Gwen cut her off.

“I’m going in there with you.‘

Caroline was about to say something when they both heard something that sounded like a sob coming from the basement. It seemed to belong to a human.

Caroline turned around and quickly ran down the steps leading to the basement, with Gwen following her from behind.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the basement, which was full of dust and as derelict as the interior of the villa upstairs.

They couldn’t stop coughing when they stepped foot in the basement.

Just then, someone’s astounded voice came from somewhere in the darkness. “Darling? Why are you here?”

There was the sound of a switch being turned on, and the lights buzzed to life, illuminating the Only then could Caroline get a clear view of what was happening before her. Kirk stood by the switch. Also present was Howard, who sat in a chair with his arms tied up behind him, not far from Kirk.

“Why is he here?” Caroline was so stunned by the scene that greeted her eyes that she momentarily forgot that Kirk had lied to her.

Gwen stood and stared at Howard in surprise. Nobody had expected Howard to be here, especially since the entire world was busy searching for him.

“I don’t have a clue.”

Kirk took out his phone and showed it to Caroline. “Someone messaged me.”

However, Caroline’s focus wasn’t on the message on the screen. Her gaze fell on Kirk’s face, and she asked, “What happened to your face? Did you get into a fight with someone?”

As she spoke, she approached him to inspect the bruises and cuts on Kirk’s face. He subconsciously raised his hands to cover them, but she forcefully grabbed his hands to stop him.

“These are just scabs. I’ll be as good as new in no time,” he said.

Still, she continued to inspect his wounds. There were scabs, indeed, and she could see that he had made an effort to patch himself up.

Regardless, her heart broke for him. “What happened? Did you lie to me again? You told me that you were out on a business trip last night. If so, how did this happen?”

Gently, Kirk pressed a finger against her lips and shushed her. “Darling, we’ll talk about my face after we’ve settled the issue here.”

“You’d better give me an explanation later on,” Caroline told him rather helplessly.

“Of course, I will,” said Kirk, and he swore to her that he would do exactly what she had just told him.

“What happened to him?” She turned her attention to Howard, whose mouth was covered with duct tape.

He couldn’t say a word and could only sob and whimper. In the state he was in, that was probably all he could do to get people’s attention.

“I’m not sure.”

Kirk passed her his phone. “Someone sent me a message this morning telling me that Howard was here and that I could do whatever I wanted to him.”