The man came downstairs, still in his robe. His eyes were <b>cold</b>, sharp, and just a little bit menacing.


    The butler stood quietly to the side, barely daring to breathe. It was almost like fate was ying a joke–just yesterday, Colton hadughed and said, “What if someonees up the hill to watch the sunrise and goes missing? We’d be the ones med for it.” And now, less than a dayter, it was actually happening.


    “Tell the police to leave two officers behind. Have our people take the rest up the mountain to search,” he ordered. “And make sure the entrance at the bottom is sealed off.”


    “They’re saying the missing person is a girl from the Martin family, someone reported.


    Colton’s mind immediately pictured the girl in the wheelchair. <b>“</b><b>Patricia</b><b>?</b>” he <b>asked</b>.


    “They don’t know her name. Apparently, she came up with friends to watch the sunrise and disappeared when she went to the bathroom alone.”


    Friends, sunrise, sneaking off to the bathroom by herself–none of that sounded like Patricia. If he had to guess, he’d say the missing girl was Ruby.


    Oliver let out a quiet sigh of relief. <!--


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    He turned into his study, opened his tablet, and checked the GPS he’d set for Riverdale. He quickly scanned through a few livestreams.


    Just as he was about to swipe past, a blogger he followed suddenly went live. The camera was pointed right at the entrance of Newton Enterprises.


    Lying face down on the groundpletely naked–was a man.


    Thements exploded:


    “Is that a homeless guy? Not even a pair of boxers?”


    “No way! He’s way too clean to be homeless.”


    “Why’s he just lying there? Did someone call the cops?”


    The livestream caught the moment the police arrived. They hurried over, turned the man’s face, and for a second, the entire chat seemed to hold its breath.


    It was thepany’s CEO–left out in the open, stripped bare, dumped at his own front door.


    How was he ever going to live this down?


    One of the officers recognized him and quickly took off his jacket, draping it over the man’s face. Someone else brought a nket, wrapped him up, and they helped him into the ambnce.


    The whole scenested less than ten minutes.


    But that was more than enough. The media caught wind of it instantly, and by noon, the naked photos were everywhere.


    “Uncle Oliver!” a voice called from the hallway.


    12


    13:29


    Oliver shut off his tablet.


    “Uncle Oliver!” Colton barreled into the room, looking like he’d just won the lottery.


    “You have to admit, that was insane!” Colton was practically buzzing. “Stripping Theo and dumping him at thepany entrance–that’s the wildest thing I’ve ever been a part of. I had chills. Whoever pulled that off is seriously hardcore. I need to meet her.”


    Colton’s eyes sparkled with excitement. He loved this kind of bold, reckless chaos. <fne191> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? Find?Novel</fne191>


    Meanwhile, at the hospital-


    Theoy on his bed, out cold. The repeated knockouts had finally taken their toll.


    He didn’t so much as stir.


    Kelly sat at his bedside, wiping tears from her eyes, lookingpletely lost.


    Howard stood at the door, face like a storm cloud, Patricia’s face flickering through his thoughts.


    Could she have done this?


    Kelly’s phone kept ringing in her bag, one call after another. She didn’t answer–she was sure it was the media.


    Then Howard’s phone started buzzing. It was Emerson, panicked, asking if Ruby was with Theo.


    “No,” Howard replied, then asked what was going on. That’s when he found out–Ruby had disappeared up on the mountain.


    “I’m heading out,” he said, not waiting for a reply.


    djust gotten


    Early the next morning, Patricia up.


    Howard showed up right away.


    “Changed your mind, Mr. Newton?” Patricia asked. She was at the breakfast table, sipping her <b>soy </b>milk, calm as ever.


    She met Howard’s stare, her own gaze steady and questioning.


    “Was it you?” Howard asked, straight to the point. “Did you do this to Theo and Ruby?” Patricia just looked at him, cool and unbothered. “What exactly are you using me of?”


    Off to the side, Jackson silently pulled out his phone and searched their names. When the news story popped up, he slid his phone across the table to Patricia.