Chapter: 711

"Oh, I heard you rushed off to Wesden as soon as you woke up?"

"Yeah."

Ryan hesitated, then his voice grew a bit louder as he asked, "Bethany went to Wesden too, right? To visit Jonathan?"

"Yeah," Nikolas answered without thinking and then caught on to Ryan's intention. "Wait, you're not still hung up on Bethany, are you? She and Jonathan are back together and pretty much inseparable."

"Really?" Ryan asked.

“Why would I lie? Just give up!" Nikolas wished Ryan should resign himself to being a bachelor for life.

Ryan laughed, then after a brief pause, asked, "By the way, are you still in touch with Maddie?"

“For heaven's sake, don't bring Maddie up!"

Nikolas' blood was boiling at the mere mention of Maddie's name.

"What happened? Weren't you two thick as thieves before?" Ryan asked.

"She kidnapped Bethany's daughter, tried to harm Bethany, and when she couldn't get what she wanted, she stabbed Jonathan, trying to die with him."

"Maddie did that?"

"Who else could it be?" Nikolas retorted.

The silence on Ryan's end stretched so long that Nikolas almost thought he'd hung up, but then Ryan said, “I've got urgent matters to attend to; we'll talk later."

Nikolas stared at the abruptly ended call, his frustration simmering.

Meanwhile, Ryan nearly dropped his phone, terrified that Nikolas might detect a tremor in his voice. He hastily ended the call, his mind reeling.

Ryan had smelled something fishy when Jonathan vanished and Bates Group dispatched a secretary to meet all their partners. The Lockdown at Central Hospital only confirmed his suspicions that Jonathan was injured.

Bethany's sudden disappearance also pointed to her rushing to Jonathan's side.

But never in a million years had he imagined Maddie behind everything.

Upon discovering Bethany had a daughter, Maddie kidnapped her. She had promised not to lay a finger on Bethany or her child.

No wonder Bethany wasn't responding to any of his messages—Maddie must have exposed him.

“Damn it! How could I be so stupid?" Ryan roared, hurling his phone against the wall, watching it shatter into pieces.

He grabbed his jacket and car keys and sped to Maddie's place.

But no matter how he pounded on the door or leaned on the doorbell, it was like shouting into the void. Just like his calls-met with deafening silence.