To the Love of My Life

Chapter 808: Chapter 808: Overbearing CEO Falls for the Delicate Wife (8)_1
 

The water from the faucet continued to flow, gushing noisily as if singing a merry chant until a person walked out of the men’s restroom. Standing next to Howard Coleman to wash his hands, he looked at Howard through the large gold-rimmed mirror several times. He realized that the man standing beside him appeared utterly oblivious to his surroundings and couldn’t help but remind him, “Sir, the faucet isn’t turned off yet.”

Howard came to his senses, pursed his lips tightly and nodded at the man who had reminded him, then turned off the faucet and headed straight out of the restroom.

“Sir, is this your phone?” Howard had only taken a few steps when he heard the man’s voice behind him again.

Howard stopped, took his phone back, and dryly said “Thank you.” Suddenly, he seemed to lose all his strength and leaned against the wall in the hallway outside the restroom.

Right above Howard’s head hung an ancient painting of court ladies, beneath which a mural light with an antique charm cast a clear glow. The light fell on his face, making his expression somewhat blurred.

She had returned… Counting the days, more than two hundred and seventy days, nine months, she was back. Her features were the same as when she left, but her face looked more mature and enchanting, no longer the innocent sweetness he remembered.

–

Madeleine waited a long time in the private room, but Howard Coleman did not return.

She knew Howard’s tolerance for alcohol and realized that he hadn’t drunk much, but she still couldn’t help feeling uneasy and stepped out of the private room.

As Madeleine walked along the long hallway and reached the end, she finally saw Howard leaning against the wall opposite the restroom, head slightly tilted, gazing at the delicately hand-drawn drawings on the ceiling, lost in thought.

A cigarette dangled between his fingers, emitting a thin stream of smoke.

Madeleine involuntarily paused her steps, staring at Howard quietly, not wanting to disturb him.

She could clearly see that the area around him was littered with remnants of the banquet, and the ashtray on the garbage can beside him was filled with cigarette butts.

Howard hadn’t noticed Madeleine’s arrival. After finishing the cigarette in his hand, he casually extinguished it in the ashtray, reached into his pocket for his cigarette pack, and as he was about to take out another one, he realized the pack was empty. He felt a flicker of irritation as he threw the empty pack into the trash can, inadvertently also discarding the shopping voucher he was holding.

The next second, Howard snapped back to his senses. Without a second thought about the filth in the trash can, he reached in, felt around, and picked up the shopping voucher. Just as he was about to lower his head to see if the phone number on the voucher had been smudged, he unwittingly caught a glimpse of Madeleine standing not far away from the corner of his eye.

Howard instinctively concealed the voucher in his palm and quickly stuffed it into his pocket.

His hasty and guarded actions were fully observed by Madeleine, causing her brows to furrow slightly. Soon after, she heard the indifferent sound of Howard’s voice, “Are you here to use the restroom?”@@novelbin@@

Madeleine hastily gathered her thoughts from the image of Howard retrieving the voucher from the trash can, gently shook her head at him, and said, “No, I saw that you hadn’t come back to the private room for a long time, so I came to check on you.”