Chapter 1728

Upon hearing Carter’s words, Madeline smiled softly. “Thank you for your compliments, Mr. Carter, but I don’t need them. I don’t need you to think I’m special, and I certainly don’t need your admiration. On the contrary, you repulse me.”

Carter’s lips seemingly curled. “Is that so? Is that why you won’t tell me where Shirley is?”

“That’s right, I won’t.” Madeline maintained her cool as she looked into Carter’s inscrutable eyes.

“However, if you intend to abduct me now to exchange for her, go ahead. I can’t compete with a man’s strength anyway.”

Carter had initially considered this. If Madeline would not speak, he would similarly use this method, abducting her so that Jeremy would exchange Shirley for Madeline.

However, he had not expected Madeline to have already seen through his thoughts and intentions.

Admiration flashed across Carter’s eyes. “Eveline, you’re indeed extraordinary, but I won’t abduct you.”

He walked toward the door to the passenger’s seat and said, “Mrs. Whitman, please join me for a cup of tea at my place.”

Madeline knew that she did not have a choice. As she got into the car, she swiftly sent a text to Jeremy when Carter was not looking.

Carter did notice Madeline’s action. He figured that Madeline was texting Jeremy, but he pretended not to have noticed it.

His initial goal of whisking off Madeline was to let Jeremy know that Madeline was with him. Since Madeline had already informed Jeremy, she saved Carter some time.

Half an hour later, Madeline returned to the villa once again.

Upon getting out of the car, Madeline noticed that the snow had gotten heavier. The wet and cold ground was covered with a thin layer of snow.

Madeline pulled her coat tighter as she gradually made her way over the snow and into the entryway.

It was warm inside the house. Carter instructed a servant to brew some black tea and bring over some snacks.

He seemed unhurried as he turned and sat on the sofa before slowly speaking.

“It wasn’t truly my intention to cause so many of these incidents. At first, I’d just wanted to discuss business with Jeremy. After realizing that the chance of us reaching an agreement was close to none, I went with the most direct approach, which was you.”

Madeline calmly listened to Carter, then dryly asked, “What business did you and my husband talk about?”

Carter gazed into Madeline’s beautiful eyes for a few seconds, then the corner of his lips lifted into a mysterious smile.

“The plan was already scrapped, so there’s no point talking about it again. However, I won’t be stopping the current plan.”

“Your current plan is to use me to keep my husband in check to obtain your deep secret, is that right?”

“Deep secret.”

Carter repeated those two words, then elegantly lifted his black tea and took a sip.

“Indeed. As you’ve said, it is indeed a deep secret.”

Upon hearing that, Madeline fell silent for a few seconds then resumed her questions. “What exactly is the relationship between you and Shirley? Why does she listen to every word you say?”

“What’s our relationship?” It seemed that Carter was lost in thought, and there was a slight change in his expression as well. Carter seemed to only return to his senses a while later. “An insignificant pawn.”

“If she’s insignificant, then why are you so worried about this pawn to the point of searching everywhere for her, Mr. Gray?”

“Because…” Carter quickly stopped himself after uttering a single word. His sharp eyebrows and dazzling eyes rose as his handsome face smiled in intrigue.

“It seems that you’ve mistaken who’s in charge here, Mrs. Whitman. I brought you here, so I should be the one directing this game instead of you questioning me incessantly like you’re interrogating a criminal.”

Madeline pretended to only realize this after hearing it. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve truly mistaken who’s in charge. Since that’s the case, please go ahead and ‘interrogate’ me, Mr. Gray.”