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Chapter 24: Chapter 24: What Can You Do to Me?

After Ian Sterling left, a nurse leaned in curiously. ”Wow, that guy was gorgeous. Who is he? I saw he knows the wealthy lady in the next room. His family must be pretty well-off, right?”

Lynn Winslow didn’t want to talk about it. She shook her head, handed the fruit bowl in her hands to the nurse, and clutched her phone as she returned to her hospital room.

As Ian Sterling walked out of the hospital, he grew increasingly frustrated with himself.

’I just wanted to see her, but I couldn’t stop myself from actually talking to her.’

Eugene Chandler, walking behind him, sighed to himself.

’Such a difficult personality.’

Ian Sterling got into the car, and Eugene Chandler turned back from the passenger seat. ”Mr. Sterling, your mother just called. She asked for you to come home this afternoon.”

Ian Sterling frowned slightly. ”Did she say what it’s about?”

Eugene Chandler shook his head. ”She didn’t.”

”Take me home now,” Ian Sterling ordered, rubbing his brow.

His driver was both smooth and fast, and before long, the car pulled up outside Aerie Garden, the Sterling family home.

Eugene Chandler saw the person standing at the entrance and said, ”Mr. Sterling, your second-oldest brother is waiting for you at the gate.”

Upon hearing this, Ian Sterling felt his headache returning. He sighed and told the driver and Eugene, ”You two can leave now.”

With that, he got out of the car. He let out another subconscious sigh as he saw his older brother approaching.

It was strange. Ian Sterling wasn’t afraid of his other three siblings, but he felt helpless against this refined, gentle older brother. No matter what Ian said or did, his brother always made him look like he was the one being unreasonable.

”Finn, you’re back already. Good. My long wait at the gate wasn’t for nothing.”

Ian Sterling averted his gaze and said coldly, ”Why the sudden summons?”

Connor Sterling paid his brother’s rudeness no mind, simply offering a light smile. ”Let’s go. Mom’s waiting for us.”

Ian Sterling pressed his lips into a line and followed. In the garden, he saw Nina Norton having afternoon tea at an elegant round table with an unfamiliar young woman.

He stopped in his tracks, unwilling to take another step. ’I knew it! My meddlesome mother wouldn’t have called me back for no good reason!’

Noticing he had stopped, Connor Sterling looked back at him. ”Why aren’t you walking?” he asked gently.

”What is Mom trying to pull now?” Ian Sterling demanded impatiently.

”What do you think she’s trying to do?” Connor Sterling countered.

Ian Sterling spun around to leave, tossing a line over his shoulder. ”I’m out of here. Go tell Mom that if she ever calls me back for something like this again, I guarantee I won’t be back.”

”If you leave, it just proves you’re still thinking about Lynn Winslow,” Connor Sterling said calmly. ”Or, to put it another way, that you’re about to get back together with her.”

”What does she have to do with this?” Ian Sterling’s tone grew sharper.

Connor Sterling grabbed his arm. ”Finn,” he said with a sigh of resignation, ”you spent most of your childhood trailing after me. I was practically still a kid myself when I started looking after you. I think it’s fair to say I understand you better than anyone else in this family. Do you really think I don’t know what’s on your mind?”

Their mother loved children but had little patience. This youngest brother was also different from the usual bratty kid—get one word wrong, and he’d clam up and give you the cold shoulder. His four older siblings, all significantly older, were always willing to let him have his way. Who knew that as he grew up, his personality would only become more contrary and stubborn?

”I’m not thinking about it,” Ian Sterling said, his voice cold and severe. ”My memory isn’t that short. I have no desire to go through what happened three years ago a second time. I’ve told Mom that, and I’ve told our eldest sister, too.”

”You all don’t need to keep reminding me about what happened three years ago.” With that final sentence, Ian Sterling turned and strode away. Watching him go, Connor Sterling didn’t look the least bit angry. Instead, the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smile as he went to pass his little brother’s message on to their mother.

When Nina Norton saw him approaching alone, she stood and peered behind him a few times. ”Where’s your brother?” she asked curiously. ”Didn’t the butler say he’d returned?”

”Mom,” Connor Sterling began, then glanced at the blushing young woman beside her. He smiled. ”Miss, I do apologize, but we have a family matter to discuss, so we won’t keep you.” He then looked to the butler standing nearby and instructed, ”Prepare a gift for the young lady as an apology.”

Although he was smiling gently and his manners were impeccable, the young woman felt a profound sense of unease. Upon seeing the coldness in his eyes, she reflexively stood up. ”It’s alright, it’s alright,” she said awkwardly. ”In that case, Mrs. Norton, Mr. Connor... I’ll take my leave.”

Nina Norton opened her mouth to object, but one look at her second son’s face made her swallow her words. She could only watch as the future daughter-in-law she had hand-picked for her youngest son gradually departed.

Connor Sterling sat down. ”Where’s your brother?” Nina Norton demanded. ”And Miss Yates, why did you send her away?”

”Finn stormed off because of you,” Connor Sterling stated calmly. ”He told me to let you know that if you try to play matchmaker like this again, he won’t be back.”

Nina Norton’s elegant eyebrows furrowed. ”What do you mean, ’play matchmaker’? Was that young woman not good enough? Your brother is miserable every day because of Lynn Winslow. I was just trying to help him find a distraction!”

”You know he’s unhappy, so don’t you think doing this is just making things worse for him?” Connor looked at his mother helplessly and tried to reason with her. ”Just let it go, Mom. Finn is twenty-six. The more you meddle, the more he’ll just resent it.”

”So ungrateful,” Nina Norton muttered.

Connor Sterling had no choice but to start placating his mother in a soft voice.

Not long after Lynn Winslow returned to her hospital room, there was a knock at the door.

Thinking it was a nurse, she said softly, ”Come in.”

Lynn Winslow’s brows furrowed when she saw the visitor. She feigned confusion and asked, ”What are you doing here?”

Zachary Quincy swaggered in and scoffed. ”What’s this? Done playing the victim?”

A smile touched Lynn Winslow’s lips. ”Mr. Quincy,” she said in a gentle voice, ”don’t spend your days hiding and spying. It’s rather unbecoming of a young master like you.”

Zachary Quincy’s expression darkened. ”Don’t you dare get sarcastic with me,” he warned. ”I’m not Finn. I won’t put up with your attitude.”

Lynn Winslow shifted in her bed. The hospital gown couldn’t hide her queen-like presence now that she’d dropped the act completely. ”If you can’t stand it, then go tell Ian Sterling. Tell him my vulnerability is all a show for his benefit. See if he believes you.”

Zachary Quincy thought of Ian Sterling’s hopelessly-in-love behavior and gritted his teeth. ”You think there’s nothing I can do about you, is that it?”

”And is there?” Lynn Winslow countered with a soft laugh.

And in truth, Zachary had no answer. This two-faced woman had Finn—who was like a brother to him—so completely captivated that she was all he could think about. What could Zachary possibly do? If he really went and tattled to Finn like some petty gossip, he’d despise himself.

”I’m warning you, stay away from Finn. Wasn’t hurting him once three years ago enough? Do you want to hurt him all over again?”

Lynn Winslow bit her lip. It was undeniable that Zachary Quincy genuinely cared for Ian Sterling. She dropped her sarcastic tone and said softly, ”I won’t let what happened three years ago repeat itself.”

’A leopard can’t change its spots,’ Zachary thought. He didn’t believe her for a second. He shot her one last glare, then turned and left.