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Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Obviously a Woman’s Scratches

White light flashed rhythmically. The red was stark against it. His pale skin was so overexposed by the light that his face was a blur.

Lynn Winslow let out a long moan, her chin tilting up. Her slender, pale fingers dug into Ian Sterling’s arm, her nails leaving scratches.

Before collapsing into an exhausted sleep, Lynn Winslow managed to lift her gaze to Ian Sterling, who lay beside her, a faint blush on his face. Content, she hugged him and fell fast asleep.

When she woke up, it was just past one. The room was dark, save for the faint, warm glow of a bedside lamp.

The moment Lynn moved, a soreness shot from her waist down to her legs. She frowned slightly and looked to where Ian Sterling had been lying. The space was empty.

She froze for a second, then pushed herself up. Only then did she notice Ian Sterling sitting on the sofa not far away, his head bowed, his expression hidden.

”Babe...” Lynn Winslow called out hesitantly.

Ian Sterling was silent for a moment before looking up at her. ”I’m sorry,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Lynn Winslow looked into his eyes through the dim, yellow light. They glistened with a thin sheen of moisture.

’Did he cry?’

Lynn Winslow pressed her lips together and shook her head, her own voice raspy. ”I’m the one who got you drunk on purpose.”

Ian Sterling was already fully dressed. When he stood up, Lynn could no longer see his expression at all.

He said softly, ”I should go. Goodbye.”

Lynn’s mouth opened, but she just watched him walk out of the room, unable to say a word.

She lay in silence for a while. For the first time, the thought of just giving up surfaced. Forcing him like this was just torturing herself.

The driver had been waiting at Amberly Bay ever since Ian Sterling woke up. As soon as Ian came out, the car drove off with him.

Ian Sterling sat in silence. His phone was dinging nonstop. He glanced at it—it was a group chat with his childhood friends.

Kenneth Keller: [@Finn Sterling, red-headed boy, come out. We’re waiting for you at Nys.]

Ian Sterling frowned. It was only natural that they knew he’d dyed his hair; the hot pot restaurant owner would have definitely gossiped to them.

He initially wanted to pretend he hadn’t seen the message and not go, but he figured he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he went back anyway and would just end up overthinking. So, he agreed and told the driver to turn around and head to Nys.

He walked slowly into the private room and immediately threw himself onto the sofa, closing his eyes and not moving a muscle.

Seeing this, Kenneth Keller walked over, bent down to look at him, and asked curiously, ”What’s with the long face?”

Ian Sterling opened his eyes to glance at him, then wearily closed them again. ”It’s nothing,” he said listlessly.

Kenneth paused. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed several red marks under Ian Sterling’s rolled-up sleeve.

They were clearly scratches from a woman.

He frowned, yanked Ian Sterling up, and demanded, ”Who scratched your arm?”

Ian irritably shook off his hand. He wanted to lie back down, but Zachary Quincy and Jasper Jennings had already walked over and were staring at him. Now he couldn’t lie down even if he wanted to.

Jasper Jennings remembered the message his friend had sent him earlier that day. ”Lynn Winslow?” he asked.

Ian Sterling pressed his lips together and grunted in affirmation.

Zachary Quincy’s eyes were filled with exasperation, as if disappointed in him. Jasper Jennings raised an eyebrow, sat down next to Ian, and asked, ”We haven’t seen you for the past two days. Things progressed that quickly?”

”Why are you guys so gossipy?” Ian Sterling ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Kenneth Keller’s gaze shifted to his hair. He chuckled. ”You just used temporary dye for The Lumina Gala. What? You dyed it for real because Lynn Winslow said it looked good?”

Ian’s face was cold. ”If you’re not going to stop, I’m leaving,” he said flatly.

”Alright, alright, we’ll stop. We were just concerned about you.” Kenneth Keller shot the other two a look. They shrugged and went to join the others, leaving the two of them alone on the sofa.

Kenneth tried to talk to Ian in a serious tone, but Ian kept his mouth shut, refusing to say a word no matter what Kenneth said.

Kenneth had no other choice. He asked directly, ”Just came from Lynn Winslow’s place?”

Ian grunted. Kenneth smiled. ”Then it seems you two didn’t make up. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have left in the middle of the night.”

He looked at Ian’s sullen face and teased, ”Hooking up with her but not getting back together, then leaving in the middle of the night... You’re a real scumbag, you know that?”

Ian pressed his lips together again, falling silent.

”Fine, scumbag. I was going to give you some brotherly advice, but I can’t help you if you won’t talk. Go on and mope by yourself.” With that, Kenneth Keller made to stand up.

Ian suddenly said, ”How would you advise me?”

Hearing this, Kenneth snorted, sat back down, and asked, ”Who initiated it?”

Ian didn’t really want to discuss this kind of thing about Lynn, but he wanted Kenneth’s advice. He reluctantly turned his face away and squeezed out a single word: ”Her.”

Kenneth had already smelled the alcohol on him. ”You pretended to be drunk?”

”Mhm.” The tips of Ian’s ears turned red. He had guessed what she was up to from the moment Lynn poured him the first glass.

”Wow, pretty clever of you. So why did you leave? Why not just stay and take the chance to make up?”

”I haven’t thought it through.” Ian felt like he really was a scumbag. For the first time, he confessed to his friend, ”The moment I see her, I want to be close to her. But when I get close, I remember how pathetic I was three years ago.”

Kenneth genuinely felt for his friend. ”When it comes down to it, you still want to get back together,” he said gently.

Ian kept his head down and was silent for a long time before grunting in agreement.

”Then give it another try. What if it’s different from three years ago?”

”And what if it’s the same?”

”You won’t know if it’s the same unless you try.” After saying this, Kenneth stood up and walked away.

Ian leaned back on the sofa for a while before leaving without a word.

Sitting in the car, he despised his own awkward indecisiveness for the first time.

*

Mia Rhodes returned to the Powell family estate. Mr. Powell was in the garden, dozing in a lounge chair and soaking up the sun. Her ten-year-old cousin, Aiden Powell, was playing a game nearby.

When Aiden Powell saw her, he ran over happily, grabbing Mia Rhodes’s hand and whining playfully, ”Mia, why haven’t you come back in so long?”

Mia Rhodes glanced at Mr. Powell, who had already opened his eyes and was looking at her. ”Grandpa,” she said, her voice full of grievance, ”I ran into my cousin at the gala the other day. She framed me, saying I cursed at her, which made a lot of people believe her and start avoiding me. It took me forever to clear things up.”

Mr. Powell frowned, his expression stern and his voice deep. ”Something like that happened? Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

Mia walked over to Mr. Powell, crouched down, and took his hand, sobbing. ”I was afraid you’d think I was trying to drive a wedge between you and my cousin, Grandpa. I didn’t dare say anything.”

Mr. Powell sat up straight and patted Mia’s hand, sighing. ”That cousin of yours... she was just spoiled rotten by her own grandfather since she was a child. Don’t stoop to her level.”

Mia lowered her eyes to hide the flicker of dissatisfaction that crossed them. She pressed her lips together and said, ”I won’t hold it against her.”

Aiden Powell came over and pulled her aside to play. As he led her by the hand, Mia was lost in thought.

’Even though Mr. Powell believed me,’ she thought, ’he would never truly turn against Lynn Winslow for my sake.’