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Chapter 87: Chapter 87: A Man Three Parts Drunk, An Act to Drive You to Tears

After the meeting, Mr. Jennings shot Jasper Jennings a look. Jasper got the signal and dutifully followed him into the chairman’s office.

The moment he sat down, Mr. Jennings scolded him in a cold voice, ”In meetings, everyone else mutes their audio and stays off their phones. You’re the exception, is that it?”

Jasper Jennings sat down nonchalantly. ”What’s wrong with looking at my phone?” he said, unconcerned. ”They couldn’t tell what I was doing anyway.”

”...” Mr. Jennings smiled and uttered a single word: ”Out.”

”You got it.” Jasper Jennings immediately got up and walked out.

Just then, the hot pot restaurant owner sent the photo over. Jasper Jennings glanced down at it, curled his lip, and replied: [Not as handsome as Finn.]

As Ian Sterling’s childhood friend, how could he let his good buddy lose face?

—

Lynn Winslow was absolutely stuffed after the meal. The two men took turns piling food onto her plate, and she’d get glared at if she ate a piece from one but not the other.

As she was leaving the hot pot restaurant, she passed by the chubby owner who was standing at the door to see them off. Lynn Winslow whispered, ”Next time, don’t put out so many serving chopsticks.”

The chubby owner stifled a laugh as he watched them leave.

Once in the car, Ian Sterling asked with a sullen face, ”Where to next?”

Zane Lancaster, crossing his legs, said nonchalantly, ”Wherever. If you don’t feel like going out, we can just go to Amberly Bay.”

”...” Ian Sterling forced a smile. ”Sit tight, then. We’re heading out right now.”

”Hmph.” Zane Lancaster lifted his chin and chuckled smugly.

Lynn Winslow rested her forehead in her hand, not wanting to listen to their bickering. ’I want to go home,’ she thought. ’By myself.’

That evening, Ian Sterling took Zane Lancaster to Nys again, booking a private room. As they drank, it turned into a competition. Lynn Winslow sipped her juice in silence until they were both drunk.

She dropped Zane Lancaster off at his hotel, then drove Zane’s car to take a groggy Ian Sterling back to Amberly Bay.

After the struggle of getting Ian Sterling back to his room, Lynn Winslow heaved a deep sigh.

Ian Sterling’s eyes fluttered open dazedly. He pursed his lips, grabbed Lynn Winslow’s hand, and whimpered, ”Why aren’t you talking to me?”

Lynn Winslow let him pull her closer to the bed, gazing down at him in silence.

”Are you angry with me?”

”I love you so much.”

”Baby, wifey, I love you.”

”You can only love me. You can’t be nice to anyone else, only to me.”

Lynn Winslow was thoroughly exasperated. She gritted her teeth. ”Stop faking it.”

’He’s only a little drunk, but he’s milking it for all it’s worth.’

Ian Sterling looked even more wronged. He snuggled closer, hugging Lynn Winslow and burying his face in her soft stomach. ”Call me it,” he said in a hoarse voice. ”Call me baby. Hurry up.”

”Call me it, come on. Call me baby. I love it when you call me baby.”

Lynn Winslow sighed, ruffling his curly hair. ”Baby,” she said, resigned.

Satisfied, Ian Sterling continued to nuzzle against her. His hand snaked under the back of her shirt and began to creep upward.

Lynn Winslow unceremoniously grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged. ”Stop messing around,” she threatened. ”If you don’t, I’m going to get angry.”

Ian Sterling blinked. His eyes and cheeks were flushed from the alcohol. ”I just want to feel,” he pouted.

”In your dreams.” Lynn Winslow pinched his cheek, amused. ”Is there ever a day you’re not thinking about things like that?”

”I’m thinking of you.” A shimmering light flashed in Ian Sterling’s eyes. He sat up, kneeling on the bed to kiss Lynn Winslow. She narrowed her eyes, and thinking of how frustrated he’d been all day, she let him.

Zane Lancaster lay on his bed, staring with narrowed eyes at the ornate chandelier overhead. A single tear slid from the corner of his eye into his hairline. He raised an arm to cover his eyes.

’What was the point of being childhood friends for over ten years?’

He exhaled, stood, and walked into the bathroom. He splashed a few handfuls of water on his face, then looked up at his reflection in the mirror, the corner of his mouth twitching into a humorless line.

’Useless or not, it didn’t matter. Either way, he couldn’t let Ian Sterling have an easy time.’

He picked up his phone and called Lynn Winslow. After a long wait, she finally answered.

At that moment, Lynn Winslow was pinned in Ian Sterling’s embrace, his limbs tangled around hers, making it impossible to struggle free.

”My phone...”

”Ignore it.” Ian Sterling grabbed her hands and forcibly pinned them above her head. Lynn turned her head to avoid his kiss and glanced at the caller ID on the phone lying on the pillow. ”Stop,” she said breathlessly. ”Hurry.”

Ian Sterling looked up at her, followed her gaze to the phone, and a smile suddenly spread across his lips. He picked up the phone, answered it, and, with a wicked sense of humor, put it on speaker and held it to Lynn’s ear.

His eyes were full of malice. Lynn Winslow, not nearly as shameless as he was, struggled to hang up, but he grabbed her wrist again.

”Lynn, have breakfast with me again tomorrow.”

Zane Lancaster didn’t notice anything was amiss and continued, ”There are still so many places we haven’t visited. You have to go with me tomorrow.”

Lynn Winslow opened her mouth to speak, but Ian Sterling covered it with his hand and answered for her. ”Of course, brother-in-law. Wait for us at the hotel; we’ll come and get you in the morning.”

Zane Lancaster: ”...”

The voice on the other end of the line was hoarse and languid. He wasn’t a child; of course he could tell what was implied in Ian Sterling’s tone.

Zane Lancaster’s expression was thunderous. He hung up the phone immediately. He stood rooted to the spot for a long time, calming himself, before he found the strength to go back to his bedroom.

Lynn Winslow was furious. When they were finished, she lifted her foot and kicked Ian Sterling right off the bed.

”Get out!” she snapped.

Caught off guard, Ian Sterling tumbled to the floor with a hiss. Still high from their encounter, he didn’t think much of it at first. But as soon as he tried to move, an immense pain shot through his lower back.

”Lynn, my back hurts so much...” He really couldn’t get up. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he forced out the words.

At first, Lynn Winslow thought he was faking it. It was only when she heard Ian Sterling’s pained groan that she sat up to look.

Ian Sterling’s face was pale, and he was biting his lower lip hard. The sight gave Lynn Winslow a real scare.

She scrambled out of bed to help him up, but Ian Sterling, gasping for air, waved her away. ”Don’t help me. Call an ambulance.”

Trembling with guilt, Lynn Winslow hurried to get her phone. After calling for an ambulance, she dressed herself, then struggled to get clothes on Ian Sterling.

”I’m so sorry, I didn’t know...” Lynn Winslow’s hands trembled, and she didn’t dare touch him again. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

Ian Sterling looked at her through the pain. Seeing that she was about to cry, he reached out, took her hand, and soothed, ”It’s okay. I’m okay.”

”Once my back is better, we can have a rematch.”

He was still in the mood to joke, but Lynn was already crying out of panic. She raised her hand as if to hit him, then bit her lip and lowered it.

The ambulance arrived quickly. The paramedics carried a stretcher upstairs and worked together to place Ian Sterling on it before carrying him back down.

Lynn Winslow grabbed both her phone and Ian Sterling’s, then hurried downstairs in a panic.

At the hospital, the doctor looked at the X-rays. After asking what had happened, he explained it was just a minor misalignment that would be fine once it was reset. Ian Sterling breathed a sigh of relief at the news, but Lynn Winslow couldn’t stop herself from bursting into tears.

”You scared me to death! It’s all your fault for provoking me. If it weren’t for you, this never would have happened.”