You're not leaving this time.

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Bastard, How Dare You Commit Domestic Violence

Lynn, knowing she was in the wrong, whined and grumbled, insisting that Ian Sterling not hold it against her.

Ian Sterling savored her coquettishness, letting out a soft ”hmm” just as Lynn was about to give up.

”I’m exhausted.” Lynn let go and flopped back onto the bed, pulling out her phone. Her retreat was so abrupt it left Ian Sterling momentarily stunned.

”You’re really something else,” Ian Sterling said, laughing in exasperation. He raised his hand and gave Lynn a slap on the bottom that was neither too light nor too heavy. Lynn yelped, shot upright, and demanded loudly, ”I thought you weren’t mad anymore! Why’d you hit me?!”

Ian Sterling brushed the hair from his forehead, let out a scoff, and turned to walk out.

”You call that a hit?” He reached the door and, before leaving, glanced back at Lynn’s indignant expression. ”If anything, I think I was too soft!”

Glaring, Lynn scrambled off the bed and chased after Ian Sterling barefoot. She leaped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. ”You bastard,” she said through gritted teeth. ”How dare you! Domestic abuse!”

”This is domestic abuse? I didn’t even use as much force as that other time. At most, it’s just—mmph.” Ian Sterling was laughing. Fearing she might fall, he raised his hands to support her legs. Before he could say what he was thinking, Lynn clamped a hand over his mouth.

”You bastard! You bastard! Don’t you dare!”

Ian Sterling made a few muffled sounds and nodded, so Lynn finally removed her hand from his mouth.

Ian Sterling set her down on the bed and had her put on her slippers. Once she was up, Lynn stood in place and waited for him to walk past. Then, narrowing her eyes, she stepped forward and landed a powerful slap right where he had hit her.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. She didn’t know if it hurt Ian Sterling, but her own hand certainly stung.

At first, Ian Sterling was just stunned. But when he turned around, he saw Lynn cradling her hand, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. She looked absolutely pitiful.

A laugh crept into his voice as he took Lynn’s hand and began to rub it. ”See? You shouldn’t do bad things. Payback comes quick, doesn’t it?”

Ian Sterling couldn’t resist running his mouth, and his own payback was about to arrive.

Lynn was genuinely angry now. She ignored Ian Sterling for the entire trip back to Aerie Garden.

She kept a frosty expression the entire time, her arms crossed so tightly that she wouldn’t budge, no matter how much Ian Sterling tried to take her hand.

When Nina Norton saw this, she let out a concerned ”Oh, dear.”

”What’s wrong? Did you two have a fight?”

Lynn bit her lip, her eyes welling up as if she were about to burst into tears. ”Nina,” she choked out, ”he hit me, and then he said it was what I deserved.”

’Wait, what???’

Ian Sterling stared in disbelief, but Nina Norton’s palm was already smacking his back. She scolded him harshly, ”You’re getting bold, aren’t you? How dare you raise a hand to Lynn! I’ll tan your hide so thoroughly that if you still have the gall to show up for dinner, it’ll just prove how thick your skin is!”

”...” Ian Sterling glanced over at Lynn, who was hiding behind Nina Norton, waggling her eyebrows and sticking her tongue out at him. ’Fine,’ he thought. ’I can take the hits. As long as it makes Lynn smile, it’s fine.’

The whole family had dinner together, during which Lynn continued to give Ian Sterling the silent treatment. But after everyone had gone to their rooms, Lynn wrapped her arms around Ian’s waist and whispered, ”Are you mad at me?”

’He’d barely said a word during dinner.’

Ian Sterling turned to wrap her in his arms. ”I’m not mad. What’s there to be mad about?”

Lynn murmured an ”oh” and tightened her embrace. Suddenly, she remarked, ”Your waist is so trim.”

”Looking to pick on me again, are you?”

”Not at all. It was a genuine compliment,” Lynn said, shaking her head. ”Am I really that mean?”

”Yes,” Ian Sterling answered, his tone firm and decisive.

Lynn made little whimpering noises, pretending to cry. Ian deliberately teased her, putting on a fierce voice. ”Well, I wonder who it was that got me beaten up just now.”

The crying stopped on a dime. Her expression changing in a flash, Lynn huffed, let go of Ian Sterling, and headed straight past him up the stairs. Ian followed, rambling, ”Oh, so now *you’re* mad? I’m not even mad! I didn’t hit you hard at all, but look at the force you used on me! You hurt your own hand! Then you came home and tattled to my mom, and I got hit several more times.”

Lynn stopped dead in her tracks to glare at him. Ian was startled by her sudden halt. Kiki, who had been following them, wagged its tail, looking up at them quizzically as if to ask why they weren’t moving.

Ian bent down and scooped Kiki into his arms. He took one of the little dog’s paws and waved it at Lynn. ”I’m sorry, babe. Please don’t be mad.”

His tone was earnest, and since Lynn had only been teasing him anyway, she couldn’t keep up the act. With a soft huff, she took Kiki from his arms and asked as she walked up the stairs, ”Where’s Hengheng?”

”Probably followed my parents to their room. I saw him head upstairs with them just now.”

Lynn wasn’t too worried about Hengheng wandering off; he was much more timid than Kiki.

When they reached the second floor, Ian Sterling took Lynn’s hand and led her to his room. ”Stay with me tonight,” he said.

Lynn agreed. ’It’s not like he can do anything anyway,’ she thought. ’It’s that time of the month for me. The most he can do is get a little handsy, and he’ll be the one suffering in the end.’

But she had never, ever imagined Ian Sterling could be this shameless!

”You’re infuriating,” Lynn choked out between sobs, pushing at Ian Sterling with both hands. But even her scolding was delivered in such a delicate, soft voice that it only amplified his reaction.

”Shh, be good, babe,” Ian Sterling murmured, his voice low and hoarse. He buried his face in the crook of Lynn’s neck, inhaling the familiar scent of his own body wash that she had used. A look of obsession slowly crept into his eyes.

’He loved her so much it almost overwhelmed him. Only in moments like this, when they were completely alone, could he allow the darker parts of his mind to surface.’

’He wanted to bind Lynn to his side for life, to keep her within arm’s reach—no, closer. Close enough that he could watch her every moment of every day, close enough that she would always be just a touch away.’

Lynn continued to sob. Even though she felt Ian Sterling was going too far, a small sliver of guilt—for teasing him that afternoon and for getting him into trouble with his mother—made her relent and let him be.

The corners of her eyes were still red when she finally fell asleep. Ian Sterling knelt by the bed, a damp towel in his hand. After meticulously wiping her hands clean, he pressed a soft kiss into her palm.

Her palm felt fever-hot, just like his heart.

When Lynn woke the next morning, Ian Sterling was gone. She went to push herself up, but a sore ache flared in her wrist as she put weight on it.

She couldn’t help a small whimper, biting her lip as she looked down and rubbed her wrist.

’Ian Sterling had actually held back a lot last night, a restraint she’d clearly felt. It was strange. She couldn’t remember ever being this sore before, even when he had been much rougher. Yet now, this gentler approach had left her unable to bear it.’

As if they were telepathically linked, Ian Sterling walked back in just a moment after she started rubbing it.

He saw her sitting on the edge of the bed looking pitiful and frowned. ”What is it? Does your wrist hurt?”

He hurried over, dropped to one knee in front of her, and gently took her wrist to examine it closely.

It wasn’t swollen. Ian Sterling breathed a sigh of relief. Lynn whispered, ”I think I twisted it last night.”

”Ah...” For the first time, Ian Sterling actually seemed a little shy.

Lynn looked down at him, a hint of a smile in her eyes. ’He’d certainly done no shortage of scoundrel-like things, but Ian Sterling had a quality that most people would never be able to grasp. Lynn, however, understood it... more or less.’