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Chapter 185: Chapter 185: I Trust Him

”I’m not angry with you,” Lynn Winslow said, squatting beside him. She reached up to wipe the tears from under his eyes and whispered, ”I was just upset. The thought that you might marry someone else to forget me... I just can’t accept it.”

Ian Sterling shook his head and leaned forward to hug Lynn Winslow, his voice choked with emotion. ”I won’t marry anyone else. I only want you.”

Lynn Winslow hugged him back. ”Am I being too selfish?” she asked. ”I’m the one who left you, yet I don’t want you to be with anyone else. I even shut you out over a mere possibility.”

”No, you’re not.” Ian Sterling’s vision blurred. He buried his face in her shoulder, wetting the fabric with his tears.

Lynn Winslow’s heart ached for him as she gently ruffled his hair.

To make it up to him, Lynn indulged his every whim that night. No matter how excessive his demands, she was completely pliant.

After Lynn fell asleep, Ian Sterling quietly slipped out of the room and went down to the living room.

He stood drinking water by the floor-to-ceiling windows when Kiki came and rubbed against his leg. Ian Sterling looked down and chuckled. ”You heartless little thing. Why didn’t you come open the door for me just now?”

Kiki, who had long ago mastered the trick of opening room doors, pretended not to understand. It simply stood up, grabbed onto Ian’s pant leg, and had a long stretch.

Heng Heng was still upstairs, sleeping.

Ian Sterling reached out to stroke Kiki’s head, his eyes narrowed as he gazed at the dim, yellow path lights illuminating the courtyard outside.

At this hour, Nina Norton and Spencer Sterling were surely asleep, and he couldn’t very well disturb them. A text message wouldn’t be clear enough, so he’d have to wait until morning to call. He was still agitated, his anger yet to subside.

At this hour, the only ones likely still awake were the guys in his group chat.

He sent a message asking if anyone was there. When no one replied, Ian Sterling sent out a red envelope.

Ten envelopes, one cent each, for a grand total of ten cents.

Kenneth Keller, after claiming his share: [When are you going to stop being so stingy?]

Ian Sterling sent a grinning emoji, then tagged Jasper Jennings, who had taken the money without a word.

Jasper Jennings: [To be honest, I think you owe me for the time I wasted claiming that one cent.]

Ian Sterling didn’t continue the banter, getting straight to the point: [Does the Thatcher family have a project in the works with one of you?]

The moment Jasper Jennings saw that, he started a group call. It was just the three of them, including Kenneth Keller.

Even though he was in the living room downstairs, Ian Sterling was still afraid of waking Lynn, so he kept his voice very low.

”How’d the Thatcher family piss you off?” Kenneth Keller asked, his curiosity piqued.

It was mainly because Ian Sterling had never been very interested in the relationships and entanglements among Quartos’s prominent families. For him to suddenly ask about it, there had to be a reason.

Ian Sterling’s lips curved into a cold smile as he said flatly, ”Their matriarch had the gall to bring up the old verbal engagement between me and Annabelle Thatcher. Right in front of my wife.”

Jasper Jennings scoffed. ”’Your wife’? You two aren’t even engaged yet, and you’re already calling her that. Does Lynn know?”

”Stay out of it.” Ian Sterling frowned. ”Is the Thatcher family’s project with you?”

”It’s with me,” Kenneth Keller chimed in, the sound of rustling paper in the background. He was clearly flipping through a file. ”So?” he chuckled. ”You want me to cancel it?”

”Cancel it. I’ll cover any losses, and I’ll have the Norton family take their place.”

Although Ian Sterling didn’t manage his family’s corporate affairs, he still held significant sway. It was just a single partnership. What’s more, the aging board members at the Norton Group would never object to replacing another company in a deal with the Keller family.

Kenneth Keller was more than willing. The Norton family was leagues ahead of the Thatcher family. Besides, the company was run by Ian Sterling’s second brother. Kenneth had wanted to partner with the Nortons for this project from the start, but the Thatcher matriarch had gone to his grandmother, who made the final decision.

By canceling the deal now with Ian Sterling’s involvement, he’d have a perfect excuse to justify it to his own grandmother.

Having said his piece, Ian Sterling hung up, giving the other two no chance to drag him into idle chatter. He placed his water glass on the table and went back to the bedroom to be with Lynn.

Lynn was still fast asleep. She must have been exhausted, as she hadn’t even noticed Ian leaving the room. She slept soundly all the way until the next morning.

When she came downstairs, she was surprised to find Elder Winslow and Mr. Powell waiting for her for breakfast. It wasn’t until she sat down that she realized the two elders had something they wanted to talk to her about.

Meanwhile, Ian Sterling was getting ready for the day and calling Nina Norton.

Elder Winslow lowered his voice. ”The housekeeper said Finn’s car was vandalized yesterday, and that the person responsible came to apologize. How did you two end up arguing?”

Lynn made a vague sound, hoping to play dumb and brush it off, but the two elders were not so easily deceived. Mr. Powell asked directly, ”Was it because of that old verbal engagement between the Sterling and Thatcher families?”

”You knew about that?” Lynn asked, surprised.

Mr. Powell said, ”Of course. It caused quite a stir when it was called off. The Sterling family even gave the Thatchers several sizable projects as an apology. I never thought they’d be so insatiably greedy, still dreaming of having their granddaughter marry into a better family. To think they’d have the audacity to come to you and stir up trouble.”

He was about to make a call as he spoke, but Lynn, guessing his intentions, quickly stopped him.

”Grandpa, please don’t get involved. Ian Sterling will handle it. If you step in, I’m worried the Thatcher family will start targeting the Powell family.”

”Afraid of her?” Mr. Powell sneered, full of disdain. ”Back in the day, she took a live-in son-in-law and then cheated on him less than six months into the marriage. To this day, no one’s sure who the father of her son is. Her husband finally couldn’t stand it anymore and divorced her. When she saw he had remarried and was happy, she went and caused a huge scene, trying to break them up. But his new wife was also from a powerful family and wasn’t about to stand for that. She snatched away a ton of the Thatcher family’s business deals, and only then did that old hag finally back down.”

Lynn’s eyes went wide. It was all so unbelievable. ’That old woman is completely shameless!’ she thought.

Mr. Powell shot her a sidelong glance. ”In your eyes, you think the Powell family can’t even handle a family like theirs?”

Lynn quickly shook her head, offering an appeasing smile. ”Of course not. I was just worried she might resort to some underhanded tricks.”

”Lynn,” Elder Winslow said earnestly, ”even though the Winslow family isn’t based in Veridia, we will not let you be wronged. When things happen, don’t just endure it. Tell me and your grandpa. We can handle it for you.”

”I know, I know,” Lynn said sweetly to them. ”Don’t be so serious. It’s not a huge deal. All she did was tell me about the old verbal engagement; it’s not like she did anything else. Besides, you have to have a little faith in Ian Sterling. He said he would handle it, and I trust him.”

Ian Sterling came downstairs just as he was finishing his call, happening to overhear Lynn’s last sentence. He could guess what the two elders had said to her. His footsteps faltered, a prickle of discomfort rising in him. But when he heard the three words she said—”I trust him”—his heart couldn’t help but soften.

He stood for a long time just out of their line of sight, only walking into the dining room after the three of them had changed the subject.

When Lynn saw him, she chided gently, ”What took you so long? We’ve been waiting for you.”

Ian Sterling sat down beside her and chuckled. ”I was just on the phone with my mom for a bit.”

With that, he smiled and turned his gaze to the two elders.