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Chapter 201: Chapter 201: Who Wouldn’t Be Spoiled?

”Give me the phone.” Lynn sat up and held out her hand, her tone icy.

A guilty Ian Sterling set his phone aside and tried to hug Lynn, but she slapped his hand away.

She repeated, enunciating each syllable, ”The phone. Give it to me.”

”Babe, I...”

Lynn’s dark eyes were fixed on Ian’s. Perhaps because she hadn’t blinked in so long, they started to well up with moisture. When she finally lowered her hand, she blinked, and a single teardrop fell with a soft PLIP onto the duvet, instantly spreading into a damp patch.

”Forget it.”

Lynn threw back the covers and scrambled out of bed, her steps hurried as she rushed for the door. Ian jumped to his feet and caught up, wrapping his arms around her from behind. ”I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you,” he explained frantically. ”I just didn’t want you to know about it yet. It’s really not what you’re thinking.”

Lynn lowered her gaze to his arm wrapped around her. On it was a long, red gash, as if he’d been cut by something. It was slightly red and swollen from being in the water.

”What happened to your arm?” Her voice was still cool, but the sight of the injury had laced it with a thread of concern.

That was enough to ease some of Ian’s tension. He swallowed hard, then turned Lynn around to face him, bending down to look into her eyes.

They were a little red, but at least they weren’t so cold anymore.

”Babe, I’ll tell you. Just don’t be mad.”

Lynn shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. ”Don’t.”

”...” For a moment, Ian couldn’t tell if she actually meant it, and his lips parted.

’To hell with the surprise,’ he thought. ’I can’t let my babe feel this upset.’

Lynn had a vague idea of what was coming, but she was too late to stop him. Her hand was already halfway to his mouth when the words tumbled out of Ian in a rush.

”I was setting up the venue this morning! I’m going to propose to you!!”

”...” Lynn’s eyes widened. She stared at Ian, dumbfounded. After a moment, she asked blankly, ”The surprise... is gone???”

Ian nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.

”But, if you do that, then I—” Lynn’s voice rose, but before she could finish, Ian cut her off.

”What’s the point of keeping a proposal a secret anyway? What if the woman just shows up in whatever she’s wearing? Then in the photos, the guy is all dressed up and the woman looks totally casual. That would be terrible.” Ian tried to comfort the slightly distraught Lynn with his own brand of twisted logic.

”No, that’s not it.” Lynn turned away, unwilling to listen to Ian’s speech, which was somehow both nonsensical and perfectly reasonable.

She had known Ian was planning to propose on this trip, but she never imagined it would be here. She certainly never thought he would be the one personally setting everything up this morning.

’So when Ian was hiding his phone just now, not letting me see the screen... was it because he was talking to people about the venue?’

Lynn’s brow furrowed. She turned and held out her hand. ”Give me the phone.”

She didn’t want to let this discomfort fester, nor did she want any barriers to come between them.

Ian went back, retrieved his phone, and handed it to her. Their passcodes were each other’s birthdays, a fact Lynn knew without asking.

She unlocked it and glanced at the chat history still open on the screen.

[Sir, the rain is too heavy right now. We don’t dare put out the fresh flowers. Should we wait for the weather to clear up before arranging them?]

Ian had replied: [Okay. Don’t use any that have wilted. I want only the absolute freshest ones.]

[Understood, sir. When will you be coming by again to inspect our work and see if it meets your satisfaction?]

Ian had started typing a reply in the text box, but Lynn had caught him before he could finish.

Lynn pressed her lips together and handed the phone back to him. An indescribable feeling left her feeling dazed.

’Who could understand this feeling? I threw a fit and completely ruined my own surprise...’

Seeing her state, Ian stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, complaining plaintively, ”You scared me to death just now. I thought you were going to leave me.”

Lynn let him hold her for a moment. The disconnected wires in her brain finally seemed to reconnect. She pushed Ian away, found the room’s first-aid kit, and took out some iodine. Grabbing his arm, she began to treat the wound.

”What did you cut this on? We should go to the hospital and have a doctor clean it out. It looks pretty deep.”

Ian glanced at the cut on his arm and said dismissively, ”It’s nothing. We don’t need to go. Just a little iodine to disinfect it will be fine.”

”How is that okay?” Lynn glared at him. ”What if it gets infected? It was soaked in water. If your arm becomes useless, I’m not going to want you anymore.”

”Alright, alright. For the sake of being able to lift you in my arms in the future, we’ll go in a bit.”

”No. We’re going now.”

Lynn pulled him to his feet, went to the walk-in closet to find an outfit for Ian, and changed into one herself. Then she dragged him out of the room, calling their driver on the way.

By the time they reached the ground-floor lobby, the driver hadn’t arrived yet, so they sat on a sofa to wait.

Lynn tilted her head to look at him. After a long moment, she suddenly asked, ”You’re proposing... do you have the ring ready?”

”Of course I do. Otherwise, am I just supposed to get on one knee with nothing?” Ian lifted his chin, looking quite proud of himself.

”...Let me see the ring.” Lynn narrowed her eyes. ”If I don’t like it, I’m not saying yes.”

Ian’s voice was slow, full of exasperation. ”Honey, you have to leave *some* surprises for yourself. You see the ring, you see the venue... are we just supposed to go there and act it all out for the photographer?”

”...” Lynn had to admit he had a point. She pouted, saying with a hint of regret, ”Fine.”

Ian reached out and ruffled Lynn’s hair. Just then, his phone rang. It was the driver—the car was waiting at the hotel entrance.

At the hospital, a doctor carefully treated Ian’s wound. It was deep, and it did look rather gruesome.

Lynn returned from making a call to see Ian frowning, clearly enduring the pain. ’He’s being so stoic,’ she thought. But the next second, his gaze shifted to her, his expression turning utterly pitiful as his eyes instantly reddened.

”It hurts...”

The older doctor glanced up at the well-built, six-foot-three man before him. ’He’s certainly handsome,’ the doctor mused, ’but he can’t handle a little pain?’

Lynn walked over and hugged Ian, letting him bury his face against her soft stomach. ”If you don’t look, it won’t hurt as much,” she comforted him in a low voice. ”Just hang in there. It’ll be over soon.”

Ian’s uninjured arm wrapped around Lynn’s waist. He gave a muffled nod, his long, slender fingers with their prominent knuckles clenching the fabric of her shirt so tightly that it wrinkled.

Lynn stroked Ian’s hair soothingly and urged the doctor, ”Doctor, could you please hurry?”

The doctor withdrew his gaze, feeling rather speechless.

’With a girlfriend like that,’ he thought, ’who wouldn’t act a little spoiled?’

He had no choice but to speed up, finally administering a tetanus shot in Ian’s deltoid.

”It’s not serious. One shot should be enough. If you’re still worried, you can come back for another one in three days.”

Lynn nodded. She looked down and gave Ian’s earlobe a gentle squeeze. ”All done,” she cooed. ”It’s over.”