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Chapter 103: Chapter 103: Shipping a Couple

They had originally planned to stay in Morelia for a few more days, but when Ian Sterling got injured, their plans were thrown into disarray.

Once his injury had mostly healed, Lynn Winslow and Ian Sterling returned to Veridia with the small group that had come to visit him.

As soon as she landed, Chloe Clayton called.

Lynn Winslow had just gotten into the car heading back to Amberly Bay. Ian Sterling had been taken back to the Sterling family estate by Nina Norton and Spencer Sterling. After all, his older siblings hadn’t had a proper chance to fuss over him yet, and it would be less convenient for them at Amberly Bay.

Lynn Winslow raised an eyebrow when she saw Chloe Clayton’s name on her caller ID, but she answered anyway.

"Why haven’t you been answering my messages for the past few days?"

The moment the call connected, Chloe’s aggrieved voice came through. Lynn laughed and said, "I was in Morelia the last few days and got swamped. But what a coincidence, I just landed and you called."

Chloe let out a sly giggle. "Because I can tell the future," she said mysteriously.

"Is that so?" Lynn glanced over at Flora Fairfax, who was jogging out of the airport trying to follow her. "Because I think I see a sneaky little girl tailing me," she said softly.

"..." Chloe was silent for a long moment before laughing sheepishly.

Lynn opened her car door, stepped out, and rounded a pillar to walk right up behind Flora Fairfax. She tapped Flora on the shoulder, making her jump.

Seeing it was Lynn, Flora scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Uh, Lynn, I was just in Hespera for a concert, you know? I just got back and happened to run into you."

Lynn asked her, "Has your driver come for you? Do you want a ride?"

Flora nodded vigorously. She stealthily sent her driver a message telling him to leave, then jogged after Lynn into the car.

As soon as Lynn got in, she started texting Ian Sterling. Flora was looking this way and that when she suddenly felt something hard digging into her side. She reached down and, to her surprise, pulled out a man’s watch.

"Lynn, is this your watch?" Flora asked, handing it to her with a puzzled look.

Lynn took it, gave it a casual glance, and tossed it into her bag.

"It’s Ian Sterling’s. He must have left it in the car at some point."

Flora let out a little "Oh!" and her face suddenly flushed red.

’Why would someone take off their watch in a car?’

’Why?’

’WHY!’

’AHHHHHHHHH—’

Lynn glanced sideways at her. "Stop that," she said with a frown. "What are you thinking about?"

Flora covered her mouth, her big eyes sparkling as she gazed at Lynn. "I’m not thinking about anything," she said, her voice muffled.

Lynn’s brow furrowed slightly, but she didn’t say anything more. The phone in her hand was vibrating nonstop.

Ian Sterling was spamming Lynn’s phone like a scorned lover.

[Why didn’t you take me with you?]

[Do you have any idea how mercilessly they’re all picking on me now that you’re not here?]

[Come pick me up, okay?]

Lynn couldn’t help but laugh. She sent him a ’be good’ sticker, then put her phone away, reclined her seat, and closed her eyes to rest.

Flora peeked over at her, then lowered her head, tilting her phone screen away. Her fingers flew across the screen, tapping out a flurry of messages.

Lynn’s eyes cracked open. She caught sight of Flora’s furtive texting out of the corner of her eye and sighed under her breath.

[Guess what? I’m in Lynn’s car, and I found a watch that Ian Sterling left on the seat.]

Chloe: [Whoa, whoa, whoa.]

As expected of best friends, their minds were on the exact same wavelength in that instant.

Flora was heading back to the Fairfax family estate, which, as luck would have it, was very close to Amberly Bay. As she got out of the car, Flora looked back at Lynn, reluctant to leave.

"Lynn, can I come over and hang out sometime? I’m staying with my parents right now, so I’m really close by."

Lynn chuckled. "Of course."

"Then I’ll come over again tonight! I’ll bring Chloe! You go on and get some rest first."

Before Lynn could even react, Flora turned, grabbed her suitcase, and dashed off.

Lynn opened her mouth, about to say that tonight wouldn’t work—Ian had just messaged her saying he was coming over.

’Oh well.’ Lynn told the driver to go.

Back at Amberly Bay, Lynn cuddled with Kiki for a while before heading to her room to shower and catch up on sleep.

By evening, Lynn still hadn’t woken up, but Flora and Chloe had already arrived at Amberly Bay. Mrs. Sterling let them in, and the two of them quickly had her laughing nonstop with their sweet talk.

Lynn was only woken up by a call from Ian Sterling.

"I’ll head over after dinner. Wait for me."

Still half-asleep, Lynn just hummed in agreement before Ian hung up.

By the time Lynn was fully awake, she had already forgotten all about Ian’s call. She ran a hand through her hair and, still groggy, dragged herself off to wash up. She was still yawning as she came downstairs, and when she saw Flora and Chloe, it took her a moment to process. She just blinked at them, looking dazed.

Chloe and Flora were taking turns holding Kiki, much to the cat’s extreme annoyance. Unable to use its claws, Kiki just lay in Chloe’s arms with an expression of utter despair.

The moment Kiki saw Lynn, it struggled out of Chloe’s arms and shot into Lynn’s like a little cannonball, meowing nonstop as if to complain about how cruelly the two girls had been treating it.

Lynn smoothed down its fur and let it clamber onto her shoulder.

"You guys are here so early. I just woke up."

Chloe came forward and affectionately linked her arm with Lynn’s. "We knew you were still sleeping, so we figured we’d come early and wait," she explained.

Mrs. Sterling stood up, smiling. She had just found out what the two young ladies liked to eat. Although the house was stocked with ingredients, a few of their favorites were missing. "Lynn," she said, "I’m going out with the others to buy more groceries. Is there anything else you’d like to eat?"

Mrs. Sterling had a habit of writing the dinner menu for the evening on a small whiteboard in the dining room.

Lynn shook her head. She had seen the menu in the dining room when she got home; everything on it was something she loved.

Just as Mrs. Sterling was about to head out, Lynn suddenly remembered something. "Mrs. Sterling," she called out, "could you buy some mangosteens and lychees? Ian Sterling is coming over tonight, and he loves them."

"Oh, we have some! I bought a lot this morning. There wasn’t enough room to store it all here, so it’s over in our quarters. I’ll have someone bring it over in a bit."

Lynn nodded. The moment she looked away from Mrs. Sterling, she was met with the sight of her two friends, their eyes sparkling.

But they were smart enough not to say anything in front of her. They just exchanged sly smirks and looked away, communicating frantically with their eyes.

Lynn crossed her arms and stood before them. "Are you two icing me out?" she asked seriously. "What are you talking about that I can’t hear?"

Chloe and Flora: "..."

The two of them gave a hollow laugh. Chloe spoke first. "We were just shipping you and Mr. Sterling. We were afraid you wouldn’t let us, so we didn’t dare say anything."

That was more or less what Lynn had guessed. She shrugged, grabbing a bottle of iced water and taking a few sips.

Her ambiguous reaction made Chloe and Flora a little nervous, until they heard Lynn say, "Ship away."

"Yay!" the two of them cheered in unison.

Lynn stretched. Feeling that just sitting around was a bit boring, she invited them down to the basement level for a swim.

Chloe stared in a daze as Lynn expertly swam a few laps.

"So that time... you really did jump in on your own."

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