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Chapter 44: Chapter 44: I’ll Summon You When I’m Interested

Lynn Winslow’s fingers tapped lightly against the quilt. "Ian Sterling," she said languidly, "we’re not a couple. You’re crossing a line, questioning me in that tone."

Ian Sterling felt his breath catch at her words, and he bit his lip hard in frustration.

His reaction was a bit extreme. It was a classic case of "once bitten, twice shy"; he was terrified Lynn would leave him again. After her return, he’d become somewhat complacent, spoiled by her affection. But back then, despite a deep-seated uncertainty, he had also been overconfident, thinking he understood Lynn’s temperament perfectly and believing she would never truly leave.

He gripped the pen in his hand, so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Still, he softened his tone. "I’m sorry, Lynn," he said gently. "I was just being impatient."

A smile played in Lynn’s eyes and the corners of her lips curved up, but all she gave him was a breezy, "Oh."

Her single syllable left him dangling in frustration. His voice deepened. "I’m coming to see you in a little while."

Lynn rejected him flat out. "Don’t. You can wait until I’m in the mood to summon you for an audience."

"No." Ian Sterling frowned. Not that Lynn cared; she just gave a soft hmph and hung up the phone.

THUD. The phone hit the floor. Ian Sterling’s face was grim, his fingers trembling.

Evan Carson rushed in at the sound. He jumped, startled by the ugly look on Ian’s face, and chose his words carefully. "Mr. Sterling."

Ian Sterling kept his eyes lowered, silent for a long while before finally speaking. "Book a stylist. Have them come to Calyx Hall tonight to dye my hair."

"Huh?" Evan Carson froze, dumbfounded. Ian Sterling looked up at him, his gaze sharp enough to snap Evan back to his senses. He swallowed nervously. "Right away, sir. What color would you like? I’ll let the stylist know ahead of time."

"Red."

Evan Carson nodded obsequiously and hurried out.

Lynn stretched languidly on her bed, changed into a swimsuit, and went down to the pool in the basement.

She hadn’t been afraid of water since her rebirth. After swimming a few laps, she wrapped herself in a bathrobe, padded over to the wet bar, and poured herself a drink.

She sat on a high stool, swinging her legs, and leaned languidly over the counter, lost in thought.

Mrs. Sterling came down with Lynn’s phone. She picked up a nearby towel and began drying Lynn’s hair as she spoke. "I was organizing your walk-in closet upstairs and heard your phone ringing nonstop, so I brought it down for you."

Lynn instinctively assumed it was a message from Ian Sterling. She slowly slid the phone toward her and glanced down.

Her expression grew darker and darker. Mrs. Sterling asked worriedly, "What is it? Did something happen?"

"I’m going out. Mrs. Sterling, don’t wait for me for dinner." Holding her phone, Lynn hurried back to her room. After changing, she had the driver take her out, with four bodyguards following in a separate car.

It was a bar called Azure. The area was sparsely populated and remote. Seeing this, Lynn frowned, wondering why a pampered young lady like Chloe Clayton would ever come to a place like this.

Just as Lynn stepped out of the car, a girl’s screams and angry curses erupted from a nearby alley. Lynn shot a look at her bodyguard, who nodded and sprinted into the alley. Lynn followed close behind.

Chloe Clayton was backed into a corner, her clothes pulled into disarray and her makeup a mess from crying. She struggled to keep several leering men from touching her, shouting furiously, "You dare touch me? Do you have any idea who I am? My brother will kill you!"

"I don’t give a damn who your brother is! I run things around here. It doesn’t matter who comes for you!" the leader, a man with tattooed arms, sneered. He bent down and started dragging Chloe toward a parked van.

He had only taken a few steps when a fist whistled through the air. Before the man could even react, he was punched to the ground.

Chloe fell to the ground, forgetting the pain as she stared blankly at the man in black who had saved her, and then at Lynn, who had entered right after him.

The other thugs exchanged a look and charged the man in black all at once. But what were their street-brawling tricks against a top-tier professional bodyguard? Especially when his two colleagues had already joined the fray.

The bodyguard who had remained by Lynn’s side took off his jacket and handed it to her, then stood protectively in front of her and Chloe to ward off any surprise attacks.

Lynn wrapped the jacket around Chloe, her tone sharp. "If Liam Clayton is going to raise a sister this naive, he ought to be more responsible for her."

Chloe didn’t quite understand Lynn’s words at first. It took her a moment to process before she reacted with disbelief. "Are you insulting me??"

"What if I am? Am I wrong? If I hadn’t shown up when I did, your brother would be searching for you in all the wrong places!" Though Lynn’s words were dripping with sarcasm, her actions were gentle as she helped Chloe to her feet and guided her out of the alley.

Chloe bit her lip, limping close to Lynn. But the moment she was in the car, she reverted to her usual proud peacock persona. She glanced at the jacket she was wearing with disgust, starting to take it off. "How dare you drape a bodyguard’s jacket on me? Take it away!"

Lynn looked at her, her eyes utterly cold. A smirk played on her lips. "If you don’t wear it, I’ll throw you right back into that alley."

Chloe had been coddled and praised by everyone her whole life; besides her own brother, no one had ever dared to speak to her that way. Her bravado instantly crumbled. She shivered, then quickly and deftly put the jacket back on, muttering resentfully, "Fine, I’ll wear it. You didn’t have to scare me."

Lynn snorted coldly and couldn’t be bothered to look at her.

Chloe huddled in her seat, dazed for a moment before tears started to fall, PLINK, PLINK. "My friends said this place was even more fun than Nys, that’s the only reason I came," she explained. "Otherwise, who would come to this dump? I wanted to leave almost as soon as I got inside, and when I came out, they grabbed me and dragged me into the alley."

Lynn remained silent. Seeing that she wasn’t responding, Chloe sniffled and asked suspiciously, "Why did you suddenly show up here? How did you manage to save me so... coincidentally?"

"What do you think?" Lynn turned her head to look at Chloe, her lips twisting into a smirk. "That I arranged for someone to ambush you, just so I could stage a ’hero saves the damsel’ moment?"

Chloe’s sobs hitched. She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Probably not. You wouldn’t have a reason to."

"Why not? You’re so pretty. I could kidnap you and sell you to some rich, perverted old man. Or I could ransom you back to your brother. Both are viable options."

Strangely, that didn’t scare Chloe. She looked up at the face before her—a face so exquisite it made her burn with jealousy—and remembered that Lynn had called her pretty. Her composure shattered completely. She let out a loud "WAAAH" and burst into tears. "How am I pretty?" she sobbed. "You’re way prettier than I am! Are you just making fun of me?"

Her crying was practically deafening, and she wouldn’t stop rambling, recounting every time someone during her school days had said she wasn’t pretty. The noise gave Lynn a headache. "Stop crying!" she ordered sternly.

"Mmph..." Chloe clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide as she stared at Lynn. How could someone who looked so sweet and gentle be so terrifying when she was angry? She didn’t dare make another sound.

The four bodyguards dragged the thugs out of the alley and walked up to knock on the car window.

Lynn rolled down the window. "Miss," the bodyguard said respectfully, "they’ve talked."

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