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Chapter 55: Chapter 55: You’re the One Who Should Be an Actor

"It must be the genes from your Sterling Family. We in the Norton family aren’t like that," Nina Norton said firmly.

Spencer Sterling thought back to his father-in-law and the other Norton family elders he’d met. He was silent for a long while.

"Go to sleep," Spencer Sterling said lightly. "If you don’t, don’t come crying to me tomorrow when you have new wrinkles."

Nina Norton imagined it, startling herself, and quickly closed her eyes to go to sleep.

As dawn broke, Quartos was suddenly struck by lightning and thunder. A downpour descended in an instant, shrouding the entire city in a misty rain.

Lynn Winslow had forgotten to close the balcony door before bed. As the wind blew, rain pattered on the balcony, and a cool mist drifted into her room. Lynn felt as if she were sleeping in water, an unbearable dampness clinging to her.

She tossed and turned for a long time before finally, uncomfortably, climbing out of bed. After closing the balcony door, she glanced at her damp bed and had no choice but to grab her phone and go to the guest bedroom to sleep.

When she woke up again, the rain was still coming down hard. Lynn Winslow felt light-headed and groggy, and her nose was completely stuffed up.

She fumbled for her phone and made a call, her voice weak. "Mrs. Sterling, I think I have a cold."

She couldn’t make out what the person on the other end said; her ears were just ringing.

Her fingers went slack, and the phone dropped beside her pillow. She squirmed uncomfortably and burrowed under the covers, waiting for Mrs. Sterling to come to her rescue.

Sometime later, Lynn Winslow heard someone calling her name. She groggily opened her eyes. The person before her had red hair and pale skin. It wasn’t Mrs. Sterling; it was that good-for-nothing man.

"Lynn, are you still feeling sick?" Ian Sterling leaned down and pressed his eyelid against Lynn’s forehead to feel her temperature. She wasn’t burning up as much anymore.

Lynn Winslow shook her head. She had just started to move her hand when Ian Sterling held it down. She heard him coaxing her softly, "Don’t move. You have an IV in. Be good."

"Why are you here?" she asked, squinting at Ian Sterling, who sat by her bed, his hair still slightly damp.

Ian Sterling kissed her forehead and said softly, "You tried to call Mrs. Sterling, but the call came to me."

Lynn Winslow was stunned for a moment before it dawned on her. Mrs. Sterling’s surname was also Sterling. That must have been it—because their surnames were the same, and she was too dizzy to see her phone screen clearly, she had called Ian Sterling by mistake.

Mrs. Sterling pushed the door open, carrying a tray with two bowls of ginger soup.

Seeing how close they were, Mrs. Sterling chuckled. "Finn, you should go take a hot shower. The ginger soup is too hot right now anyway. By the time you’re done, it’ll be the perfect temperature to drink. We don’t want you catching a cold."

’She’d never had a particularly good impression of this young master of the Sterling family, so she had always spoken to him with a certain distance. But this morning, he had rushed over in a hurry not long after calling her, soaked to the bone with rain. He’d only changed into some clothes he’d left here before and then kept watch by Lynn’s bedside.’

It was a small thing, but it was enough to make Mrs. Sterling soften her tone and speak with a little more warmth.

At these words, Lynn Winslow looked at Ian Sterling, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her, and said softly, "You should go take a shower."

Her lips were still pale, but her little face was flushed from the fever, adding a fragile air to her delicate features. Ian Sterling’s heart melted at the sight. Ignoring the fact that Mrs. Sterling was standing right there, he leaned down and gently kissed the corner of her mouth before finally getting up to take a shower.

Lynn Winslow bit her lip. After Ian Sterling left the room, Mrs. Sterling let out a soft chuckle.

"Mrs. Sterling, please don’t laugh," Lynn Winslow said, a little embarrassed.

Mrs. Sterling placed the tray on the table, walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, and reached out to feel Lynn’s forehead. Once she was sure the fever had gone down, she said gently, "He called me out of the blue this morning to tell me you had a cold, so I hurried over. He arrived not long after, completely soaked. It looked like he was in such a rush that he didn’t even think to use an umbrella after he parked."

Lynn Winslow blinked and said in a small voice, "I want to sit up."

Mrs. Sterling helped her up, thoughtfully placing a pillow behind Lynn’s back to make it more comfortable for her to lean against the headboard.

"Now I see why you like him so much," Mrs. Sterling said, suddenly unable to hold back a laugh. She teased, "I never really paid attention to his looks before, but I got a good look today. He’s certainly handsome."

"Mrs. Sterling..." Lynn Winslow was genuinely embarrassed now, her face growing even redder with a hint of flustered annoyance.

"Alright, alright, I’ll stop," Mrs. Sterling said, stifling her laughter. She picked up a bowl of ginger soup and began feeding it to Lynn one spoonful at a time.

Less than ten minutes later, Ian Sterling returned. Seeing Mrs. Sterling feeding Lynn the ginger soup, he stepped forward and said softly, "I can do that."

Mrs. Sterling handed him the bowl, stood up to make room for him, and seeing that everything was in hand, she quietly slipped out of the room.

Ian Sterling tested the soup’s temperature, blew on the spoon before bringing it to Lynn’s lips, and asked softly, "Is it too hot?"

Lynn Winslow looked at him and shook her head.

’She was suddenly reminded of when they first got together. Back then, they hadn’t even shared a kiss. She’d had a fever, and Ian Sterling had come to take care of her. Somehow, they’d ended up kissing. In the end, her cold went away, but he came down with a bad one that lasted a week.’

The memory almost made her laugh, but it also brought a wave of vexation.

’What was the point? The Ian Sterling before her now was truly wonderful when he was being good, but when he went crazy, she had no idea how to handle him.’

She lowered her gaze to the mark on her wrist, left there when Ian Sterling had grabbed her the day before, and a spiteful impulse rose within her.

"You know, you’d be a great actor."

Ian Sterling frowned, confused. "What?"

Lynn Winslow lifted her wrist, pulling back her pajama sleeve to show him. The red mark was jarring against her fair skin.

Ian Sterling’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly set the soup down as he heard Lynn Winslow say sarcastically, "The man from last night—that’s the real you. This is all just an act. With acting skills this good, you really should be an actor."

"Lynn, I..." Seeing her cold expression, Ian Sterling panicked. "I already explained. I was just too worked up last night, I didn’t know my own strength. Why don’t you hit me? You can hit me however you want, just as long as you’re not angry anymore."

Lynn Winslow watched him coolly. Seeing the tremble in his panicked voice, her lips curved into a smile. "I’m just kidding."

Ian Sterling’s eyelashes trembled. He lowered his gaze and leaned in to hug Lynn, seemingly letting out a sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death."

The corners of Lynn Winslow’s mouth remained upturned as she reassuringly patted his bony back. She chuckled. "But weren’t you the one who scared me first last night?"

Ian Sterling nuzzled his forehead against her shoulder and mumbled defensively, "No, I didn’t."

His arms tightened around her. Lynn Winslow clutched his shirt, a small thrill of pleasure running through her at having scared him.

But she failed to notice that, where she couldn’t see, Ian Sterling’s lowered eyes concealed a flicker of some strange emotion.

Holly Joyce came to remove Lynn’s IV. Afterward, Ian Sterling pressed down on the injection site for five minutes. When the time was up, he let go and said, "I have to go back to Aerie Garden for a bit. I’ll come back to stay with you tonight."

Lynn Winslow said, "You don’t have to."

She had barely gotten the refusal out when she saw the wounded look on Ian Sterling’s face and felt his grip tighten. She quickly changed her tune. "I’m just worried you’ll be tired. If you don’t think you will be... then it’s fine for you to come."

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