Chapter 321
"She wouldn't."
Sterling cut off Henry's words, shooting him a cold glance.
Henry had been in a foul mood lately. Now that he'd finally found some entertainment, how could he let it go so easily?
"Mr. Lancaster seems so certain right now, but if Willow really did run off with someone..." He was about to continue.
Sterling's voice was low. "She's pregnant."
Henry paused, then his eyes widened in disbelief. "What? When? Are you sure it's yours?"
Sterling gave him a noncommittal look.
Henry quickly realized that even if Sterling were confused about everything else, he'd never raise someone else's child.
He couldn't help but stare at Sterling for a long moment. "You already have a kid on the way... Why does this feel like a dream? By all rights, I should be the one getting married and having kids first!"
Sterling let out a cold laugh and said nothing, yet somehow said everything.
Henry missed his meaning and continued on his own. "Does your father know about this?"
Sterling replied, "No."
Henry frowned. "I'm guessing he won't let this child be born."
That much was obvious.
Sterling narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing through them. "I don't care if he disagrees, as long as he doesn't touch them."
If Harold dared lay a hand on Willow or the child, Sterling wouldn't mind completely breaking ties with the Lancaster family.
After all, there wasn't much affection between him and the Lancaster family to begin with.
Henry caught the implication in his words. Thinking about everything he'd been helping Sterling with lately, he gained a new understanding of just how deep Sterling's feelings for Willow ran.
Thinking of Willow, Henry couldn't help but recall the photo he'd just seen.
From that angle, Willow really did look like his mother...
Willow had no idea she'd been photographed.
After the written exam came the interview.
During this time, she still needed to continue preparing for the test.
She was especially confident about the written portion, which made proper interview preparation all the more important.
Sienna came by once during this period. Seeing how seriously she was preparing, Sienna was quite pleased and even personally ran a mock interview with her. Willow performed excellently.
Sienna was very satisfied. "I'll be waiting for you at school. If you don't have anything going on these next few days, come help me out."
Willow obediently agreed.
After Sienna left, she continued studying and preparing.
One morning, Willow had just finished breakfast and was about to start studying when Elaine called.
"Are you free for lunch? Want to grab a meal together?"
Willow hesitated for a moment.
If she went out, she didn't know how to explain it to Maria.
But then she thought about Elaine and Matthew's situation. After a moment's consideration, she agreed. "Okay."
Elaine said, "I'll send you the address in a bit. Do you need me to pick you up?"
Willow replied, "I'll just take a cab over."
Elaine didn't insist.
They exchanged a few more words before hanging up.
Willow thought about it but couldn't come up with any excuse that would get her grandmother to agree to let her go out.
Suddenly, she thought of Nolan.
Though it felt somewhat inappropriate, this was her only option right now.
She sent Nolan a message. [Are you around? I need to go out for lunch with a friend. Can you help me out?]
The reply came almost instantly. [Sure! Are you going on a date with your boyfriend?]
Willow breathed a sigh of relief and explained. [No, a very close female friend.]
Nolan sent a goofy grin emoji. [No problem. What are you going to tell your grandma? I'll just go along with it.]
Willow came up with a simple lie, and Nolan readily agreed.
After coordinating their story, Willow went to find Maria.
"Grandma, Nolan asked me to help him buy some materials for his interview. I probably won't be back for lunch," she said.
Maria was on the sofa, knitting something. Hearing that she was going out with Nolan, she happily agreed. "Go ahead. Just come back early in the evening."
Willow obediently agreed.
After returning to her room, she sent Nolan another message to thank him.
Nolan replied, [If you really want to thank me, just treat me to a meal sometime!]
Willow didn't think much of it. [Okay, after the interview is over.]
If the interview went well, they could celebrate together.
At noon, Willow took a cab to the restaurant she and Elaine had agreed on.
When she arrived, Elaine was already waiting in a private room, lost in thought. She didn't even notice Willow come in.
It was Willow who greeted her first, snapping Elaine back to attention. "You're here? Let's order then."
Willow sat across from her. "Elaine, are you feeling down?"
Elaine smiled. "No. How are you feeling? I heard you were discharged a while ago, but I haven't had a chance to visit you yet."
Willow replied, "I'm pretty much recovered."
Elaine nodded. "That's good."
Silence filled the private room for a few seconds.
Willow was about to ask why Elaine had invited her when Elaine suddenly spoke. "I'm planning to go abroad in a while, so I wanted to have a meal with you before I leave."
Willow froze. "Abroad?"
Elaine said, "I've always spent most of my time overseas anyway. I only came back to have a baby. Now that the child's a bit older and can travel with me, there's no reason for me to stay."
She smiled at Willow. "After Ster's birthday is over, I'll be taking the child and leaving."
It took Willow a while to process this.
She thought of Matthew and almost asked Elaine whether Matthew knew about this.
But looking at Elaine, if they had reconciled, she probably wouldn't be planning to go abroad.
So Willow swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.
"Where are you planning to go?" she asked. "When will you come back?"
Elaine thought for a moment. "I don't know. I've been to many countries already. I want to go somewhere I haven't been. I'll decide in the next couple of days and let you know once I've made up my mind."
Willow could only nod, her heart still worried for Matthew.
Elaine looked at her. "After I leave, Ster won't have anyone helping him at the Lancaster family."
Willow snapped back to attention, her chest tightening.
"Not long ago, Ster caused that huge scene at the Lancaster Manor. My father hasn't made a move yet, but given his temperament, there's no way this will just blow over." Elaine said, "I don't know exactly what he's planning, but you need to be very careful."
Worry filled Elaine's tone. "Ster is a Lancaster. My father won't do anything to him, but you're a different story. I'm just worried that Ster won't be able to protect you."
Willow said, "I trust him."
Elaine looked at her resolute expression, a hint of envy in her eyes. "As long as you trust each other, that's good. Then I can feel at ease."
After they finished eating and were about to part ways, Willow couldn't help but ask, "Elaine, you and Matthew..."
Elaine's departing steps paused. At the mention of Matthew, her expression soured.
When she spoke, her tone carried a note of defiance. "Don't mention him. I'm a despicable person who doesn't deserve that righteous gentleman."
Then she added another line. "Don't tell him about me going abroad."