Chapter 377
The two spent a while downstairs.
Seeing it was getting late, Sterling drove Willow back home.
"Mr. Brown has people watching downstairs, but I'm still not comfortable. Let Luke stay with you for the next few days," Sterling said.
Luke was originally a guard dog, and with his training, one dog could handle two grown men.
Willow agreed, smiling as she petted Luke's head while he nuzzled against her. "Then I'll be counting on you, Luke."
Luke barked twice.
Sterling watched him fawn over Willow and frowned slightly. "Or maybe I should just move back in. The lease on the downstairs apartment hasn't expired yet."
Willow refused. "You have other things to handle. Aren't the Brown family's people already watching downstairs? Besides..."
She paused, glancing toward her grandmother's room. "Grandma doesn't know about this yet. If you move in, I'm worried she'll overthink things."
She didn't want Maria to worry.
Sterling said, "Then I'll send more people to keep watch downstairs."
His expression was serious.
Willow knew his concerns and smiled reassuringly. "Nothing will happen. They just want to smear our reputation—they won't resort to physical attacks. The Brown family's press conference is in a few days. Those media outlets are probably preparing, and I need to prepare too."
Sterling pulled her into his arms. "You don't need to be afraid. I'll be there with you."
Willow quieted down, feeling the warmth radiating from him, her heart likewise filling with a surge of warmth.
They embraced for a while until a cough came from Maria's room, and they separated.
Maria emerged from the bedroom. "It's getting late, Ster. You have work tomorrow. Head home early."
A blatant dismissal.
Although she'd agreed to let her granddaughter be with Sterling, that didn't mean they could do whatever they wanted.
Willow's previous pregnancy had happened because Maria hadn't known. Now that she did, they shouldn't think about crossing any lines before marriage.
Especially with her granddaughter carrying two babies.
Willow caught Maria's implication, her face heating up.
Sterling glanced at her and smiled at Maria. "I was just about to leave. Don't worry, I know my boundaries."
With that, he bid them both goodbye and prepared to leave.
Willow suddenly remembered something. "Wait."
She turned and hurried back to her bedroom, emerging with a disc. "This... might be useful."
Sterling looked puzzled. "What is it?"
Maria had already returned to her room. Willow still lowered her voice. "Rachel left it before going abroad. It's footage of her and Charles together."
Her tone was remarkably flat, as if these were just two unrelated people.
If not for the recent media storm, she probably wouldn't have even remembered that person.
Sterling, however, thought of those two people, his eyes darkening slightly. "You watched it?"
Willow nodded. "When she gave it to me, she didn't say what was on it, so I watched it myself..."
Before she could finish, Sterling raised his hand to cover her eyes while taking the disc from her with his other hand.
Her vision plunged into darkness. Willow fell silent.
Sterling's low voice sounded by her ear. "It's all in the past. Whatever you saw, you can forget it now."
Willow was quiet for a moment, then nodded gently.
Sterling removed his hand. "I should go. It's cold out—don't see me off. I'll contact you after I get home."
Willow agreed, standing at the door and watching him descend the stairs.
Luke, as if understanding he was being left behind, showed no intention of following Sterling, only wagging his tail at him from behind Willow.
Sterling drove back to his apartment.
Late at night, all the lights in the apartment were dark, except for the screen glowing in the living room, where Charles and Rachel's passionate sounds echoed throughout the space.
---
Meanwhile.
Although Adeline had personally come forward to clarify, the relationship between Willow and the uncle-nephew pair of Charles and Sterling remained a hot topic.
No matter the reasons, Willow had first been with Charles, then shortly after their divorce, announced her engagement to Sterling. Moreover, both were the Lancaster family's most favored heirs. To outsiders, it was quite the spectacle.
Even people in Majestic City's upper circles couldn't help but be curious.
Someone went directly to Charles about it.
"Mr. Lancaster, is this really your ex-wife? How'd she end up with your uncle?"
In a villa abroad, a group of young people were hanging out together, the table cluttered with cigarettes and alcohol, the room reeking of marijuana.
Charles sat off to one side with an unpleasant expression, likewise holding a cigar laced with something extra.
When Charles had first been exiled abroad, Wallace had people look after him and occasionally inquire about his situation. Charles still harbored hope of returning.
But soon, he learned Sterling had returned to the Lancaster family and that he himself had nearly been killed by Sterling.
For those few days, whenever Charles closed his eyes, he saw the scene of himself nearly being thrown into the sea, even dreaming repeatedly of drowning.
Only through these substances could he barely forget.
But he still looked down on these self-destructive wastes.
When the man leaned closer, Charles dodged in disgust.
"We've all been hanging out so long, what's Mr. Lancaster putting on airs for?" the man said, displeased. "Aren't you the same as us? Every single thing in this room—haven't you touched them all?"
Charles said coldly, "Get lost."
The man burst into exaggerated laughter.
Everyone in the room turned to look at them.
The man slammed his phone on the table with disdain. "I was wondering why Mr. Lancaster acts so high and mighty when he got exiled here. Turns out he couldn't even keep his wife from getting played! How pathetic!"
The phone passed through everyone's hands.
They all looked at Charles with eyes full of schadenfreude.
Someone else stirred things up. "Charles, this woman cuckolded you and then schemed with your uncle to chase you abroad. You're not just letting this go, are you?"
Charles finally couldn't resist grabbing the phone for a look.
On the screen was a photo of Willow and Sterling at a basketball game, sitting together, Sterling leaning down to whisper in Willow's ear, looking quite intimate.
Nearby, someone else added, "Isn't this the Lancaster Group's official account? Saying they're getting married? Is it real?"
His words prompted another round of laughter.
"Mr. Lancaster is Lancaster family too. He should go back for the wedding, right? Come back and tell us how it feels to watch your ex-wife marry your uncle in person!"
"What feelings could he have? If it were me, I'd go back with a gun and shoot them both dead!"
"Don't talk nonsense. Our Mr. Lancaster wouldn't bear to. I've seen him looking at photos of that woman on his phone."
...
With these people fanning the flames, Charles soon had rage clouding his judgment.
His mind filled with images of Willow and Sterling together.
Unable to hold back any longer, he pulled out his phone, opened an account he hadn't used in ages, typed a few words, and posted them.