Chapter 385
A week slipped by, and Willow still showed no signs of waking up.
The Wilson Villa.
Sterling's car pulled smoothly to a stop at the entrance.
He glanced at the message Nolan had sent that morning.
Willow still hadn't woken up.
His eyes darkened as he opened the car door and stepped out.
Just as he reached the entrance, the Wilson family's butler happened to walk out.
"Mr. Lancaster." The butler respectfully opened the door for him. "Ms. Wilson knew you would be coming and has been waiting for you inside."
Sterling narrowed his eyes and stepped inside.
The butler walked ahead, leading the way.
When they reached the main hall, the butler stopped. "Ms. Wilson is waiting for you inside. Please, go ahead."
Sterling nodded slightly and walked straight in.
As he entered, Adeline was just coming down the stairs.
Seeing who it was, Adeline smiled faintly. "The butler just told me we had a visitor. I didn't expect it to be Mr. Lancaster."
She came downstairs and sat on the sofa, ordering tea before looking at Sterling casually. "What brings Mr. Lancaster here today?"
Only after she was seated did Sterling sit down on another sofa. "I'm looking for Mr. Richard Wilson. I can't reach him. Does Ms. Wilson know where he is?"
A servant brought tea, and Adeline poured a cup for each of them.
Hearing Sterling's question, she said with feigned regret, "Is there someone who needs my grandfather to treat them? He hasn't been well lately and has gone into the mountains to recuperate."
Sterling's brow furrowed slightly.
Adeline said, "Is it Ms. Spencer?"
After a moment of silence, Sterling gave a quiet affirmation.
Adeline smiled. "Perhaps I can help. How is she now? What do you need me to do?"
Sterling studied Adeline, not believing she would genuinely help cure Willow.
Adeline said, "To be honest, although Ms. Spencer and I only met once, I quite liked her. I saw that livestream too. I never imagined she would be the Brown family's long-lost daughter."
Sterling didn't respond to her comment and pressed again about Richard's whereabouts. "Which mountain is Mr. Richard Wilson recuperating on? I want to see him."
Adeline said, "My grandfather doesn't accept visitors while recuperating. When people come looking for him, I make house calls in his place. Or is it that Mr. Lancaster doesn't trust my medical skills?"
Sterling's brow furrowed.
After a moment of silence, Sterling looked at Adeline. "State your conditions first."
He didn't believe Adeline would readily agree to treat Willow.
Over the past few days, he had tried to contact the Wilson family and had also attempted to reach Adeline, but had never received a response. As a last resort, he had come in person.
The butler had also said that Adeline knew he would come and had been specifically waiting for him.
Adeline's lips curved upward. She took a sip of tea before speaking unhurriedly. "My condition—Mr. Lancaster should already know what it is."
Sterling said in a low voice, "I don't know. You can speak plainly."
Adeline raised her eyes to meet his. "A marriage alliance."
She said, "As long as you agree to a marriage alliance with me, I will do everything in my power to treat Ms. Spencer. If I can't do it, I'll help bring my grandfather over."
Sterling's expression was cold and grim. He didn't respond.
Adeline paused, her expression becoming somewhat subtle.
"Of course, I know Mr. Lancaster's feelings for Ms. Spencer, and I don't intend to force you to give her up." She said, "I can accept that after we marry, you live with her. You won't need to fulfill any marital obligations to me. All I want is the title of your wife."
Her answer was almost exactly what Sterling had expected.
Hearing her say she only wanted the title, disgust flashed through Sterling's eyes.
As he'd thought, Adeline wasn't as simple as she appeared to be.
If it were any other time, Sterling would have refused without hesitation.
But now, he was the one asking Adeline for help.
Sterling frowned, forcing his expression to look less severe.
"If you cure her, I promise you that even without a marriage alliance, you can use all of the Lancaster family's resources." He said.
Adeline smiled and shook her head. "I believe Mr. Lancaster always keeps his word, but in my view, a marriage alliance is the best guarantee."
She said, "If you're worried about Ms. Spencer, when she wakes up, I'll explain to her on your behalf that you did this to save her. I'm sure she'll understand."
Sterling fell silent.
Adeline looked at him without saying anything more, patiently drinking her tea while waiting.
She was confident that to save Willow, Sterling would definitely agree to her terms.
Soon, she would become the wife of the Lancaster Group's CEO.
"I'll think about it." Sterling stood up.
He couldn't decide on this matter so quickly.
Adeline readily agreed. "I'll wait for your answer."
Sterling turned and left.
On the way back, thinking of Willow lying unconscious and Adeline's proposal just now, Sterling felt restless and agitated.
When he came back to his senses, the car had already stopped at the hospital entrance.
He raised his eyes to look at the upper floors, unable to resist getting out of the car, wanting to go upstairs for a look.
He had just reached the hospital entrance when he ran into Henry, who had also come to check on Willow's condition.
"Why are you here?" Henry looked puzzled. "Didn't you say you were going to the Wilson Villa?"
These past few days, he had also been trying to contact Richard, but to no avail.
He had originally planned to go to the Wilson Villa himself, but since Sterling said he would go, Henry figured Sterling could handle it.
The two stopped in their tracks simultaneously.
Sterling said, "Yes, I went."
Henry sensed something was wrong with his mood. "What happened? Is Mr. Richard Wilson unwilling to help?"
Sterling said, "I didn't see him. I only saw Adeline. She said she could come take a look."
Henry understood. "What are her conditions?"
Sterling was silent for a moment, then told him Adeline's terms.
After hearing it all, Henry's expression changed drastically. "Has she lost her mind? She knows about your relationship with Willow, and she still wants to interfere? What the hell is she trying to do?"
As his voice fell, people around them glanced over.
Henry belatedly realized he'd gotten a bit too worked up.
When he spoke again, Henry lowered his voice. "You agreed?"
A flash of displeasure crossed Sterling's face.
Henry breathed a sigh of relief.
After calming down, he quickly understood Adeline's intentions.
"Don't worry about it." Henry ground his teeth. "I'll go deal with her myself."
With that, he looked up at the building with concern. "How is Willow doing now? Is Mrs. Spencer upstairs?"
He had sneaked over several times, but each time before he even reached the hospital room door, he would run into Maria, who would chew him out, and then he'd slink away in defeat.
Still, he couldn't stop worrying about his sister, and their parents at home couldn't sleep from worry either.
Sterling handed him his phone to look for himself.
Without ceremony, Henry opened the chat records between Sterling and the doctor over the past few days. The more he read, the more grave his expression became.
Finally, he looked at the message Nolan had sent to Sterling.
Knowing Maria was upstairs, Henry gave up.
"I'll go find Adeline. After you go up and check on her, let me know how she's doing."