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Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Isn’t It Just Green Tea?

’That bastard.’

But Sienna still took out her phone. There was money to be made, and it would be foolish not to take it.

As for Lynn Winslow, she frowned when she saw her bodyguard return.

”How did it go?”

The bodyguard kept his head down, not daring to look at her, and reported truthfully, ”I was forcibly taken away by Mr. Sterling’s bodyguards. They just let me go.”

”...”

「Two days later.」

Lynn Winslow sat before a mirror, letting the stylist behind her arrange her long hair.

The stylist, Aaron, was someone she had specifically brought back from Morelia. He lived next door with the butler and maids, all to style Lynn Winslow’s hair and coordinate her outfits every day.

Aaron lifted a lock of Lynn Winslow’s hair and wrapped it around a curling iron. But as he glanced down, he noticed a conspicuous red mark on the side of his young miss’s slender neck, made all the more obvious by her fair skin.

”Miss, this on your neck...” Aaron hesitated.

Lynn Winslow lifted her gaze to look at him through the mirror, her elegant brows knitting slightly. ”What is it?” she asked, puzzled.

Aaron pointed to the location of the red mark. Lynn Winslow leaned closer to the mirror, tilting her head to look. It was a rather obvious red mark. Anyone who didn’t know better might think she’d been up to something fun last night.

Lynn Winslow touched the red mark with her fingers. It was a little itchy. ”Something probably bit me,” she confirmed. ”It’s fine. It’ll be covered when my hair is down.”

Aaron agreed. Lynn Winslow lowered her gaze to her phone, but then she suddenly remembered something. A mischievous smile touched her lips as she looked up at Aaron and said, ”Don’t cover it. Put my hair up.”

Aaron gave her a surprised look in the mirror. Lynn Winslow winked playfully. ”Do as I say. Put it up.”

It was an order from his miss. Even though Aaron felt it was inappropriate, he didn’t object. He could only style Lynn Winslow’s hair into a beautiful low chignon, letting a few strands fall onto her collarbones, creating a look of gentle, messy beauty.

Lynn Winslow examined herself in the mirror with satisfaction. Aaron brought over an off-white, satin mermaid dress. ”Miss, this dress would suit your hairstyle today,” he said.

Trusting Aaron’s taste, Lynn Winslow took the dress and went into the walk-in closet to change.

Standing before the full-length mirror in the walk-in closet, Lynn Winslow lightly traced her neck with her fingers. The mermaid dress had a shallow V-neck, perfectly revealing the red mark that invited suggestive thoughts.

Lynn Winslow smiled softly, picked up her handbag, and left.

Veridia University’s anniversary celebration was exceptionally grand, featuring not only alumni from every class year but also popular celebrities who were there to perform.

Outside the university gates, luxury cars were gathered in droves. But as the car Lynn Winslow was in approached and drove directly through the gates, it drew a collective wave of curious gazes.

The car was a rare model, but the heavenly beauty who stepped out of it in front of the auditorium was even rarer.

Lynn Winslow glanced around, returning the curious stares of the onlookers with a polite smile.

She walked slowly into the auditorium. Inside, people were gathered in small groups of two and three. During her two years as an exchange student, Lynn Winslow hadn’t really gotten to know her classmates well. After not seeing them for several years, their appearances had changed so much that she couldn’t tell who was who.

Just then, three women huddled together, their passive-aggressive voices carrying from a distance, as if they intentionally wanted her to overhear.

”Isn’t that the great Miss Winslow, Lynn Winslow? She’s back from Morelia? The university actually invited her?”

”Back in the day, she bullied Mia Rhodes. She relied on her family background and her boyfriend, brought people with her, and plenty of people at school saw it. That’s why she tucked her tail between her legs and ran back to Morelia. Now she has the nerve to come back.”

”Shh, keep your voice down. She’s from the Winslow family. We can’t afford to provoke her.”

”What’s there to be afraid of? The Winslow family is indeed a prominent family in Morelia, but here in Quartos, prestigious families are a dime a dozen. I’m not scared of her. Besides, the Winslow family didn’t choose her as the heir; they chose an adopted child instead. Doesn’t that make it obvious she’s not favored in the family?”

Lynn Winslow, with a gentle smile, took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray. The clicks of her high heels were crisp and pleasant on the smooth floor. She walked slowly until she was right behind the trio, then spoke softly, ”Excuse me, were you talking about me? I’m quite curious. Could you tell me what you said?”

The three of them whipped around in unison, staring at Lynn Winslow with horrified expressions, as if she were some kind of terrifying monster.

Lynn Winslow gave them a helpless smile. ”Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.” She took another step forward, getting even closer, and said in a low voice, ”Why don’t you say it all again? I’ll listen and see if you got it right. If you’re wrong, I can correct you. That way, when you go spreading rumors, people won’t mock you for talking nonsense.”

”You!” The woman in the long pink dress, flushed with anger and embarrassment, took a step back and raised a finger to point at Lynn Winslow. But before she could get a single curse out, her finger was gently gripped by a slender, fair hand and bent sharply downward.

”Since you’re accusing me of school bullying, I might as well live up to the charge and let you have a taste of what real violence is.”

The woman let out a painful scream. As Lynn Winslow applied more pressure, her body twisted further and further. Cold sweat smeared her meticulously applied makeup. Unable to bear it any longer, she started begging, ”I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Miss Winslow! I was talking nonsense! I’m sorry, please let me go, I’m begging you!”

”Miss, remember to watch your mouth next time.” Lynn Winslow abruptly let go. The woman fell to the ground. The friends who had been gossiping with her rushed forward to help her up, not daring to look at Lynn Winslow.

”Oh,” A flash of recognition hit Lynn Winslow, and she finally placed the three of them. She asked in a soft, gentle voice, ”Aren’t you the three who used to follow Mia Rhodes around? What’s this? Now that Mia Rhodes is a rising starlet who has latched onto someone powerful, you all think you’ve risen with the tide?”

The woman started to retort, but her friend in the blue dress, who was helping her up, clamped a hand over her mouth and whispered a warning, ”No matter what, she’s still a Winslow! If you keep cursing her, she’ll definitely have someone cause trouble for your family!”

The woman resentfully shut her mouth. Lynn Winslow raised an eyebrow, about to say something more, when a cold male voice cut her off with a hint of reprimand.

”Lynn Winslow, what are you doing!”

Lynn Winslow turned her head and saw it was none other than Sinclair—Simon Sinclair, Ian Sterling’s classmate.

The scornful expression on her face vanished in an instant, replaced by a look of pure innocence as she watched Simon Sinclair approach.

”Lynn Winslow, are you bullying your classmates?” Simon Sinclair looked at her with disappointment. ”You weren’t like this before. Was it really all an act back then, just like they said?”

Lynn Winslow mentally rolled her eyes, but outwardly, she bit her lower lip gently, the corners of her eyes turning red. Her voice filled with a sense of grievance and panic.

”Sinclair, I wasn’t bullying them. They were cursing at me and were about to hit me, so I just fought back.”

’So, we’re playing the innocent victim now? I can do that too.’

Simon Sinclair had arrived too late to hear the trio’s passive-aggressive comments. He had only seen the woman in the pink dress raise her hand first before Lynn Winslow grabbed it and twisted it back. He frowned, a look of confusion on his face. ’Why did I instinctively assume Lynn was the one bullying someone else?’

Seeing this, Lynn Winslow pressed on, her voice full of grievance, ”Sinclair, I really wasn’t bullying them.”

Simon Sinclair felt ashamed of his subconscious assumption, and a blush immediately spread across his handsome, pale face.

”I’m sorry. I misunderstood you.”

Lynn Winslow couldn’t be bothered to argue with someone so bound by their preconceptions. ”It’s alright, Sinclair,” she said magnanimously. After a pause, she muttered, ”Besides, I’m used to being misunderstood.”