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Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Pampered at Home and by His Future Wife

He strode out and happened to run into the auction’s organizer, who was walking over with Jasper Jennings and Zachary Quincy.

”I can let the other stuff slide, but why are there women?”

The organizer froze for a moment, then explained with a nervous chuckle, ”One of the regular guests specifically requested it today, so I brought a few in. Not many, and their quality isn’t the best, so I didn’t offer them to the VIP guests.”

”What’s wrong?” Jasper Jennings and Zachary Quincy, unaware that Ian Sterling had brought Lynn Winslow, frowned in confusion. ’It’s not like this hasn’t happened before,’ they thought. ’Why the big rush?’

”What do you think?” Kenneth Keller gestured toward the private room behind him and whispered, ”I invited Lynn Winslow along with Finn today. You guys know what happened at Vespermount last time.”

The two of them cursed under their breath in unison. ”Inviting her is just asking for trouble for Finn, isn’t it? Who knows how much he’ll have to grovel to get back in her good graces.”

Kenneth Keller was regretting it too. He pursed his lips and said, ”I was just thinking, every time I invite Finn out, he never comes, so I invited Lynn Winslow along. Who knew there’d be women this time? They didn’t say anything about it at the start.”

The three of them exchanged a look, then turned to the organizer and ordered in a low voice, ”Get rid of them. Now.”

The organizer was still completely in the dark after listening for a while. He asked doubtfully, ”What’s going on?” ’These young masters aren’t exactly saints,’ he thought. ’Why such a huge reaction this time?’

”If you don’t want to piss off Finn Sterling, I’d advise you to get it handled quickly,” Jasper Jennings said flatly, offering a bit of guidance. After all, the organizer had invited them to liven things up; he didn’t want the guy’s place to get raided because of them.

Realization dawned on the organizer. He threw out a ”Thank you” and shot downstairs as if on rocket-powered wheels.

The three men stood at the end of the hallway, lit cigarettes, and quietly discussed how to explain the situation to Lynn Winslow in a way that would minimize Ian Sterling’s suffering.

In the end, the one pushed forward as the fall guy was Kenneth Keller, the person who had invited Ian Sterling and Lynn Winslow in the first place.

The trio waited outside the private room for the smell of smoke on them to fade before pushing the door open. They saw Lynn Winslow still staring expressionlessly at the floor below, while Ian Sterling stood behind her, kneading her shoulders.

Hearing the door open, Ian Sterling turned to look at the three men who entered, shooting them a look that screamed, *You’re trying to get me killed.*

Jasper Jennings and Zachary Quincy were amused by his utterly henpecked expression and had to fight back laughter. They pursed their lips and sat down, the mirth written all over their faces, but they didn’t make a sound.

Kenneth Keller, the fall guy, couldn’t manage a smile. He cleared his throat, walked over to Lynn Winslow, and began to explain with a forced grin, ”Hey, sis— about that, uh—”

Lynn Winslow’s expression changed in an instant. She turned to him with a gentle smile and corrected him, ”Mr. Keller, Ian Sterling and I aren’t engaged or married. Calling me ’sis’ is a bit premature. If you don’t mind, just using my name is fine.”

Ian Sterling’s heart dropped. He abruptly crouched by Lynn Winslow’s legs, looking up at her pitifully.

Lynn Winslow blinked at him, seeing nothing wrong with what she had said.

Hearing this, Kenneth Keller became even more panicked than Ian Sterling. He rushed to explain, ”Lynn, today’s incident is my fault. I had no idea the organizer would pull something like this. In the past, they’d just have some exotic things at most. I just asked—he said someone downstairs ’placed an order,’ and the organizer got greedy and arranged it. Finn had no idea they would do this sort of thing.”

Lynn Winslow smiled sweetly. ”I figured as much. Besides, they’ve already removed them. I’m not angry, I just found it a bit strange. And this isn’t your fault anyway. I’m not so unreasonable as to blame everyone for one person’s actions.”

Seeing that she truly wasn’t angry, Kenneth Keller breathed a sigh of relief. Ian Sterling, however, waited until Kenneth had walked away before throwing his arms around Lynn Winslow and refusing to let go. He asked plaintively, ”Why wouldn’t you let them call you ’sis’?”

Lynn Winslow ruffled his hair and said earnestly, ”Because we aren’t engaged or married. I don’t think the title is appropriate. If you mind, though, then they can call me that.”

Ian Sterling pursed his lips, looking sullen. ”Okay.”

’I want to get engaged and married as soon as possible,’ he thought. ’Lock her down, so I don’t have to feel so insecure all the time.’

Lynn Winslow gently caressed his cheek with her fingers, silently comforting him.

A moment ago, she hadn’t felt angry, but she was definitely uncomfortable. She glanced at the women sitting downstairs; practically every one of them looked ill at ease.

Jasper Jennings called out to Ian Sterling from the side. Ian Sterling looked up, and Jasper said, ”That litter of wolf cubs in the cage down there—don’t you like them?”

Ian Sterling glanced down, not really in the mood. Lynn Winslow, on the other hand, watched with great interest for a moment before pressing the button in front of her.

A moment later, a professional proxy bidder entered. Lynn Winslow told him, ”Bid on that litter of wolf cubs. No limit.”

The proxy bidder paused, then asked, ”The whole litter?”

Lynn Winslow nodded, and the proxy bidder understood, hurrying downstairs.

The auction paused when the light in the upstairs room came on. This was a private auction without many rigid rules. Their boss had given explicit orders to pay close attention to the private rooms with their lights on, as every guest there was extraordinary. When the bidding paused, no one else dared to object.

Sure enough, after going downstairs, the proxy bidder raised his bidding paddle.

The auctioneer caught on and understood immediately. At first, others raised the price for a few rounds, but when they saw the proxy bidder’s paddle never went down, they gave up, disgruntled.

A litter of wolf cubs was soon carried into their private room. Ian Sterling crouched by the cage, his eyes shining as he stared at the cubs inside. Jasper Jennings and the other two hissed in unison.

’Some guys have all the luck. Not only is he spoiled by his family, but his future wife spoils him too.’ The three men’s eyes were red with envy and jealousy.

Ian Sterling pulled Lynn Winslow, who was watching the cubs with him, into his arms. He buried his head in her shoulder and nuzzled against her.

Lynn Winslow said with an amused laugh, ”Was that really necessary?”

”It was,” Ian Sterling nodded.

Lynn Winslow patted him helplessly, telling him not to be so dramatic. ’To be honest,’ she thought, ’in Veridia, I have no power or influence. I only have money.’

Ian Sterling arranged for someone to take the wolf cubs directly back to the manor for a check-up. If they were healthy, a separate area would be sectioned off for them. This was mainly because his original pack of wolf cubs had already grown up, and he was afraid they would bully the little ones when he wasn’t around.

Lynn Winslow handed her card to the organizer, who had come over specifically to apologize after the auction. The organizer said fawningly, ”No need, no need! Please, consider it my gift to Mr. Sterling.”

Lynn Winslow chuckled softly, tossed the card to a staff member, and said coolly, ”That won’t be necessary. It’s my gift, so I’ll be the one to pay for it.”

The organizer could only awkwardly signal for the staff member to swipe the card. Once the transaction was complete, Lynn Winslow took her card back and turned to leave.

Sitting in the car on the way back to Amberly Bay, Ian Sterling was still uneasy. He asked cautiously in a low voice, ”Lynn, are you sure you’re not angry?”

”I’m really not angry, don’t worry,” Lynn Winslow said, perfunctorily patting Ian Sterling’s face before pulling her hand back to look at her phone again.

Ian Sterling pouted, a little unhappy. He pulled Lynn Winslow’s hand into his, clasping it in his palm, and ordered the driver, ”Go to Calyx Hall.”