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Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Been Out Thieving?

She cried out, her expression one of pure shock. Ian Sterling couldn’t hold it in. He went limp, collapsing on top of her, his whole body shaking with muffled laughter.

”What are you laughing at!”

Ian Sterling shook his head, unable to stop laughing. ”Nothing,” he said haltingly. ”It’s just... funny.”

”...” Lynn Winslow bit her lip as a blush crept up her cheeks. ”You’re such a jerk,” she muttered.

”Say it again, babe. I didn’t get enough.” Ian Sterling nodded, taking her insult in stride. He looked up, a smile in his eyes. ”I love it. Call me ’husband’ a couple more times, and I promise I won’t touch you tonight.”

”I won’t. You can just go ahead and touch me. Tomorrow, I’ll call your parents and have your dad beat you up again.” Lynn Winslow turned her head away, biting her lip stubbornly. ”It’s not like you’re afraid of pain, anyway.”

Ian Sterling’s eyes widened in feigned shock. ”You’d be that cruel, babe?” he asked dramatically.

Lynn Winslow refused to play along. ”Yes. That’s right,” she said seriously. ”You just wait.”

”Hey, don’t be angry.” Seeing she was genuinely upset, Ian Sterling quickly sat up, kneeling on the bed to placate her. ”I was just teasing you. I wouldn’t be that mean. I know we have plans tomorrow, I wouldn’t actually mess with you.”

Lynn Winslow wouldn’t look at him. She rolled onto her side, pulled the covers over her head, and said nothing at all.

Now Ian Sterling was really panicking. He leaned forward to pull the blanket off, but Lynn Winslow held it down tight.

”Babe, come on. I really didn’t mean it.”

Her voice, flat and muffled from under the covers, said, ”I know. Let’s go to sleep.”

”Babe, please don’t be like this...”

Lynn Winslow ignored him. Ian Sterling leaned over her, his voice pathetic. ”I know I was wrong. Please don’t be angry. I was really just teasing you. I’m sorry, babe.”

”You just use me like a tool,” came her muffled voice.

”??? Why would you say that?” Ian Sterling was completely baffled.

Lynn Winslow threw back the covers. Her eyes, wide and glistening, stared up at Ian Sterling. ”Isn’t it true?” she asked, her voice thick with grievance.

”Of course not!” Ian Sterling was stunned. He raised his hand as if taking an oath. ”I don’t see you as a tool. I just... I like you so much, I can’t help myself sometimes.”

Lynn Winslow asked dubiously, ”Really?”

Ian Sterling nodded, more serious than he had ever been. ”Really.”

”Okay.” Lynn Winslow lowered her eyes, then pulled back the covers on the other side of the bed and patted the space, motioning for Ian Sterling to lie down.

Ian Sterling cautiously lay down. He glanced over at Lynn Winslow and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her expression was back to normal. He tentatively reached out an arm to hold her. When she didn’t resist, he pulled her into his embrace.

Lynn Winslow buried her face in his chest and pressed her lips together, secretly smiling for a long while.

’Heh. You’re no match for me.’

How could Ian Sterling have known she was putting on an act? He felt terrible, thinking he had genuinely gone too far this time and made her feel that way.

Lynn Winslow slept soundly that night. Ian Sterling, however, woke up with heavy dark circles under his eyes.

”Should I put some concealer on you?” Lynn Winslow looked at him, holding back her laughter.

Ian Sterling listlessly shook his head and sighed. ”You win.”

He’d barely slept all night. It was only when he was just about to finally drift off that he realized: he’d been played.

Lynn Winslow stood up from the vanity and walked over to Ian Sterling. She placed her cool hands on his cheeks, and the sudden chill made him jolt, waking him up considerably.

”I’ll make it up to you when we get back. Don’t be so gloomy.” Lynn Winslow’s brow furrowed slightly. She gave him a light flick on the forehead, her tone laced with amusement. ”If you look like that, Grandpa and Elder Winslow will think I’ve been bullying you.”

Ian Sterling looked aggrieved. ”But you did bully me,” he complained.

”How did I bully you?”

”Last night you—”

Lynn Winslow narrowed her eyes. ”What about last night? I really did feel that way. I just wasn’t quite as upset as I let on.”

Ian Sterling choked back his words. He turned around, went back into the room, and threw himself onto the bed. ”Oh, the injustice!” he wailed.

Lynn Winslow stood behind him, laughing so hard she could barely stand.

Once they were ready, they went downstairs. Mr. Powell and Elder Winslow had already been sitting in the restaurant for a while, waiting for the younger generation to join them.

Lynn Winslow sat down next to Elder Winslow. The old man glanced at Ian Sterling and asked with a chuckle, ”What, were you out burgling houses last night?”

”Yeah, and I almost got caught,” Ian Sterling replied, pulling out the chair next to Mr. Powell and sitting down. He wiped a hand over his face.

”Why aren’t Zane Lancaster and Aiden Powell down yet?” Lynn Winslow frowned. ”Are they sleeping in this late?”

Mr. Powell rolled his eyes. ”They finished breakfast ages ago. They’re not like you two, lazing in bed all morning.”

”We didn’t sleep in! We got up pretty early today, didn’t we?” Lynn Winslow pouted, unconvinced.

The two old men couldn’t be bothered to argue the point with her. Let her be lazy; in their eyes, their own granddaughter could do no wrong. Besides, it wasn’t like her future husband was a model of diligence either.

After breakfast, the four of them left the hotel. They met up with Zane Lancaster and Aiden Powell, who were just returning, and got into a car headed for the mountains.

Ian Sterling sat beside Lynn Winslow. The gentle rocking of the car soon made him drowsy. Lynn simply guided his head to rest on her shoulder, letting him get some sleep so he wouldn’t be exhausted for the rest of the day.

Zane Lancaster glanced up, gave a short, derisive laugh, then looked back down at his phone.

They had called ahead, so the school’s principal was waiting for them at the village entrance. The road was too rough for the car to go any further, so they had to park and walk the rest of the way.

Aiden Powell was looking all around him, wide-eyed. He was especially taken aback after they entered the school and saw the students; the sight left him completely stunned.

He was still in a daze long after they had returned to the hotel.

Lynn Winslow looked down at him and asked softly, ”What’s wrong?”

”Lynn,” Aiden Powell began, looking up at her, ”can I donate my allowance to them, too?”

”Of course you can.” Mr. Powell chimed in from behind them. He stepped forward and ruffled Aiden Powell’s soft hair. ”Not everyone is as fortunate as you, son,” he said earnestly. ”Every one of them is fighting to make it out of these mountains. Everything they achieve in the future will be bought with the hardship they’re enduring today.”

Aiden Powell pressed his lips together and nodded seriously.

—

After spending a few days in Griermount, they toured a neighboring province before finally arriving in Nereidia.

Nereidia was a coastal province, so its temperature was much warmer than the other cities where autumn had already set in. The weather was so agreeable they decided to stay for a few extra days.

Lynn Winslow was not a morning person, but she was full of energy in the afternoons and evenings. She spent her days dragging Ian Sterling out to have fun and her nights dragging him down to the beach. She also took the opportunity to ”settle her debts” for how she’d teased him back in Griermount, lest he hold it over her head endlessly once they returned to Quartos.

Mr. Powell and Elder Winslow had no desire to tag along with the younger crowd, so they had their butler take them sightseeing on their own. Zane Lancaster had already headed back to Quartos, taking Aiden Powell with him.

Only the two of them were left, and they spent a few sweet, undisturbed days together.

If only Ian Sterling didn’t ”torment” her every single night.