Chapter 99 - 97: He’s Dirty
BANG—!
AH—!
A sudden loud noise echoed through the room, followed by Beatrice Lynn’s startled scream.
The hotel phone that had been on the nightstand was smashed to pieces by Shawn Lane. Veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes were bloodshot, and he roared at Beatrice Lynn, "What the fuck did you do to me!"
Terrified by Shawn Lane’s fury, Beatrice Lynn flinched. Tears welled in her eyes as she clutched the corner of the blanket to cover herself. She looked at Shawn cautiously, her voice trembling, "I didn’t... Y-You drank too much yesterday. I was trying to take care of you, it was you who..."
Before she could finish, Shawn Lane suddenly rolled out of bed. Stark naked, he started rummaging through everything. His eyes were wild as he shook out the pillows and the clothes scattered on the floor like a madman.
"Shawn, w-what are you looking for?"
But Shawn Lane completely ignored her. His gaze finally landed on a small box on the hotel room desk. He lunged for it and pulled out an unopened box of condoms!
Unopened!
Seeing this, Beatrice Lynn finally understood. Shawn Lane was looking for the condom wrapper.
"Beatrice Lynn!" Shawn Lane roared at her again. "You didn’t even fucking use protection? Are you insane?!"
Beatrice Lynn looked at Shawn Lane with a wronged expression as tears streamed down her face. ’We were intimate all night, and when he wakes up, not only does he not care about how I am, he’s actually blaming me for not using protection?’
’Shouldn’t I be the one worried about something going wrong?’
’Why is he treating me like this?!’
But Shawn Lane didn’t see her at all, nor did he have any space for her in his heart. Though she cried pitifully, her tears only brought him annoyance and disgust.
After calming down, Shawn Lane found his phone. He glanced at the room number, opened a delivery app, changed the address, and immediately ordered a box of emergency contraception.
"I bought you the pill. Take it yourself!"
He said this as he got dressed, not wanting to stay there a second longer. He felt dirty. His first time wasn’t with Cecilia Sterling!
The thought of Cecilia Sterling made Shawn Lane’s heart clench painfully. He looked at Beatrice Lynn again and warned, "If you dare tell anyone about this, I will never forgive you!"
BANG!
The door slammed shut. Beatrice Lynn could no longer hold back and burst into wailing sobs. Her abdomen still ached faintly, and beneath the white blanket, there was even a patch of dried, dark red blood.
’Why.’
’Why won’t Shawn like me? Why won’t he cherish me?’
’He didn’t even ask if I was okay. The first thing he worried about was whether we’d used protection, and now he’s forcing me to take a pill!’
’It’s Cecilia Sterling!’
’That’s right, it’s all Cecilia Sterling’s fault. If it weren’t for her, Shawn would definitely like me!’
As she thought this, the expression on Beatrice Lynn’s tear-streaked face gradually turned sinister. She subconsciously clenched her fists so tightly she didn’t even feel her nails digging into her flesh.
Meanwhile, Cecilia Sterling had just woken up and was on a video call with her younger brother, Ethan Sterling.
"Why isn’t Mom picking up my video call? Is she not home?"
On the screen, Ethan Sterling was brushing his teeth. He spat out a mouthful of foam and sneered, "She went out first thing in the morning. I finally get a two-day break for the national holiday, and I still have to make my own breakfast."
"She went out?" Cecilia Sterling was taken aback and pressed, "Where’d she go?"
After rinsing his mouth, Ethan Sterling pouted with a helpless look. "She can’t sit still. The property management in our neighborhood organized some event for the national holiday, I forget the details. Mom signed up to be a volunteer. She’s probably at the intersection right now handing out eggs to old ladies for a penny a day."
Cecilia Sterling: "..."
Ethan Sterling saw the "I knew it" expression on his sister’s face through the screen and continued, "The day you left, Mom ran over to Auntie’s shop to help out. But think about it, Auntie’s shop is tiny. Auntie and Uncle are more than enough to run it. Where would Mom even stand? So she gave up after one day."
Ethan Sterling sighed and said tentatively, "Sis, look at that big house you’re living in, and our other sister isn’t there either. Why don’t you just bring Mom to Lorcain now? Otherwise, as soon as this volunteer thing is over, she’s guaranteed to start looking for another job."
The children all knew their mother well. She used to work hard to support them and put them through school. Now, she worked purely because she couldn’t stand being idle.
She had been diligent her whole life; it was etched into her very bones. Now that her boundless energy had nowhere to go, she was bound to feel restless.
"Not right now. The most important thing for our family right now is your college entrance exam. Mom has to stay with you until after the exam, otherwise she’ll just worry about you all day in Lorcain."
"Oh, come on, why worry about me? With my grades, as long as I perform normally, there won’t be a problem."
Cecilia Sterling ignored him. The matter was not up for discussion.
"That beauty club membership I got for Mom, have she and Auntie gone again?" Cecilia Sterling suddenly asked.
Ethan Sterling nodded. "They went last night. You put so much money on that card and can’t get a refund, so of course Mom is going to use it."
This was another one of their mother’s traits: she never wasted anything. From a certain perspective, it was another form of frugality.
An idea struck Cecilia Sterling, and a smile spread across her face. "I’ll transfer you some money in a bit. Go find out about the best and most expensive Dance studio in Veridia and get Mom a card. Belly Dance, Jazz, Folk Dance, any of them will do. Buy the kind where you pay per class. Get her two hundred classes to start. Let her go learn to Dance!"
Ethan Sterling’s eyes lit up. "Sis! That’s a brilliant idea! Once you get her the card, Mom will definitely hate to see it go to waste. Going to Dance lessons every day will be good exercise, burn off her energy, and cultivate her grace. It’s killing several birds with one stone!"
Cecilia Sterling, very pleased, raised an eyebrow. She immediately transferred 200,000 to her brother and added, "Keep the rest for yourself. Buy whatever you want."
"Long live my sister!"
Just then, there was a knock on the bedroom door, and Estelle Goodman’s voice followed. "Honey, Charles Jennings is here with breakfast for us."
Cecilia Sterling answered, rolled out of bed, and opened the door to see Estelle Goodman standing there, fresh-faced and grinning foolishly at her.
The two best friends had stayed up late binge-watching a drama, so Estelle Goodman had just slept over at Cecilia’s place.
Cecilia Sterling said with a sigh, "We could have just ordered delivery. You didn’t have to trouble Charles Jennings to make a special trip."
Estelle Goodman said with a nonchalant air, "He offered to come himself. By the time he messaged me, he was already at the main gate. Besides, our family’s housekeeper made all this by hand. It’s much better than delivery."
As they talked, the two went downstairs and saw Charles Jennings standing by the dining table, having already laid out the breakfast neatly.
There was pumpkin and millet congee, golden thread noodles, and some other pastries and fried eggs.
It was a very Chinese-style breakfast, the kind Cecilia Sterling liked.
"Thank you, Charles Jennings. Have you eaten? Let’s eat together!" Cecilia Sterling said gratefully, extending the invitation.