Chapter 349: For Old Times’ Sake
As if he hadn’t heard clearly, Simon Sterling’s brow furrowed even deeper. He asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"
Yvonne Donovan took a deep breath and wiped away the still-wet tears from the corners of her eyes. Her swollen eyelids trembled slightly.
"I said, I’ll agree to Sean and Isla Griffith’s relationship."
"As long as he focuses on getting better, stops torturing himself, and stops treating us this way, he can be with whoever he likes. I won’t stop him anymore."
Simon Sterling’s face instantly darkened. The anger simmering in his chest boiled over once again, and veins bulged at his temples.
"Are you crazy?! Didn’t we go to all that trouble just to protect the Sterling Family’s reputation and Sean’s future?"
"Now you’re going back on your word just like that? If you agree to let them be together, then was everything we did before for nothing?"
When Yvonne Donovan heard the word "reputation," a bitter smile more painful than crying twisted her lips.
She slumped onto the bench, hugging her knees and curling into a ball. Her usual elegance was completely gone, replaced by nothing but bleakness and helplessness in her eyes.
She felt she had no other choice. It wasn’t that she had genuinely accepted Isla Griffith; she was just afraid that Sean Sterling would hate her, that he would truly disown her as his mother.
"My son is about to disown me. What do I care about reputation at this point?"
"Sean is my only son. I can’t lose him."
Simon Sterling leaned wearily against the cold wall. The fire in his eyes was slowly replaced by a sense of powerlessness, leaving only an irresolvable frustration, resentment, and defeat.
’Are we just going to compromise so easily? Admit defeat just like that?’
"Do you think he’ll be grateful just because you’re giving in now? He already hates us."
Thinking of Sean Sterling’s attitude in the hospital room, Yvonne Donovan felt the urge to cry again.
"Whether he’s grateful or not doesn’t matter. I just want him to be okay."
"If we keep being this stubborn, his body will break down, his spirit will die, and he’ll disown us. Even if we save face, what good would that do?"
Simon Sterling fell silent.
A dead silence filled the hallway, broken only by the faint whisper of wind from the air vents.
He stared at the closed hospital room door, unable to stomach this defeat.
A moment later, he whipped his head around, his Adam’s apple bobbing a few times.
"Let’s wait until he’s better, until he can have a proper conversation. Then we can talk about him and Isla Griffith."
[...]
「After breakfast.」
Wren Sutton suggested they go to the hospital to see Sean Sterling.
Although Adrian Lancaster had reassured her the previous night that Sean’s collapse had nothing to do with her, she still couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Adrian Lancaster hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
The two of them got their child settled, instructed the nanny to take good care of them, and then drove to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Adrian Lancaster took Wren Sutton’s hand, and they walked down the corridor toward the VIP ward.
Just as they rounded a corner, they immediately saw Simon Sterling and Yvonne Donovan sitting on a bench.
The couple’s faces showed unconcealable exhaustion, and they were shrouded in an oppressive gloom, clearly not yet recovered from their earlier emotional state.
Hearing footsteps, Simon Sterling and Yvonne Donovan turned their heads at the same time and saw Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton.
Simon Sterling showed little reaction, but a complex flicker of emotion passed through Yvonne Donovan’s eyes.
Adrian Lancaster walked over and greeted them first.
"Uncle, Aunt, we came to see our cousin."
Yvonne Donovan’s throat tightened, her voice hoarse and helpless. "You’re here at the perfect time. Please, for your aunt’s sake, go in and try to talk some sense into Sean. He’s awake, but he doesn’t want to see me or your uncle. He threw us out."
"His heart is filled with nothing but hatred right now. He won’t listen to anything we say."
Simon Sterling also stepped forward, his usual dignified air replaced by weariness.
"Adrian, you’re both of the same generation and grew up together. Sean might listen to you. Tell him to cooperate with the doctors, focus on his recovery, and stop being so hard on his own body."
Adrian Lancaster nodded in agreement. "I’ll talk to him."
Yvonne Donovan’s eyes reddened. "Also..."
She paused, then spoke with difficulty, "Please tell Sean for us... that if he likes Isla Griffith and wants to be with her, we... we won’t stop him anymore."
At these words, Adrian Lancaster raised an eyebrow slightly, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
Wren Sutton was even more astonished. She thought she had misheard, clearly not expecting Sean Sterling’s parents to compromise.
Yvonne Donovan looked at Wren Sutton, her tone pleading. "Wren, you should help talk to him, too. Sean’s father and I aren’t asking for his immediate forgiveness. We just want him to stop hating us so much."
"Okay," Wren Sutton agreed with a nod.
[...]
Adrian Lancaster knocked lightly on the hospital room door twice. The only sound from within was the steady beeping of the monitor; there was no answer.
He pushed the door open and, holding Wren Sutton’s hand, walked inside with her.
The light in the room was soft but cold. Sean Sterling was lying on his side facing the wall, revealing only the pale, thin nape of his neck. An IV tube hung quietly by the bedside.
He pretended not to hear their footsteps.
Adrian Lancaster broke the silence. "Wren and I came to see you."
Sean Sterling slowly turned over.
His face was still pale, and his gaze toward Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton was complicated.
He hated them for hiding Isla Griffith’s whereabouts, for watching him break down and collapse on the spot.
But at the same time, he was grateful to Adrian Lancaster for taking him to the hospital last night.
The nurses had told him that Adrian had waited by the door until his parents arrived, and even then, he had stayed late into the night before leaving.
With these two conflicting emotions tangled inside him, Sean Sterling spoke awkwardly, "What are you two doing here?"
"To see how you’re recovering," Adrian Lancaster replied in a steady voice.
Sean Sterling averted his gaze, looking petulantly out the window.
"I’m fine. You can go. I’ll find out where Isla Griffith is myself. I won’t ask you again."
Adrian Lancaster: "..."
Wren Sutton: "..."
The silence made the atmosphere in the room tense.
After a moment, Adrian Lancaster spoke.
"Just focus on getting better. I’ll continue to have people search for Isla Griffith’s whereabouts. I’ll let you know the moment I have any news."
Wren Sutton: "Yes, your health is the most important thing."
A faint glimmer passed through Sean Sterling’s eyes, but he said nothing.
"Also, Uncle and Aunt asked us to tell you that they won’t stand in your way anymore. They’ve agreed to let you be with Isla Griffith," Adrian Lancaster said.
The hospital room instantly fell silent.
Sean Sterling was stunned for a few seconds.
Then, the sudden shock receded like a tide, replaced by a surge of even more turbulent and icy sarcasm.
"Heh..." He let out a low laugh.
The sound was particularly jarring in the quiet room, carrying a bone-deep chill. Even the steady beeping of the monitor seemed to echo the absurdity of it all.
"Not standing in my way anymore?"
Sean Sterling’s tone was frigid. His once deep and sharp eyes were now bloodshot and filled with disdain.
"Don’t you think it’s a little too late to agree now?"
"Back then, no matter how I begged them to accept Isla, they refused with hearts of stone for the sake of the Sterling Family’s reputation."
"They used such dirty tactics to force Isla to leave, causing her to miscarry, to lose our child, and tearing us apart."
"So why the sudden willingness to compromise now?"
Sean Sterling shut his eyes in pain and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his gaze was filled with a dead silence and resolve.
"It’s nothing more than fear that I’ll die in the hospital and bring shame upon the Sterling Family."
"Tell them I don’t need their pity or their handouts, and I won’t be grateful for this."
Adrian Lancaster’s brow furrowed slightly. "That’s not what your parents meant. You’ve misunderstood."
Sean Sterling was unmoved. "I know them better than you do. They would never give in unless they were absolutely forced to."
Wren Sutton chimed in, trying to console him. "But for your parents to finally give in, that’s a good thing for you."
Sean Sterling shook his head, finding it laughable.
"I don’t even know where Isla is right now. How can you call this a good thing?"
After speaking, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. With his eyes shimmering with tears, he looked at Wren Sutton, his gaze pitiful and humbled.
"Wren, for the sake of our acquaintance, for the sake of the times I’ve helped you in the past... I’m begging you, do you really not know where Isla is?"
Wren Sutton: "..."
Sean Sterling’s tone turned introspective.
"What you said yesterday was a wake-up call for me. The reason Isla left is that she endured too much pain. She doesn’t want to see me, and I don’t blame her."
"I just want to know where she is, if she’s safe, and if anyone is bullying her."
"Tell me where she is. I swear, I absolutely will not pressure her or do anything to hurt her."