After His Sweetheart Moved In, He Came Home Every Night-Chapter 181: He Said, Alice York Was Just a Whim
Simon Sterling’s intentions for coming to Arden this time were patently obvious.
"Tell me," Felix Hawthorne said, his tone full of amusement, "if your old man were to find out that you—his most capable and favored son—have already made a move on your own niece, don’t you think he’d be angry enough to cough up blood?"
"He wouldn’t go as far as coughing up blood. He’d just be angry for a couple of days and then get over it."
After he spoke, Wyatt Sterling picked up a pack of cigarettes. "Do you mind?"
Felix Hawthorne was a smoker himself, so he didn’t mind. He gave a small gesture with his hand, indicating for the other man to go ahead.
Wyatt Sterling lit a cigarette, tossed the pack aside, and began to exhale clouds of smoke.
After a moment, he spoke around the cigarette in a low voice, "’Capable’ and ’favored’... Eldest Young Master Hawthorne certainly knows how to twist the knife."
"You’re being too serious, Third Master Sterling." Felix Hawthorne removed his glasses to wipe them. When he put them back on, a faint smile touched his eyes. "I’m just someone who always speaks frankly."
Every sentence was a test from Felix Hawthorne.
He was testing Wyatt Sterling’s limits, his attitude, and his sincerity—the sincerity of his desire to work with the Hawthorne Family.
Wyatt Sterling removed the cigarette from his lips, flicked the ash, and looked at Felix Hawthorne through the smoke. "If we’re going to cooperate, then let’s get straight to the point."
"Good. That was my intention as well."
Felix Hawthorne crossed his long legs and leaned back. "It’s common knowledge that you’re the next head of the Sterling family. Half of their empire is already in your hands. All you’re missing now is the right opportunity."
"The right opportunity..." The cigarette burned down bit by bit between his fingers, his eyes calm. "The Sterlings are where they are today because of the businesses I manage. The ones... the old man doesn’t dare touch, yet can’t afford to let go of."
Wyatt Sterling’s tone was so detached, it was as if he were discussing a matter that had nothing to do with him. "Right now, he’s extremely wary of me. But he’s also afraid the Sterling family might just collapse one day. So on the one hand, he’s trying to keep me in check, while on the other, he’s grooming a successor he favors more."
Felix Hawthorne propped his head on his hand and said nonchalantly, "Your old man distrusts you that much? You’re his own son, after all, aren’t you?"
Wyatt Sterling looked up. "You think every family is like yours."
For over a hundred years, there had never been any internal conflict within the Hawthorne Family, generation after generation. Each successor was personally selected and groomed by the family patriarch until it was time to take over.
Felix Hawthorne asked, "So what’s your plan?"
Wyatt Sterling chuckled softly. "Whoever he favors, that’s who I’ll hand the Sterling family over to. Anything to grant his wish. I just hope he’s perfectly satisfied with the outcome in the end."
Felix Hawthorne asked, "You’d give it all up?"
Wyatt Sterling said flatly, "All of it."
Felix Hawthorne: "Including the one by your side?"
Wyatt Sterling’s lips curled. "She was just a whim. Nothing important. You don’t need to use her to test me."
"As expected of Third Master Sterling." Felix Hawthorne clapped his hands. "Since you’ve shown such sincerity, Third Master, I shall show you mine."
Ash from his cigarette fell to the floor.
Wyatt Sterling’s expression remained perfectly calm throughout.
Felix Hawthorne said, "Seven days from now, the Hawthorne Family will host a grand banquet at the most prominent venue in Arden to welcome my sister, Evelyn Hawthorne, home."
News that the Hawthorne Family had found their daughter had already spread like wildfire. All of Arden’s high society, and even some prominent figures from the mainland, had already heard.
Since the Hawthorne Family had yet to make an official announcement, no one would dare bring it up. Everyone shared a tacit understanding, simply waiting for the day the news was formally released.
And that day was set for seven days from now.
That day also happened to be Evelyn Hawthorne’s real birthday.
"Wyatt Sterling," Felix Hawthorne said, enunciating each word, "on that day, you will be our family’s guest of honor."
Just as he finished speaking.
The door swung open, and someone walked in.
Both men turned their heads at the same time.
Felix Hawthorne’s face was impassive as he picked up his drink and took a sip.
Wyatt Sterling stubbed out his half-finished cigarette, brushed some ash off his clothes, and his expression softened. "What took you so long?"
Alice York sat back down in her original seat. "I went outside to take a call."
Then she looked to the side. "Where’s Nathan?"
"He stepped out."
Wyatt Sterling looked at her. "Are you finished?"
"I am," Alice York nodded.
’I was only about sixty percent full, but after stepping out, I feel completely stuffed. I can’t eat another bite of this.’
When she was with Wyatt Sterling, Alice York would naturally lean on him, and she felt the unconscious urge to draw closer to him now. But a glance at Felix Hawthorne, who clearly didn’t care for her, made her sit up perfectly straight and proper.
"Miss York."
Alice York tensed up, startled to hear Felix Hawthorne call her name.
When she looked up, her face wore a placid smile.
The moment their eyes met, Felix Hawthorne was struck by a sense of daze for the second time.
The first time had been the day he saw Alice York’s photograph. He’d known Finn had a conflict with some woman, and that the incident in Rhovan was related to her, so he had investigated Alice.
The moment he saw her picture, he had felt a flash of disorientation. He couldn’t say what was so similar, but there was a subtle sense of familiarity.
Just now, looking into her eyes, he felt that same subtle sensation again.
’It’s like... déjà vu...’
"Mr. Hawthorne?"
Alice York, unsure why he was just staring at her without speaking, finally prompted him.
"Eldest Young Master Hawthorne, you were distracted."
Wyatt Sterling said, his tone displeased.
Felix Hawthorne snapped out of it. Hearing Wyatt Sterling’s comment, he lowered his gaze and smiled. "Aren’t you being a bit overly concerned, Third Master Sterling? Didn’t you just say she was only a whim?"
Alice York blinked in confusion. ’Wyatt Sterling said... a whim? What was a whim?’
Wyatt Sterling’s expression was cold. "I hope I am just being overly concerned."
Felix Hawthorne offered no further explanation, raising his eyes to look at Alice York again. "My younger brother sincerely wants to be friends with you, Miss York. For any offense he may have caused in the past, I hope you’ll be patient with him. Please don’t hold it against him, and don’t break his heart."
Alice York knew how to read the room; she wasn’t about to contradict Felix Hawthorne and make him lose face after he’d made such a point of it. "Young Young Master Hawthorne is innocent and naive. I won’t hold anything against him. From now on, we’re friends."
A smile touched Felix Hawthorne’s eyes. "That’s good to hear."
When the dinner ended, Wyatt Sterling left with Alice York and their companions.
Finn Hawthorne watched them go with a look of reluctance. When he turned back around, he saw the complex expression on his older brother’s face.
"Finn."
Finn Hawthorne walked over. "What is it, brother?"
Felix Hawthorne was suddenly curious. "Tell me, why did you suddenly take such a liking to Alice York? What is it about her that attracts you so much you’re willing to just... orbit around her like this?"
"Brother, you really want to know?" Finn Hawthorne asked, a little nervous.
Felix Hawthorne narrowed his eyes. "Why? Have you fallen for her?"
’It was undeniable. Alice York was indeed beautiful—the kind of stunningly beautiful that would catch your eye at first glance, even in a crowd of other beauties.’
’If that was the reason his brother had changed his tune about Alice York, it would be understandable.’
’After all, what man doesn’t love a beautiful woman?’
"No! I haven’t fallen for her," Finn Hawthorne retorted with a scowl.
Felix Hawthorne shot him a look. "Then what’s the reason?"
Finn Hawthorne hemmed and hawed. "I’m afraid you’ll be upset if I tell you."
Felix Hawthorne’s eyes narrowed. "Tell me."
