On the Day I Was Kicked Out of the Wealthy Family, I Had a Flash Marriage with a Tycoon-Chapter 174: She Wants to Figure It Out Herself
"Who is Jasper Lockwood! What’s his status in Crestfall? If he didn’t know your identity from the start, why would he marry you? Just because you’re beautiful? Do you think that’s possible?"
Silas Coldwell continued to twist the knife. "Consider what you were like back then, among the Crestfall elite. A country girl, despised and thrown out by your family. Countless people mocked you. And yet he, the feared king of Crestfall’s business world, suddenly wanted to marry you. Does that seem reasonable?"
Without responding, Chloe Sterling walked out of the office without looking back.
Silas Coldwell snorted and walked over to a nearby sofa to sit down. He just didn’t get it. ’It’s all so obvious. Jasper Lockwood clearly planned this from the start. Why would Chloe still go back to him?’
’Is that bastard Lockwood really that great!’
Zane Stratton muttered, "Did this Jasper Lockwood give Lynn Chester some kind of love potion?"
Hearing this, Silas Coldwell shot him an icy glare.
Zane Stratton immediately shut his mouth. After a moment, he added, "Maybe Miss Chester went back to confront Jasper Lockwood. If she finds out he’s really lying to her, with her temper, she’ll definitely leave him."
Silas Coldwell didn’t reply. He hoped so.
「The Lockwood Residence.」
Henry Chamberlain walked into the dining room as if heading to his execution and looked at his boss. "Sir, I have the report. Madam... she... she went to the Nocturne Group’s branch office."
At these words, the hand Jasper Lockwood was using to hold his chopsticks froze.
Henry Chamberlain quickly added, "But Madam wasn’t there for long. She came out very quickly and is on her way back now."
After a moment’s pause, Jasper Lockwood resumed picking up food with his chopsticks, his tone indifferent. "Understood."
Henry Chamberlain turned and left.
Tristan Sinclair’s lips moved, but he stopped himself before speaking.
’What’s the deal with Chloe Sterling and Silas Coldwell? Could Silas really be her ex-boyfriend?’ he had wanted to ask. But after seeing the icy expression on Jasper Lockwood’s face, he swallowed his words.
He picked up the decanter, poured Jasper Lockwood a glass of wine, and asked, "Are you free tomorrow night?"
Jasper Lockwood answered almost without thinking, "No."
Seeing him like this, Tristan Sinclair couldn’t help but laugh. "Jasper, you’re not going to stay jealous until tomorrow night, are you? Even though Chloe went to see Silas Coldwell, it looks like they had a clean break. Chloe doesn’t want anything to do with that guy."
Jasper Lockwood looked at him. "A clean break?"
"Er... they meet occasionally, probably for business. If you’re really that upset about it, just ask her when she gets back."
"It wasn’t a clean break," Jasper interjected. "The two of them were never together in the first place! It’s always just been one-sided on Silas Coldwell’s part."
"Oh? Is that so? Then you have even less to worry about."
Jasper Lockwood: "Who said I was worried?"
Tristan Sinclair: "Then why the long face?"
Jasper Lockwood: "Because I feel like it."
Tristan Sinclair laughed again. "Right, you’re not worried. You’re just unhappy and jealous."
Even though he’d never been in a relationship, he understood a man’s possessiveness.
Jasper Lockwood shot him a glance but said no more, raising his glass and taking a sip of wine.
About an hour later, the two had moved from the dining room back to the living room.
Chloe Sterling had finally returned.
Her expression was slightly complicated as she looked at Jasper Lockwood. She didn’t believe he would lie to her, but she also couldn’t understand why he would have wanted to marry her back then.
’Was it really just because they had accidentally slept together, so he had to take responsibility for her?’
’And that night... was he really so drunk that he would sleep with any random strange woman?’
’At that reception, he had not only been drinking but had also been drugged, yet he still managed to control himself and not touch Phoebe Sinclair, even nearly killing her.’
’Why would a man who could stay rational under those circumstances act the way he did that night?’
’And what was strange was that she didn’t remember anything about that night. She had always assumed it was because she’d drunk so much for the first time and had blacked out, but thinking about it carefully now, something felt off.’
Chloe Sterling just stood there in the living room, staring at Jasper Lockwood without blinking.
Jasper Lockwood didn’t speak either, his gaze fixed on her as well.
The room was oppressively silent. Tristan Sinclair broke the strange atmosphere. "What are you two doing, staring at each other without saying a word? Making eyes at each other?"
"Have you eaten?" Jasper Lockwood spoke first.
Chloe Sterling replied, "No."
Jasper Lockwood immediately instructed the butler to have the kitchen prepare another dinner.
The butler acknowledged and left at once.
Tristan Sinclair stood up and said casually, "It’s getting late, so I’ll be heading out. You two take your time and talk."
"President Sinclair, I’ll see you out." Henry Chamberlain immediately followed Tristan Sinclair to make a quick escape.
Seeing this, the other staff also quickly departed.
In an instant, only the two of them were left in the vast living room.
"What’s wrong? You’ve had that look on your face since you got back," Jasper Lockwood said again.
Chloe Sterling stared at him for a moment before asking, "Jasper Lockwood, are you hiding something from me?"
"Yes." Jasper Lockwood suddenly stood up, walked over to her, and continued, "But none of it has anything to do with you. You don’t need to worry about some messy affairs. Just do whatever you want to do."
Chloe Sterling watched him in silence. ’Once certain questions are asked, it means she doesn’t trust him, that she’s doubting him.’
’Undeniably, Silas Coldwell’s words had made her suspicious.’
"What else did Silas Coldwell say to you?" Jasper Lockwood asked abruptly.
Chloe Sterling froze for a second, then realized. "The car following me... you sent it!"
"I sent them to protect you. I just didn’t expect you to rush off to find Silas Coldwell! Chloe, don’t you think you owe me an explanation, too?"
Chloe Sterling pressed her lips together. "Someone placed an order with the Nocturne Group, hiring assassins to capture me."
Hearing this, Jasper Lockwood’s expression changed abruptly. "Who?"
"The person you captured. Phoebe Sinclair." Chloe Sterling looked up at him and asked, "Jasper Lockwood, are you planning something?"
"It’s just some family and corporate disputes. It’s been going on for years, it’s not a big deal."
"Then when did you start planning?"
"There’s no plan. I’m just reacting to things as they come." Jasper Lockwood’s eyes darkened slightly. "Chloe, what are you really trying to say?"
Chloe Sterling pursed her lips, hesitated, and then said, "Nothing. Just... be careful with everything."
"But you don’t look like it’s nothing." Jasper Lockwood’s dark eyes were fixed on her. "Why did you really go see Silas Coldwell? What else did he tell you?"
’I went to save someone, only to get tricked.’
Chloe Sterling couldn’t bring herself to say it. Speaking it aloud would only make things more unpleasant between them.
"Just that. The rest was just about how you keep me in the dark and aren’t exactly a perfect gentleman. Do you really want to hear it?"
Jasper Lockwood: "..."
After a moment, he said, "I’ve never claimed to be a perfect gentleman, nor have I ever denied the methods I use to get things done. But I would never use those methods on you."
Chloe Sterling looked at him for a moment and hummed in acknowledgment, ultimately deciding not to ask if he had known her identity all along.
’That was something she had to find out for herself.’
