The Retired CEO's Guide To Being Spoiled-Chapter 88: The Taste of Despair

However, in reality, Julian Sterling didn’t truly know what the ultimate purpose of this plan was. Was it for Aaron Sterling to take revenge on him because he had caused Aaron to lose face? Or was it to make Ethan Caldwell detest him, abandon him, and then Aaron could simply push the boat with the current to scoop up benefits from Ethan Caldwell’s hands?

But this was hardly a brilliant chess move. If Ethan Caldwell hated Julian Sterling, would he look favorably upon the Sterling family? Would he allow Aaron Sterling to dip his fingers into the assets that the Caldwell family had spent money to acquire?

Or perhaps, Aaron wanted to act out a drama of brotherly love and romantic destiny?

Was he confident to the point that he could juggle going back and forth with Gabriel Cole while simultaneously pretending to comfort Ethan Caldwell? Could it be that he didn’t know just how fierce the cutthroat competition between these two men was in the business world?

Or it could also be that Aaron was too accustomed to the fact that he was the darling of the heavens. He possessed enough confidence and complacency to believe that he could completely spin two of the top CEOs in the industry around like tops.

But in the end, who was really the one being spun around like a top?

For the time being, he didn’t want to consider this matter anymore; after all, sitting here deducing every possible path would only make him more tired. The person who set the trap would surely have to reveal themselves; one had to face it sooner or later—when the enemy soldiers come, the generals will block them.

And at present, Julian also didn’t know how he should deal with Aaron. As Ethan Caldwell had said, simply handing him over to the law to handle—how could that vent the anger in Julian’s heart? But he wanted to strike at the face of the Sterling family; the best way was to expose the "good deeds" that their precious son had done.

However, on the surface, he couldn’t go too overboard, otherwise it would give Aaron a chance to bite back. The influence of the Sterling family was still there after all, and furthermore, if Gabriel Cole was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, he would certainly contribute to helping Aaron fight back.

Another issue was that Julian didn’t know how to find evidence linking Gabriel Cole to this matter. According to what Helen Lloyd had investigated, all actions were carried out solely by Aaron standing in the front. Naturally, Aaron wouldn’t be stupid enough to expose Gabriel Cole; he was still waiting for his lover to rescue him, after all.

Thinking too much made Julian tired. So he let out a sigh, deciding to temporarily put this matter aside.

"Give me the phone."

Hearing him say that, Ethan Caldwell handed his own phone over to him. Julian didn’t pay attention, only realizing it wasn’t his phone after he held it, so he shot Ethan Caldwell a glare: "I meant my phone, not yours."

Only then did Ethan Caldwell laugh and hand over the correct object he needed.

Julian leaned against him while texting Seraphina Cole. However, his hands kept trembling. After typing a few words, his hands went completely limp, aching uncomfortably.

He glanced at Ethan Caldwell once. Ethan very naturally pulled Julian into his embrace, then took the phone from him, asking: "What do you want to send?"

"Tell the story of what happened just now to her."

Ethan Caldwell raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, but he still followed Julian’s instructions.

The two of them remained entangled, plotting for a long while, while outside, the sky gradually grew calm. The horizon darkened and then brightened again. In a flash, it was the next day.

At this time, in an area belonging to the properties of the Caldwell family, everything remained as usual. No one discovered that the ordinary house, usually uninhabited, was now gathering quite a few people. Ethan Caldwell’s close bodyguards were divided into three groups: one part here, one part at Kieran Talbot’s place, and the remainder kept by Helen Lloyd to assign tasks.

In a small room within this house, a teenage boy lay on the bed. He frowned; the clothes on his body were wrinkled and disheveled, his eyes were squeezed shut, his brows knitted tight, appearing to be in great discomfort.

After a long while, he squirmed, reluctantly opening his eyes.

In that instant, he couldn’t distinguish where this was. Striking his vision were white walls mottled with mold stains. Aaron Sterling shifted his body slightly; a sensation of pain transmitted from the back of his neck caused him to frown in annoyance.

Suddenly, memories came flooding back like floodwater.

He bolted up in panic, looking all around. The room was pitch black. There was no smell of dampness or unpleasant mold, yet there was still a stale, old scent that made him frown. Aaron panicked for a moment, then he rummaged around on his person, wanting to find his phone, but it was not there.

He threw himself off the bed, ceaselessly banging his hands against the door, screaming: "Is anyone there?! Open the door! Do you people know who I am?! Open up!"

But no one answered him. The space was silent, with only the echo of his own screaming bouncing back. This place was pitch dark, without a lamp or torch; Aaron tried to grope around to find a light switch.

But when he flipped it, there was no electricity. He began to panic.

"No, I can’t be afraid, no way, I must stay calm." Aaron muttered to himself. He slid down trembling right at the door, trying to take deep breaths to compose himself.

He couldn’t lose his cool, otherwise he would do things that were hard to salvage. But this dark space made him increasingly terrified. An unpleasant scent gradually spread. Aaron raised his hand to cover his nose, turning his head to look around.

There must be a tracking device here! They wouldn’t let him off so easily.

His eyes gradually adapted to the darkness, able to vaguely see everything. It seemed that in the corner to his left was a very thick curtain.

Window! There was definitely a window!

So he lunged forward, using all his strength to pull the curtain open...

But there was nothing at all; the outside had been sealed shut.

At this moment, that strange scent became increasingly strong. Aaron felt his head spin, the back of his neck throbbed with pain, and darkness consumed his vision... Finally, he fainted.

This scenario repeated itself an unknown number of times. After fainting for a short time, Aaron would wake up; he knew someone was blowing drugs into the air, but there was no other way—he couldn’t hold his breath either.

At first, Aaron could still calm himself down, but the longer it went on, the more he gradually became frantic. He started screaming, crying loudly, spewing all sorts of words from his mouth.

There was pleading, and there were also insults.

But no one cared about him at all.

The surroundings were strangely silent—not a sound, not a ray of light—causing his mind to gradually become hazy.

Where am I?

Am I still alive?

No, that’s not right!

I won’t have any problems!

Aaron lunged up to bang on the door again. He wanted to get out, Gabriel and his father would save him. He couldn’t give up; he had to try to wait for them to arrive.

Gabriel would definitely take care of that Julian guy!

Yes, that’s right!

He lay on the floor, curled up into a ball, his eyes staring blankly through the crack of the door. There was nothing outside at all, just pitch blackness. It was as if light simply did not exist in this world.

As time passed, he found himself waiting for that scent, waiting for himself to fall into a coma. Perhaps when he opened his eyes, his Gabriel would have found him and saved him.

Click.

The door was pushed open. The light of humanity seemed to have returned, also igniting a flame of hope in Aaron’s heart.

Gabriel had come to save him!

Aaron looked up joyfully: "Gab..."

But where was his Gabriel? Standing before him was Julian Sterling. He stood against the light, leaning weakly against Ethan Caldwell’s person, his lips curving up to reveal a mocking smile.

He even raised an eyebrow when he saw Aaron’s eyes shining brightly, as if clinging to hope.

Then, he watched that hope extinguish.