Jasper Lockwood gave a few more instructions, then Henry Chamberlain left, leaving the two of them alone in the office. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He pulled Chloe Sterling into his arms and held her gently. "If you don’t want to see the Sterlings again, I’ll drive them all out of Crestfall so they can never bother you again."

Chloe Sterling leaned against his shoulder and said faintly, "There’s no need. To me, they’re just strangers."

Of course, anyone who provoked her would have to pay the price. Like Esther Sterling, for example.

Jasper Lockwood raised his hand and ruffled her hair. "Let’s go home."

Chloe Sterling tilted her head up slightly to look at him. "It’s so early. You want to go back already?"

"It’s after four, so it’s not that early. Everything that needed to be handled is done, and there’s nothing left to do here. Let’s go."

After a moment’s pause, Chloe Sterling said, "Okay."

An hour later, the two of them returned to the villa.

Jean Kensington sent another message: [The situation has developed so far there’s no room for me to step in. Jasper Lockwood, Silas Coldwell, and Chase Langdon have all made their moves. Looks like I can only watch the show.]

Looking at the message, Chloe Sterling frowned slightly and replied: [What did Silas Coldwell do?]

Jean Kensington: [He and Chase Langdon both went to the Sterlings’.]

Chloe Sterling: "..."

「Meanwhile.」

A dozen or so uninvited guests barged into the Sterling Family’s home.

Silas Coldwell and Chase Langdon had arrived together, though not by plan. They had long been disgusted by the Sterling Family’s actions, and this was the perfect opportunity to teach them a lesson!

Warren Sterling saw the two men who had suddenly barged in with their people and roared, "Who are you? Who let you in?"

Rose Lynch said to the driver, "Call the police! We have intruders!"

"Yes, Madam."

The driver immediately took out his phone to make the call, but it suddenly had no signal.

Hearing the commotion, Esther Sterling came down from upstairs and looked at the crowd, confused.

Silas Coldwell’s sharp gaze fell upon her, and he immediately ordered, "Seize that woman!"

The bodyguards immediately moved forward. Esther Sterling froze for a second, but when she came to her senses, she bolted for the stairs. But how could she possibly escape? She hadn’t taken two steps before two bodyguards grabbed her!

"Get off! Don’t touch me! Let me go!" Esther Sterling struggled in a panic, but she was still dragged out into the courtyard by the bodyguards.

Rose Lynch exclaimed in shock, "Let go of my daughter! Who are you people? Is there no law anymore?!"

Silas Coldwell sneered. "I am the law!"

"Call the police! Call the police! Did the call go through?" Rose Lynch demanded of the driver.

The driver also looked panicked. "There’s no signal."

"What’s going on? Use another phone!"

"None of them have a signal. The signal is being jammed."

"..."

Warren Sterling didn’t recognize Silas Coldwell, but seeing how arrogant he was, he calmed himself and said, "Sir, who exactly are you people? Why are you taking my daughter?"

Silas Coldwell said leisurely, "When you do something wrong, you must be punished."

"Something wrong?" Warren Sterling looked at Esther Sterling and asked, "Esther, what did you do? Who is he?"

Esther Sterling cried, "I didn’t do anything! I don’t even know him! Dad, save me!"

"Sir, my daughter doesn’t know you at all. Could there be some misunderstanding?"

Silas Coldwell scoffed. "Of course she’s not worthy of knowing me! But she dared to slander my woman, so she has to pay the price."

Chase Langdon shot him a sidelong glance, his expression indescribable.

Esther Sterling froze for a moment. ’Could this man be here for Chloe Sterling?’

"Your woman?"

Warren Sterling and Rose Lynch both looked confused.

Silas Coldwell said ominously, "Chloe Sterling. If you’re not blind, you must have seen the trending topics today, right?"

"What!" Warren Sterling was stunned. "You’re here for Chloe?"

Rose Lynch was also completely shocked. "You’re Chloe’s... Chloe’s..."

"I’m her man!" Silas Coldwell’s eyes narrowed. He suddenly pulled out a sharp dagger, walked up to Esther Sterling, and pressed the cold spine of the blade against her face. He said in a frigid voice, "Going after her is the same as going after me. And people who go after me usually meet a miserable end."

Seeing this, Esther Sterling’s eyes widened in terror. "What... what do you want?"

"Don’t you dare do anything rash!" Rose Lynch said in a panic. "What does Chloe’s business have to do with Esther! Let her go."

"How is it not related!" Chase Langdon spoke up. "The trending topics today and the paid commenters smearing Chloe—that was all this woman’s doing!"

"It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it," Esther Sterling denied, her voice trembling.

Chase Langdon snorted coldly. "You know perfectly well whether you did it or not!" After a pause, he turned to Warren Sterling and his wife, warning them in a cold voice, "And you two, since you’ve already cut ties with Chloe, don’t you dare go bother her or disgust her again. Otherwise, I won’t let you off!"

Warren Sterling said, "So Chloe Sterling sent you here?"

Silas Coldwell’s gaze turned icy. He abruptly pulled the dagger back and commanded, "Take her away!"

"No! I won’t go! Let me go!" Esther Sterling struggled desperately, but an impatient bodyguard chopped the back of her neck and knocked her unconscious.

"Esther!" Rose Lynch immediately ran over and blocked their path. "Let go of my daughter! You’re not taking her!"

Seeing this, Chase Langdon’s expression darkened. "So Ms. Lynch can be so heroic for her daughter. Chloe is your daughter too, so how could you treat her like that!"

Rose Lynch said, "I wanted to treat her well, too. You know her, so you should understand that her cold personality makes her impossible to get along with."

Chase Langdon was so angry he laughed. He said coldly, "Bringing her back to Crestfall only to toss her in a remote apartment and ignore her—you call that ’wanting to treat her well’? Ms. Lynch, doesn’t your conscience hurt when you say that? Oh, right. You probably don’t have something like a conscience."

Rose Lynch’s expression changed slightly. She looked at the unconscious Esther Sterling and then said, "Let my daughter go. I’ll call Chloe. I’ll have Esther apologize to her personally."

Warren Sterling immediately added, "I don’t care who you are! Let my daughter go, or the Sterling Family will not let this matter rest!"

Silas Coldwell laughed. "Fine. I’ll be waiting. Take her away!"

"Don’t go!" Rose Lynch was about to rush forward and block them, but Chase Langdon stopped her first, taking the dagger from Silas Coldwell’s hand and pressing it to her neck. "Careful, Ms. Lynch."

Rose Lynch instantly froze, not daring to move.

Warren Sterling had just started to move when he was restrained by the men Chase Langdon had brought.

The two of them could only watch helplessly as Esther Sterling was taken away by Silas Coldwell.

Chase Langdon warned the pair again, "If your Sterling Family wants to continue surviving in Crestfall, then you’ll stay far away from Chloe from now on!"

"What exactly do you plan to do with Esther?" Rose Lynch asked.

"Don’t worry, we won’t kill her. You can just wait in torment." After saying this, Chase Langdon retracted the dagger and left with his men.

The courtyard was suddenly quiet again. Rose Lynch’s voice trembled, not daring to imagine what those people would do to Esther Sterling now that they had taken her.

Just as Chase Langdon had said, every second was now agony for the two of them.