Chapter 267: Who Else Would I Dare to Like?

Melissa looked at her mother.

Rachel Royce coaxed her back to her room.

Although Melissa didn’t know why, she obediently followed the nanny back to her room.

After watching Melissa leave, Rachel Royce looked away and raised her gaze to the man, her beautiful eyes cold. "Aren’t you going downstairs?" Tristan Sterling glanced down at her. He was just about to take out his phone to call Alexander Sullivan when Alexander happened to call him.

He was right outside the villa’s front door.

Alexander Sullivan entered the living room just as Tristan Sterling was coming down the stairs.

"Tristan!" Claire Ainsworth ran toward Tristan Sterling.

"Claire!" Alexander Sullivan shouted, striding forward to grab her hand. "Come back with me." Claire Ainsworth clutched Alexander’s arm, her eyes red as she said emotionally, "Brother, I’m not going back." She looked up at Tristan Sterling, sobbing, "Tristan, I really love you! I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want you to be deceived by her. She came back on purpose to seduce and get revenge on you! She’s just using Melissa to get close to you. Tristan, you can’t believe her." As she spoke, she glared with furious eyes at Rachel Royce, who was standing by the second-floor railing.

Rachel Royce stood there, raising an eyebrow as she calmly watched the three people downstairs.

Tristan Sterling didn’t respond to Claire Ainsworth. He looked at Alexander Sullivan and said, "Take her home." "Tristan!" Seeing that Tristan didn’t believe her, Claire broke down and screamed.

Alexander Sullivan tried to lead Claire Ainsworth away, but she struggled, refusing to leave. "Brother, let go of me! I don’t want to go! Tristan!" Rachel Royce watched quietly from upstairs. ’This looks like some tragic melodrama,’ she thought, ’and I’m the evil side character keeping the star-crossed lovers apart.’

Suddenly, Claire Ainsworth raised her hand and bit Alexander Sullivan. She took the opportunity to break free and ran toward Tristan Sterling, throwing herself into his arms and sobbing, her face stained with tears.

"Tristan! Don’t abandon me." But when she looked up and met his cold, emotionless eyes, her heart tightened. ’This is a sign of his displeasure,’ she knew.

Since he was standing with his back to Rachel, she couldn’t see the expressions on their faces as they looked at each other.

Alexander Sullivan had already walked over. His voice grew stern. "Claire, stop making a scene." "Go back with your brother," Tristan said. Claire Ainsworth stared blankly at Tristan Sterling.

His indifferent expression only made her feel like she was looking at a stranger, filling her with unease.

Alexander Sullivan led her away.

The entire living room fell silent.

Tristan Sterling slowly turned and looked up at Rachel Royce.

As their eyes met, their expressions were unreadable.

Rachel Royce leaned her arms on the railing and looked at the man. "So heartless. Don’t you like her anymore?" she asked, her tone detached, as if she were a mere spectator.

Tristan Sterling gazed at her, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips. "Besides you, who else would I dare to like right now?" A cold smile touched the corner of Rachel Royce’s lips. "Is that so? Your affections are quite fickle. Who will you like next?" Tristan Sterling glanced at his watch. "It’s time to take Melissa to kindergarten, or she’ll be late." The two of them then took Melissa to kindergarten.

When Claire Ainsworth got home, she locked herself in her room.

"The holidays are coming up. Mom, you and Claire should go back to Portington tomorrow," Alexander Sullivan said to Jane Sullivan.

Jane Sullivan looked down, her expression grim.

Alexander looked at her and continued, "At this point, Mom, you should see it clearly. It’s impossible for Tristan Sterling to divorce his wife. Claire has many other good options." He left it at that and said no more. As he was about to leave, Jane Sullivan suddenly spoke up. "Your sister has been wronged so terribly. Alexander, you dote on Claire so much. Shouldn’t you demand justice for her?"

Alexander Sullivan paused and looked at his mother, his voice low. "Then who do you think I should demand justice from, Mom? Tristan Sterling? Ivan Alden? Julian Jennings? Or Tristan Sterling’s wife?"

Jane Sullivan looked at her son and asked in a serious tone, "Alexander, to you, are your own interests the only thing that matters?"

Hearing this, Alexander’s expression turned indifferent. "And when has what I want ever mattered to you, Mom?"

Jane Sullivan was taken aback, momentarily at a loss for words.

Alexander Sullivan emotionlessly averted his gaze and strode away.

"Alexander!" Jane Sullivan called out.

Alexander Sullivan didn’t stop. He got into the car, and the driver drove away from the villa. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

「Noon.」

He suddenly received a text message from Jane Sullivan: *Alexander, I’m sorry. Mom has been in a bad mood lately and said the wrong thing just now. Mom knows she was wrong.*

Alexander Sullivan stared at the message on his phone for a long time, his thoughts unreadable. He set the phone aside without replying.

Just then, Alexander Sullivan received a call from Johnson Royce, who was bringing him lunch.

For the past couple of days, Johnson Royce had been punctually delivering lunch to Alexander Sullivan.

"I’m not busy right now, you can come straight up." The receptionist already knew Johnson Royce’s identity and didn’t dare to slight him.

As Johnson Royce entered the company building, someone in a car parked nearby watched him through the window.

After lunch, Rachel Royce received a call from Thomas Sterling, asking if she wanted to attend their high school alma mater’s anniversary celebration.

The school didn’t have Rachel’s contact information, so they reached out to Thomas. As it happened, Thomas was already planning to make a donation to their alma mater.

Rachel Royce, of course, didn’t refuse. ’I really haven’t been back since graduation,’ she thought. ’I should go take a look.’

’It all started because I met Tristan Sterling once in high school,’ she recalled.

She had been the student representative chosen to present him with flowers. Tristan had bent down, taken the bouquet from her hands, and his gentle, gentlemanly smile had become deeply etched in her heart.

’At that time, I thought he was the kindest, most wonderful man in the world.’

’Looking back now, Tristan Sterling always presented a modest and polite face to outsiders. But beneath that captivating facade hid the most heartless, cold-blooded soul.’

’It was back then that I planted the seeds of my own future suffering.’

「New Year’s Eve.」

Rachel Royce and Thomas Sterling returned to their alma mater together.

She matched whatever amount Thomas donated.

The donation ceremony took place at three in the afternoon, right on schedule.

Rachel Royce gave a speech.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the venue, the principal was standing with Tristan Sterling. Tristan had also been invited to the anniversary event, but had arrived late due to other commitments.

The principal watched Rachel Royce speaking on stage and remarked with a sigh, "Time really flies. I wonder if you still remember, Tristan, the first time you came back to our alma mater. Rachel was the one who presented you with flowers. The student who gave you flowers is all grown up now, and here she is, back at school to be a role model for the current students!"

Hearing the principal’s words, Tristan Sterling’s gaze fell upon Rachel Royce, and his thoughts began to drift. He said suddenly, "I remember it snowed heavily that day."