Chapter 131: Tristan Sterling is Upstairs
lissa and Stella were sitting on the soft carpet, playing with a puzzle together.
The adults sat on the sofa, watching TV and chatting as they kept an eye on them.
The atmosphere was especially lively.
Just then, lissa’s watch phone rang.
June Jennings took the watch out of lissa’s small backpack.
"lissa, your daddy is calling."
lissa got up, walked over, took the watch phone, and answered the call. "Daddy."
While lissa was on the phone, the others fell silent, stopping their conversations.
"Are you having fun at Aunt Evelynn’s house?"
lissa said, "I am! Mr. Ford is at Aunt Evelynn’s house today, too. I’m playing with a puzzle with Stella right now. Aunt Evelynn went to work and won’t be back until tonight."
Tristan humd in acknowledgnt.
He checked in on lissa a little more before hanging up.
lissa put the watch phone back in her backpack and went back to her puzzle.
At 9:30 PM, Rachel Royce finally finished work and left the TV station.
Thomas Sterling was already waiting for her in the parking lot.
When he saw her approaching, he got out of the car to open the passenger-side door.
Rachel Royce smiled when she saw him, then got into the car and noticed a small box with a cupcake on the passenger seat.
Thomas said, "I knew you’d be hungry."
Rachel Royce reached out, picked it up, and said, "Thank you."
After she got in the car, Thomas drove away.
"So, who won today?" Rachel Royce asked while eating the cupcake.
Thomas said, "My luck was bad today. I was the only one who lost."
Rachel Royce said, "That’s so pretty bad luck, then."
"..."
When the car stopped at the villa’s entrance, they saw a familiar Rolls-Royce parked there.
Rachel Royce got out of the car.
Thomas followed her into the villa.
Peter Preston and Wendy Royce were in the living room, and they didn’t look happy.
"Dad, Bro, what’s wrong?"
Wendy Royce said, his face ashen, "Tristan Sterling is here. He’s upstairs."
Rachel Royce was startled.
Peter Preston explained, "lissa suddenly started crying at bedti, and your mom couldn’t calm her down. lissa called Tristan Sterling, and he just got here."
Young children often get sensitive to unfamiliar environnts at night. Without soone close by their side, they can feel very unsettled and start crying.
The sa was true for lissa.
Rachel Royce hurried upstairs.
Florence Preston was at her bedroom door.
"Rachel, you’re back."
Rachel Royce humd in acknowledgnt and said, "Mom, you should go take care of Bobby!"
"Alright, then."
Rachel Royce pushed open the door and entered the bedroom.
She saw Tristan Sterling pacing back and forth inside the room, holding lissa and gently patting her back. lissa was resting quietly on her father’s shoulder.
Tristan turned to the side and looked at Rachel as she entered.
Rachel Royce walked forward.
lissa heard the sound and turned to look at Rachel. Her eyes were red, a heart-wrenching sight. In a hoarse voice, she called out, "Aunt Evelynn."
Rachel held out her arms. "Do you want Auntie to hold you?"
lissa reached her hands out to Rachel.
Rachel took the child from Tristan’s arms and kissed her near her ear. "I’m sorry, lissa. Aunt Evelynn ca back late."
lissa leaned obediently against Rachel.
Rachel sat on the edge of the bed with the child in her arms, reaching out to wipe the dried tear tracks from her cheeks while comforting her.
Tristan stood to the side, his gaze lowered, quietly watching the mother and daughter. The bright light reflected in his eyes, making his expression unreadable.
"Does lissa still want to stay here with Auntie tonight?"
lissa nodded. "Yes."
Rachel’s tense heart relaxed with a sigh of relief. She looked up at Tristan and explained, "It’s true that I ca back late tonight. I’ll take good care of lissa."
Tristan said in a flat tone, "I’ll leave after lissa falls asleep."
His words were perfectly reasonable.
It was getting late, and it was past lissa’s bedti anyway.
"Then you can put lissa to sleep first," Rachel said.
Rachel went to the walk-in closet to get her pajamas and then went into the bathroom.
Tristan coaxed lissa to lie down and sleep. As he placed her on the bed and lay down on his side next to her, his senses were filled with the faint, pleasant scent of a woman.
He pulled the blanket up over lissa.
With her daddy and Aunt Evelynn there, lissa finally felt completely at ease. She looked at her father and said, "If you and Aunt Evelynn were together, Daddy, then we could all sleep together."
Tristan patted lissa’s back. "Alright, go to sleep now."
Normally, lissa would have been fast asleep by this ti.
She was indeed very sleepy now.
Nestled in her father’s arms, taking in his scent and the lingering fragrance of Aunt Evelynn on the bed, she quickly drifted off to sleep.
When Rachel ca out of the bathroom after her shower, lissa was already lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully.
Tristan switched the bedside lamp to a warm, dim light.
He looked at Rachel.
In the dim light, the woman was wearing a long, silk nightgown. It was a conservative design, but one could still faintly make out the elegant lines of her figure beneath the fabric.
Her long hair cascaded down around a delicate face free of makeup, giving her an added touch of innocence.
In this setting, having a man in her bedroom—and Tristan Sterling, of all people—made Rachel feel very uncomfortable.
Before she could even say sothing to kick him out, she heard the man’s cool, detached voice say, "Take good care of lissa."
His words carried a subtle hint of a warning.
After saying that, the man walked toward the bedroom door. As he passed by Rachel, a clean scent mixed with the fresh fragrance of soap reached her nose.
Tristan left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
After the man left, Rachel let out a sigh of relief. She then got into bed, pulling back the covers and lying down next to lissa.
Tristan went downstairs.
Wendy Royce, Peter Preston, and Thomas Sterling were still sitting on the sofa, waiting.
Wendy Royce looked at him and let out a low snort.
Tristan saw them but made no move to greet them. He just looked at Thomas, his tone serious as he said, "Thomas, look at the ti. Why aren’t you going ho?"
Thomas looked at Tristan, then said his goodbyes to Wendy and Peter.
Tristan strode toward the exit.
Thomas followed him out.
Outside the villa, Tristan suddenly stopped.
Thomas stood just a step behind him.
Beneath the night sky, the man’s tall figure exuded a powerful aura, his face stern and cold. Though the sumr heat still lingered in the night air, he seed to be coated in a thin layer of frost.
He turned his head sideways to look back at Thomas, his dark eyes as cool and placid as water. "Thomas, what do you think you’re doing?"
Thomas t his gaze. "If you have sothing to say, cousin, just say it."
Tristan’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. After a mont of silence, he spoke in a cold, heavy voice, "You’d best get rid of any ideas you shouldn’t be having. You and her are impossible."
Thomas was unafraid. "Who can say what the future holds? I’m willing to bear any price. If it weren’t for the ’accident’ between you and Rachel back then, I would already be in a position to marry her by now."
Born into the Sterling family, he couldn’t compare to Tristan; he had no control over his own marriage.
That’s why he started his own business, relying on none of the Sterling family’s resources, all to break free from the clan’s constraints.
Then, no one could control who he married.
But before he could achieve that success, he heard that Rachel had gotten married.
At that mont, he felt like his world had collapsed. He drank himself into a stupor for a day and a night. He didn’t return to the Sterling family ho for an entire year, staying abroad and avoiding any news about Rachel Royce.
It wasn’t until he learned that Rachel was not living well in the Sterling family that he chose to return to the country.
The mont he found out Tristan was going to divorce her, he felt a renewed sense of hope and had been eagerly anticipating it ever since.
Now, he was no longer at the rcy of others.
Rachel finally no longer loved Tristan, and they were going to divorce.
In the future, no matter the pressure, he would bear it all without hesitation.
Reviews
All reviews (0)