"I'm planning to shift my career focus to the mainland." Before the person on the other end could even speak, Summer Sutton had already stated her idea.
"Are you insane?" her agent on the other end nearly shrieked. "You've built your career in Port Sovereign for years to get to where you are now! Why would you go to the mainland? The scene over there is even tougher than in Port Sovereign. It's a tiny pie with a horde of people fighting over it. You have no connections—you'll get eaten alive."
"I'm not asking for your opinion," Summer Sutton said, her words deliberate and sharp. "I'm telling you."
"..." Her agent muttered curses for several minutes before hanging up in a furious huff.
Summer Sutton felt weary.
'Giving up everything I have to start over in a strange place... it isn't a rational decision.'
But the thought of the fate awaiting her without Kian Sterling's protection sent a chill through her heart, cutting through the exhaustion.
'Going to Metropia might be my only way out of this situation.'
An anxious Butler Coleman approached.
"Miss Sutton, Assistant Rhodes said he's going to fire me. Please, could you put in a good word for me with the Ninth Master? I swear I've done my best all these years..."
Summer Sutton glanced at the extra bodyguards now posted at the villa entrance.
The bodyguards had already received their orders and were systematically clearing out the villa.
Summer Sutton watched as even Kian Sterling's favorite gilded tea set was tossed into a trash bag. She slowly closed her eyes.
"Put in a good word for you? I can barely save myself..."
Inside a black stretch luxury van, Assistant Evan Rhodes held a bouquet of fresh lilies, which he respectfully handed to Kian Sterling.
Kian Sterling ordered in a low voice, "To the cemetery."
「Stillwater Cemetery.」
The area around the gravestone of Sylvia Lowell, Kenneth Sutton's first wife, was overgrown with weeds. A pile of withered flowers and dead leaves lay before the stone, a clear sign that no one had visited in a long time.
Kian Sterling solemnly placed the lilies in his hand before the gravestone.
"Teacher, it's Kian Sterling. I've come to see you."
Sylvia Lowell came from a long line of perfumers and was exceptionally skilled at blending fragrances. Years ago, when the Sterlings' perfume brand was facing a crisis, a mere eleven-year-old Kian Sterling traveled a great distance with his R&D team to seek her help. With her guidance, he spent months breaking through the bottleneck. The Sterlings' perfume division subsequently left all competitors in the dust. This success also laid the groundwork for Kian's later comeback from being cast aside.
Though Sylvia Lowell had only mentored him for a few months, Kian Sterling saw it as a life-saving act of kindness.
In turn, Sylvia had grown to deeply admire Kian's character during those months. When her husband betrayed her, she didn't establish a trust or turn to her own family. Instead, she decisively entrusted her daughter—along with all the company shares in her name—to Kian Sterling.
Over the years, whenever Kian Sterling came to Port Sovereign to see Summer Sutton, he would also make a point to visit the cemetery.
He bent down, clearing away the dead leaves and branches with his own hands. Turning slightly toward Evan Rhodes, he said, "Have someone take care of these weeds."
Evan Rhodes assented.
Kian Sterling said no more, standing silently before the gravestone for a good half hour.
Evan Rhodes glanced at the faintly misty sky and gently reminded him, "Ninth Master, we need to leave for the airport."
Kian Sterling gave Evan Rhodes a subtle hand signal. Evan retreated several dozen meters, standing guard silently at the entrance to the path.
Kian Sterling's gaze rested on the photograph on the headstone. After a long silence, he spoke with the utmost seriousness.
"Your daughter is well."
After speaking, he gave a deep bow and turned to leave.
The luxury van drove off into the night.
Once they were far from the cemetery, Kian Sterling quietly asked Evan Rhodes, "How long has it been since Summer Sutton came to see our teacher?"
"Ninth Master, Miss Sutton has not visited Ms. Sylvia Lowell in three months," Evan Rhodes reported dutifully. "The last time she came was with you."
After speaking, he didn't dare to look at Kian Sterling's expression.
The atmosphere in the car grew heavy for a long moment.
Kian Sterling scoffed. "Forget it. It doesn't matter whether she comes or not."
「Metropia. 2:00 AM.」
With Kian Sterling not at home to keep her in check, Celia Sterling was in a great mood and pulled an all-nighter. She brought out the set of perfume ingredients Silas Norwood had given her, admiring it and stroking the bottles. Unable to resist the urge to show it off, she took a picture and posted it to her social media feed.
Caption: Got a very precious gift. Too excited to sleep!
Late at night, the lights in the Norwood Group chairman's office were still on.
A huge pile of documents awaiting his signature sat on the desk. Silas Norwood, sitting with his characteristic refined elegance, casually picked one up and began to flip through it.
His assistant, Theo Chambers, stood by to help, occasionally sneaking a glance at his boss out of the corner of his eye, ready to attend to any need.
At first, everything was normal and busy.
But on Theo Chambers's twelfth glance toward Silas Norwood, he noticed his boss had his phone out. Silas's amber eyes were fixed on the screen, which wasn't displaying a work-related app, but a social media feed.
'A man of the boss's stature scrolls through social media?'
Theo Chambers froze for a second. He then saw Silas Norwood's elegant, pale fingers begin to type.
'He doesn't just scroll, he comments too?'
Overcome with curiosity, Theo Chambers snuck a discreet look at his boss's screen.
He immediately recognized the twelve familiar glass bottles. He himself had retrieved those very bottles from his boss's villa storeroom that morning, just before his boss gave them to the Eldest Miss Sterling.
'So, the boss is looking at Miss Sterling's feed?'
Theo Chambers couldn't resist and took a second look.
This time, his eyes fixed on the profile picture of the account his boss was using to comment—it wasn't Silas Norwood's usual ID. 'So the boss is using an alt account? A man as aloof and otherworldly as him actually has an alt?'
'And he's been interacting with Miss Sterling with this alt for a while?'
Silas Norwood paid no attention to his assistant's complex emotions.
He typed a comment below her post: "As long as you like it."
But he quickly decided it was inappropriate. Less than three seconds after posting it, he deleted the comment. In the end, he simply left a nonchalant 'like'.
Putting his phone away, he said coolly to Theo Chambers, "What are you gawking at? Nothing better to do?"
Theo Chambers sat up straight, cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, and once again buried his head in his work.
At nine in the morning, Celia Sterling ambled downstairs in loose pajamas, only to find Kian Sterling sitting at the dining table, waiting to have breakfast with her.
Her almond-shaped eyes widened in disbelief.
"Brother, you actually rushed back?"
Kian Sterling looked up from a financial magazine and glanced at her. "Mm, the breakfast in Port Sovereign doesn't suit my taste."
"Is this really about the food?" Celia Sterling picked up a glass of warm milk and sat beside him. Her tone was sly. "Miss Sutton is in the middle of a huge scandal; she must need comforting right now. Besides, what's more important: a night of passion, or breakfast?"
"..." Kian Sterling paused. "So concerned about my love life?"
"Just curious." Celia cleared her throat. "After your relationship with Miss Sutton went public, a number of socialites started asking me if they still had a chance with you. They've been trying to get information out of me."
"Don't go around spreading nonsense," Kian Sterling reminded her. "I have no plans to get married in the next five years."
"Isn't Evan Rhodes already compiling a list of suitable candidates for the matriarch of the Sterling Family?"
"That's just to placate the stubborn clan elders," Kian Sterling said, reaching over to adjust her pajama top. "You're about to be a married woman. You should stop wearing such suggestive clothing. Be more dignified."
"Suggestive?" Celia Sterling looked down at the collar button Kian had just fastened. "It's just my neck showing. How is that undignified?"
"The neckline is too low," Kian Sterling said slowly. "Silas Norwood is nothing like Declan Nash. He's extremely conservative. You'd better watch yourself."
Celia Sterling's interest was piqued instead. "How conservative is he?"
"I don't know him that well, but we've crossed paths enough over the years for me to get a sense of him." Kian Sterling placed a crystal shrimp dumpling in her bowl as he shared his impression of Silas Norwood. "He never goes to places like bars or clubs. Even at mandatory business galas, he has his bodyguards specifically block any scantily clad women from getting near him."
Celia Sterling sighed. "So stuffy. Being with him is going to be so dull..."
"If you're bored, just come home more often. I'll find ways to entertain you." Kian Sterling changed the subject, placing a pan-fried beef dumpling in her bowl. "Eat up. I heard you've been secretly dieting. Why are you trying to be like those stick-thin socialites in Metropia instead of learning something useful?"
"If word of that got out, you'd make all those skinny beauties cry their eyes out," Celia said, pointing to her face. "Besides, don't you think I look better in photos when I'm a bit slimmer?"
Kian Sterling looked earnestly at her stunning face. "No dieting. You're beautiful enough."
Ever since she was a child, Celia Sterling had been more delicate-looking than the other girls in the Capital Circle. She had fair, porcelain skin, lovely cherry-red lips, and a soft, sweet voice, leading many to mistake her for a southern belle. As she grew older, her features became even more radiant and captivating. That, combined with the proud air that came from being doted on by Kian Sterling, meant the young scions in their circle who wanted to marry her were countless.
However, ninety-nine percent of them were filtered out at the "big brother-in-law" hurdle that was Kian Sterling.
Only Declan Nash had made it to the final round.
Speaking of Declan Nash, Celia couldn't help but check her phone. Ever since their video call was abruptly cut off yesterday at noon, the man had vanished as if into thin air, with no further contact.
Biting into her dumpling, Celia couldn't help but muse, "Declan Nash... after dating for three years, I always thought he was clingy and prone to tantrums. I never expected him to know when to back off."
Kian Sterling raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"He hasn't sent me a single message since our call yesterday. He's showing some restraint, for once."
Kian Sterling looked at his sister. "From what I understand, after the marriage swap was finalized, Justin Norwood was worried Declan would cause a scene, so he had his phone signal blocked. Until the new marriage agreement is signed, there's a high probability Declan can't message you even if he wanted to."
Celia Sterling: "..."
'So that's the real reason the video call suddenly disconnected.'