novelbin Chapter 220: She Cannot Afford to Lose
Chapter 220: She Cannot Afford to Lose
Rose Lynch remained rooted to the spot, tears still streaming down her face. She hadn’t lied—the only man she had ever loved in her life was Charles Sterling. It was just that, compared to any man, she loved herself more.
He was, after all, the only man she had ever loved. The thought that they might never see each other again, that their paths would never cross, and that she could only ever admire him from a distance sent sharp pangs of pain through Rose Lynch’s heart.
She was miserable and resentful, yet utterly powerless.
She didn’t dare reveal Chloe Sterling’s true parentage, didn’t dare gamble everything she had. It was just like back then, when she hadn’t dared to go all-in and stand firmly by the bankrupt Charles Sterling. She couldn’t afford to lose.
Seeing her mother lingering, Esther Sterling grew nervous again. Throwing caution to the wind, she emerged from her corner, walked up to Rose Lynch, and whispered, "Mom, let’s go home. Don’t be so stubborn about this."
Rose Lynch looked at her in surprise. "What are you doing here? Were you following me?"
Esther Sterling said, "Auntie asked me to follow you. We were both so worried. Mom, let’s go home. If you keep this up, Dad’s going to find out."
Rose Lynch glanced at the main gate of the Sterling family’s old residence and didn’t move.
Seeing this, Esther Sterling grew anxious, terrified she would blurt out the secret of Chloe Sterling’s parentage. She quickly added, "Mom, President Sterling and his wife have a great relationship. He’s not going to come back to you! And Chloe Sterling definitely won’t, either. The only people who truly love you are Dad and me. You can’t do anything rash."
Rose Lynch retracted her gaze and said slowly, "Let’s go home."
Esther Sterling finally breathed a sigh of relief. She took her mother’s arm, led her back to the car, and said softly, "Mom, why don’t you rest in the passenger seat? I’ll drive."
"No, it’s fine. The road conditions aren’t great. I should drive."
"It’s okay, I’ll just drive slowly. You’re in a bad mood, you shouldn’t be driving. How about I take you to get something good to eat?"
Hearing her daughter’s concern and seeing her red, tear-filled eyes, Rose Lynch felt a pang of guilt. She raised a hand to stroke her daughter’s face and said apologetically, "Esther, I’m sorry. I made you sad."
"I’m fine." After a pause, Esther Sterling’s eyes reddened again. With an aggrieved look, she said, "Mom, promise me you’ll never leave me. That you’ll never leave our family, okay? I can’t lose my mom and dad."
’I can’t end up like Chloe Sterling, like an uprooted weed. I absolutely can’t.’
Rose Lynch whispered, "Okay, Mom promises. Don’t cry."
"Mhm." Esther Sterling nodded. "So, are we going home or getting something to eat?"
Rose Lynch said, "Let’s go eat. It’s my treat."
Esther Sterling finally smiled. "Okay. I’ll drive, you rest, Mom."
"Then I’ll leave it to you, my darling daughter."
"It’s no trouble at all to take care of my mom."
They got into the car. Rose Lynch sat in the passenger seat, taking one last look at the Sterling family’s old residence, an indescribable feeling in her heart.
Soon after, the two arrived at a high-end restaurant for a meal.
Esther Sterling took a few pictures of the food, then scooted closer to Rose Lynch. "Mom, let’s take a selfie."
Rose Lynch smiled and obliged. "Okay."
They took a lovely selfie together. Afterward, Esther Sterling posted the food pictures and the selfie with Rose Lynch to Weibo with the caption, [Mom’s treat today. So happy.]
Soon, many of her fans were leaving comments on the post.
[Wow! Esther’s mom is gorgeous! No wonder Esther is so beautiful; she inherited her mom’s genes.]
[Oh my god! Is that really Esther’s mom? She looks more like her sister!]
[Ahhhh! That’s not a mom, that’s clearly her sister!]
[Esther, are you tricking us? That’s your sister, right?]
Reading the comments, Esther Sterling started to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Rose Lynch asked.
Esther Sterling turned the phone screen towards her. "Look at the comments."
Looking at all the praise, Rose Lynch chuckled. "Your fans are quite cute. But they’re exaggerating!"
Esther Sterling laughed. "They’re not exaggerating. You really are young and beautiful, Mom. You look like my sister."
"By the way, what are your plans now?" Rose Lynch asked. "Are you really going to sign with that company and join that reality show?"
Esther Sterling nodded. "Mhm, I’ve already decided."
"What about the Sinclair Group?"
"Even if I don’t join the Sinclair Group, I’ll make sure Tristan Sinclair sees me." Esther Sterling’s gaze was firm. "Mom, I’ve never liked someone this much before. I have to get to Tristan Sinclair’s side."
"Alright. If you want to do it, then go for it. If you need Mom’s support, just let me know."
"Mhm, thank you, Mom."
Esther Sterling didn’t have a huge number of Weibo followers, only around two million, so she couldn’t make any big waves. Still, she had a bit of buzz. The appearance of a beautiful mother-daughter duo was especially pleasing to the eye.
The number of comments and likes on this post quickly surpassed her previous records. Esther Sterling couldn’t help but smile again; it seemed she had found her future marketing strategy.
At the same time, she thought of Chloe Sterling, hoping she would see this post and the image of her happy, complete family.
「...」
At that moment, Chloe Sterling was still busy in a laboratory at the Nocturne Group.
One of the Pharmacists said, "Miss Chester, it’s getting late. Why don’t you head home and get some rest?"
Chloe Sterling was focused on her experiment and didn’t say a word.
Another Pharmacist added, "Yeah, we’ve already had a major breakthrough. We don’t have to finish it this very second."
After a moment, Chloe Sterling finally spoke. "You guys can go ahead. I’ll wait here for the results."
"We can’t do that!"
"We can’t do that!"
They both said in unison. Chloe Sterling glanced sideways at them. "You don’t trust me?"
"No," one of them explained. "Of course not. We just mean, how can we leave you here to work all by yourself so late at night?"
"Right, right. If President Coldwell finds out, he’ll think we’re slacking off and taking advantage of you."
Chloe Sterling said calmly, "He wouldn’t think that. He’s not an idiot."
"..."
"..."
One of the men scratched his head. "The thing is, if you don’t leave, we don’t dare to leave either."
"Why?"
"President Coldwell sent us here to assist you. We can’t just let you work alone while we go rest. If he found out, he’d probably break our legs."
Chloe Sterling replied, "I won’t tell him."
The other one cleared his throat. "It’s not about whether you tell him or not. There are security cameras outside the lab."
"..."
"Miss Chester, the results will be the same if we check them tomorrow morning. It’s getting late, you should really go home and rest. Didn’t President Coldwell also tell you to take care of yourself and not get too tired?"
"Yeah, yeah! If you overwork yourself, President Coldwell won’t let us off the hook either."
After a few seconds of silence, Chloe Sterling slowly and deliberately pulled off her gloves. "Fine. We’ll check it tomorrow morning." She paused, then suddenly asked, "Is there something you two need to do?"
"Yes, there is."
"No, there isn’t."
The two spoke at the same time, giving completely different answers.