Chapter 704: Chapter 700: He Is the One Who Most Deserves to Die
Yvette and the others, who didn’t know what was going on, crowded around. Seeing it was Cecilia, Yvette instinctively asked, “Cecilia, wh-what happened?”
“I’m sorry to have disturbed everyone.” Cecilia looked at Yvette and said briskly, “Yvette, today’s party is on me.”
“Mr. Holden…”
Hearing this, Mr. Holden immediately waved his hand. “Miss Sterling, you’re being too kind. There’s still about half the balance left, I’ll just waive it for your friend.”
“Thank you.”
Everyone there, whether they knew Cecilia or not, was stunned.
“Cecilia, you don’t have to! I’m not—I’m not angry!” Yvette quickly waved her hands to explain.
But Cecilia just smiled nonchalantly. “Please, everyone, carry on. I’ll be leaving now.”
With that, Cecilia bypassed the crowd and left without a single look back.
Seeing this, Estelle couldn’t be bothered with anything else and rushed after her.
“Cecilia!”
Estelle caught up to Cecilia and asked worriedly, “What on earth happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m really fine. It’s obvious those two are the ones with the problem.” Cecilia smiled helplessly and shook her head. “I was genuinely trying to avoid any conflict with them, but you can’t control what other people say or do. Could you apologize to Yvette for me again in a little while?”
“Oh, and your brother. Thank him for me for being willing to play the part.”
“Ugh, I’m in no mood to go back now,” Estelle grumbled. “I’ll just head back with you.”
“Definitely not. Today is Yvette’s birthday, and you’re her good friend. You should be there celebrating with her. Don’t leave because of me. I’m really fine.”
Estelle calmed down and had to admit Cecilia had a point.
“Okay, I’ll come find you when things wrap up later.”
Cecilia smiled and nodded. “Okay. Go on back.”
The elevator arrived just then. Cecilia stepped inside, waved to Estelle, and only let out a deep sigh after the doors slid shut.
‘To be honest, she didn’t feel particularly happy about winning today. Shawn Lane had it coming, of course, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel any real malice toward his new girlfriend.’
‘This Miss Churchill wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Coupled with Shawn Lane’s petty manipulations, it was no surprise at all that she believed him.’
‘All the aggressive things she’d said to Miss Churchill’s face had been simple retaliation. Deep down, she didn’t actually look down on her.’
‘Because Cecilia felt she had no right to laugh at Kylie Churchill. After all, in her past life, she too had fallen hard for Shawn Lane’s act.’
‘How was she any better than Kylie Churchill, really?’
‘Shawn Lane was the true source of the rot. He was the one who deserved to die!’
Humiliated and furious, Kylie Churchill stormed out of Cirrus Palace. She ignored Shawn Lane’s shouts as he ran after her, not stopping until he caught up and grabbed her arm, forcing her to a halt.
“Let go of me!”
She tried to violently shake off his hand, but instead of letting go, he forcefully pulled Kylie Churchill into an embrace. “Kylie, you need to calm down.”
“Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down?” The tears Kylie had been holding back finally broke free, and she screamed through her sobs, “I put myself out there like that for you! And what did you do? What did you do?!”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to make things worse. You heard her—Cecilia Sterling bought this place. If we kept making a scene, we would have been the only ones left humiliated. I didn’t want you to lose face because of my misjudgment. It could have even dragged Mr. Churchill into it.”
“Didn’t you say she was a vain gold digger who just latches onto powerful men? So how could she afford to buy this place? And don’t you dare say some man paid for it! Do you have any idea how much money that would take? Even my dad couldn’t pull together that kind of capital all at once!”
Shawn Lane released Kylie, his gaze fixed earnestly on her. “Kylie, I honestly don’t know how this happened. I’m just as stunned as you are. I’ve been out of touch with almost everyone from home for over a year since I left Lorcain. A lot could have happened that I don’t know about. But you have to believe me. I didn’t lie to you. I have no reason to!”
“Everything that happened today was my fault. I just bumped into her on the way to the restroom. I swear, nothing happened. The vow I just made—to avoid her and never speak to her proactively again—that was actually for you. You’re my girlfriend, so of course I have to make it clear I’m staying far away from other women.”
“I was just trying to end the misunderstanding between us. It wasn’t me being subservient to her. You were probably just too angry at the moment to realize what I was really doing.”
With that, Shawn Lane pulled her into another tight hug. “Kylie, do you have any idea how much I like you? I’ll be going abroad soon, and long-distance relationships are so hard. That’s why I was trying to hold back at first. But I realized I couldn’t fight the urge to be with you, so I finally worked up the courage to tell you how I feel.”
“We’re going to be in two different countries, and we’ll have so many more challenges to overcome if we want to be together. I don’t want some irrelevant person to damage what we have. You like me, and you want to be with me forever too, right?”
By now, Kylie Churchill was completely brainwashed by Shawn Lane’s honeyed words. As she listened, the frustration in her heart dissolved, replaced by a wave of emotion.
She nodded emphatically. “Of course. Of course I like you and want to be with you forever.”
“Then let’s not fight anymore, okay? Please don’t be angry. I really didn’t handle things well today. I’ll try to do better in the future!”
“Okay.” Kylie Churchill wiped away her tears and glanced up at the imposing facade of Cirrus Palace. “So what if she bought it? We’ll just stop coming here. It was never as good as Aetherium anyway. From now on, we’ll only go to Aetherium!”
Seeing that she had been placated, Shawn Lane smiled and gently wiped away her tears. Her face was wet, and the cold wind made her cheeks sting with pain.
“Ow, my face really hurts. My skin is probably ruined,” Kylie Churchill said with a shiver. The cold finally seeped into her bones, making her tremble uncontrollably.
Shawn Lane quickly took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Let’s get in the car. I’ll take you to get a facial to pamper your skin.”
‘After all, it was too early to take her home now. If Mr. Churchill found out, he would surely grow suspicious.’
‘He didn’t want to leave a single bad impression on Mr. Churchill. He was playing the long game, and there was no room for error.’
“Let’s agree to never mention what happened today again, okay? Let’s just forget all this unpleasantness,” Shawn Lane said, taking Kylie Churchill’s hand after they got in the car.
With tears welling in her eyes, Kylie Churchill nodded and replied in a choked voice, “Okay. We won’t bring it up. Neither of us will ever mention it again.”