Chapter 22: Easy to Fall For

"Willa, do you know her?"

Sterling Kingston noticed Willow’s stunned expression.

"Yes," Willow nodded. "She’s my classmate. She’s a really good person."

"If Willa says she’s good, then she must be," Sterling thought for a moment. "It’s just that the age gap is a bit large. I wonder if she would mind."

Willow wanted to say that Luna Hayes wouldn't mind at all.

But for some reason, the words felt stuck in her throat, and she couldn't force them out.

Was it because the thought of both of them potentially sleeping with the same man was too awkward?

"I mind." Julian Kingston unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, his gaze sweeping across Willow’s face before he finally said, "I like people my own age."

"Bullsh*t!" Sterling barked. "You're already twenty-seven. Where am I supposed to find a twenty-seven-year-old who is still pure and cute for you?"

He knew his son was just talking nonsense again.

Afraid of scaring Willow, he reined in his temper. "Fine, that’s enough discussion for today. Let's eat."

After dinner, Sterling asked Willow to stay and chat with him, and invited her to spend the night.

Willow agreed.

Looking at him was like looking at her own grandfather.

Besides, Grandpa Sterling was indeed very lonely.

After his second marriage, Grandma Kingston had passed away shortly after giving birth, and the children were all busy with their careers.

When she had visited years ago, Grandpa Sterling mentioned that he traveled everywhere simply because he didn't want to face the empty mansion alone.

They chatted about everything from the mundane to travel stories. By nine o'clock, Sterling was still eager to talk, but finally said, "Willa, go get some rest. you still have school tomorrow."

He then asked the butler to show her to the guest house.

Once Willow reached the guest house and prepared to change, she realized the brooch on her dress was missing.

That brooch had come with the outfit; she had checked the price, and it was a six-figure item.

Without a second thought, she hurried out of the room to find it.

The Kingston Estate was designed in a traditional Chinese garden style, and the guest house she stayed in was only two stories high.

Outside the guest house were rockeries, ponds, and long corridors.

The paths were brightly lit, but the brooch was nowhere to be found.

Finally, the only place left was the pebble path the butler had taken her on earlier, mentioning the osmanthus flowers were in bloom and taking her for a stroll.

The lighting there was dim, and the two of them had spent ten minutes wandering around.

Recalling this, she followed her memory toward the osmanthus grove.

But somehow, the paths became increasingly winding, and even the lights disappeared.

There were only labyrinthine rockeries surrounding her.

As she fumbled through the dark, her foot suddenly slipped.

Just as she instinctively reached out to grab the nearby rockery for support, a hand was faster than her, firmly gripping her waist and pulling her back.

A man's voice sounded above her head: "Are you alright?"

"Uncle Julian?" Willow was surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Julian was about to answer when he heard movement outside. He decisively pulled Willow behind a rockery to hide.

Willow: "..."

What was he doing?

Grandpa Sterling’s voice soon drifted over.

"Where did that brat hide this time? I finally caught an opportunity to arrange a match for him..."

The butler spoke: "Oh, Master, don't you know Master Julian's temperament by now? He runs every time this is mentioned. If you didn't always push him, he wouldn't be living outside and refusing to come home."

"So it's my fault?" Sterling said angrily. "If I don't push him, he'll be thirty soon. It would be fine if he had a girlfriend, but the problem is I haven't even seen a female mosquito around him!"

While Willow listened, she looked up at the man in front of her.

The man had deep features, and his face was impeccable.

He carried a faint scent of herbal medicine.

He was the type that was very easy to fall for.

If he wanted to find a girlfriend, it would probably only take a minute.

Logically speaking, it was a good thing for Uncle Julian to find a girlfriend.

Both for him and for her.

Thinking of this, she took a step forward and started to say, "Grandpa—"

But her mouth was suddenly muffled by a hand.

Sterling heard the noise: "What was 그 noise?"

The butler pricked up his ears for a moment before saying, "Probably someone having an affair."

Sterling’s eyes widened in shock. "The house is full of men, who are they having an affair with?"

"An affair between men is still an affair, my apologies," the butler said, being well-versed in such matters. "Between a man and a woman, it's called romance."

The two people currently "romancing" behind the rockery:

"..."