Chapter 55
“Yeah.” Bruce offered a smooth smile as he gestured toward the silk–wrapped gift box on the table. “Sydney’s been
buried in work. She just dropped off a present and left early.”
Julian’s eyes shifted to the box. A flicker of emotion passed through them.
The earlier tension faded without incident. Everyone drank freely through the second half of the night. As the birthday
star, Bruce kept just sober enough to send off his guests properly.
After seeing off the second–to–last group of friends, he returned to the private room. Julian was still there, calm and
composed, his eyes dark as ink and fixed on him.
“Tell me the truth about what happened tonight,” Julian said, his voice tinged with a quiet chill.
Bruce staggered slightly as he crossed the room, his head clouded with drink. He dropped onto the couch beside Julian.
“Jules, it was just a bunch of women getting jealous, that’s all.” He lowered his voice. “But if you still care about Sydney
-even just as a sister–you should tell her to get a divorce. That kind of marriage is a waste of time.”
It was a rare moment of sincerity from him.
Julian let out a cold laugh and said with a hint of mockery, “She’s hell–bent on throwing herself at Caleb. No one can
stop her.”
Bruce’s bloodshot eyes gleamed with sudden clarity. “Ever think maybe she doesn’t want to?”
Sydney’s place in the Sterling family might have looked stable from the outside, but those within their circle knew
better. She hadn’t had it easy in that house.
Take the online scandal, for example. Eloise always claimed to adore her, yet when the rumors spread like wildfire, the
Sterlings said nothing. Not once did they step forward to defend her.
If she’d been a real granddaughter, the family would’ve shown their power by now. They would’ve stormed the
Hamptons‘ mansion without hesitation.
Yet, they had done nothing. Not a word.
And what had Julian done?
…
The next morning, Bruce stared at the ceiling, piecing it together through the fog of his hangover.
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Chapter 55
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Julian had seemed utterly indifferent. Maybe his drink had sloshed slightly as he had spoken in a cool and detached voice, like water sitting at the bottom of a well.
Still, Bruce remembered the ridiculing edge in his tone. “She had choices. She just doesn’t know her place.”
Bruce frowned. This wasn’t some ordinary falling–out. Something ran deeper between them, something unresolved.
But what? He sighed. It was probably not something he could figure out.
Still bleary–eyed, he shuffled downstairs to open his birthday gifts.
The pen Sydney had picked out was a rare custom piece he’d been trying to get for ages. She’d always been thoughtful
like that. It made all the times he favored her feel worth it.
But when he reached the bottom of the pile, there was no pen.
He turned to a housekeeper. “Hey, where’s that blue silk box I brought home yesterday?”
“Blue silk box?” She paused, thinking. “I don’t think I saw one.”
“No way.” Bruce stood up and grabbed his car keys. He was ready to drive to the club as he suspected that he must have
left it behind.
Just then, the chauffeur stepped in from the courtyard. He’d overheard and called out, “Mr. Wilhelm! You blacked out
last night, remember? Mr. Sterling took that box.”
“He took it?”
“Yeah. He asked about it. You didn’t answer, so he said your silence meant he had the green light.”
‘Green light, my ass. I was passed out cold,‘ he grumbled inwardly.
Bruce scratched his messy hair. Not even in his dreams would he have the guts to ask Julian to give it back.
As he turned to head upstairs, something occurred to him. He pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Hey, Jules. I put a good luck charm Sydney dropped last night in that box. Can you make sure it gets back to her?”
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