Everyone Can Hear My Thoughts, and Now They're Panicking

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Why Are You Still Such a Child?

"Brother," Jane Lancaster said, turning around unhurriedly to greet him.

She secretly glanced at the time. The meeting was about to start, and Julian Lancaster was going to be late!

Julian Lancaster wore a tailored, handmade Italian suit that complemented his gentle and refined demeanor.

He walked down the steps and stopped right beside Jane Lancaster.

"I have meetings for the next two days, so take care of yourself. Use my card for whatever you want to eat or do. I’ll spend time with you once I’m done."

His expression was gentle and he spoke at a calm, unhurried pace. He even reached out to straighten her clothes.

’Wait, he must have heard that I set up Calvin Cole. How is he not angry at all?’

Jane Lancaster looked up at Julian Lancaster in surprise.

"Brother, you’re going to be late for your meeting," she couldn’t help but remind him.

’Doesn’t this guy value work more than his own life? Isn’t he a perfectionist? Doesn’t he have OCD? Doesn’t he forbid anyone from being late to a meeting?’

’I mindlessly sabotaged his meeting because I hold a grudge against Calvin Cole. Shouldn’t he be furious?’

Julian Lancaster curled his finger and lightly tapped the tip of her nose. His tone was a mix of helplessness and doting affection. "Oh, you. You’re still such a child."

He turned to look at Calvin Cole, the warmth on his face replaced by cold rationality.

"Calvin Cole, tell Lucy to take over as the meeting host for now. I’ll be there in ten minutes."

Calvin Cole was stunned for a moment. "Yes, sir!"

"Has the shuttle arrived?" Julian Lancaster asked, walking briskly towards the villa’s main entrance.

After all, he was truly running out of time. How could he not be anxious?

Hearing no response from behind him, he paused and shot a cold, stern look over his shoulder.

"Special Assistant Cole, I’ve given you a ten-minute buffer. Don’t tell me you can’t manage it."

Calvin Cole’s heart sank. Julian Lancaster didn’t blame Jane Lancaster for her willful troublemaking, but he blamed him for his incompetence.

"It’ll be here right away." Not daring to hesitate, he scrambled out to call for the shuttle.

***

Julian Lancaster remained busy for the next several days.

Jane Lancaster sat in the courtyard and sighed. "Mama Knight, I’m so bored."

After that day, Julian Lancaster’s entire team was busy with meetings in the presidential suite, and no one brought up the incident again.

During breaks from work, Julian Lancaster even found time to have Lucy Finch come to the smaller villa a few times to deliver food and jewelry.

The jewelry consisted of a few pieces he had bought on a whim, saying he thought they suited his sister and that she could wear them casually.

The food deliveries were much more spontaneous. Sometimes, if he ate something good, like a particular dish or a pastry, he would have Lucy Finch take note and send it over.

Mama Knight thought for a moment, then leaned in to secretly share some gossip she’d heard. "Miss Jane, the Young Master has been scolding Special Assistant Cole for the past few days!"

Although Julian Lancaster was meticulous and demanding at work, he rarely criticized his subordinates in public.

Furthermore, Calvin Cole had always been highly valued by Julian. When Julian went abroad to develop overseas business, he had specifically left Calvin in the country to manage their home base.

The entire team was therefore shocked, unable to understand how Special Assistant Cole had fallen from grace overnight.

Connecting it to the late meeting incident, everyone speculated that Calvin Cole must have offended Miss Jane, thus incurring the Young Master’s displeasure.

Jane Lancaster asked, "Mama Knight, how do you know all this?"

Everyone on Julian Lancaster’s team was sharp and shrewd; they wouldn’t gossip privately, let alone share such things with Mama Knight.

"Well, it was Young Master Sterling who told me," Mama Knight said, a little embarrassed.

That day, when Jasper Sterling brought up the matter of shares, she had been wary, worried he was trying to drive a wedge between the siblings, and had resolved to keep her distance from him.

But after running into him a few more times at the hotel... she had changed her mind and decided he wasn’t a bad person.

Jane Lancaster couldn’t help but facepalm. "How can you be so sure he’s not a bad person?"

The guy was constantly trying to steal me from Caleb Lowell!

’If I weren’t Caleb Lowell’s fiancée, do you think he’d even give me a second glance?’

Seeing Mama Knight’s ’that’s impossible’ expression, Jane Lancaster felt compelled to say more.

"Mama Knight, think about it. He took charge of the Sterling Family at seventeen. Within a few years, he replaced the entire top management, bloodlessly transformed the company’s business, and multiplied its size several times over. Do you really think a person like that is simple-minded?"

The Sterling Family was different from the Lancaster Family; they were a truly established, old-money family.

The previous few generations of Sterling family heads hadn’t been strong enough, allowing the company to be controlled by a group of elders who practiced nepotism and engaged in serious infighting.

Jasper Sterling’s appointment to the head position back then was the result of a power struggle between various factions. Clearly, everyone just wanted a pushover they could easily manipulate to continue reaping benefits.

At the time, no one took the wet-behind-the-ears kid seriously. Some even mocked him behind his back, saying his hands were only good for playing the cello, not for signing documents.

However, all those who had mocked Jasper Sterling back then were kicked out of the company without getting a single benefit.

Not only that, but some who had been excessively greedy were forced to spit out what they had swallowed.

Jasper Sterling presented evidence of their embezzlement. If they didn’t return the money, he would send them to prison.

Those uncles and elders hated him to the bone, but there was nothing they could do. He had them firmly by the throat.

Beyond the fence, someone sighed.

"I’m a little embarrassed by all this praise, Senior," Jasper Sterling said with a smile, looking over at her. His seductive eyes shimmered with charm.

Jane Lancaster: "..."

***

Jasper Sterling had come looking for Jane Lancaster at someone’s request.

Claire Sheffield wanted to treat Jane Lancaster to a meal to thank her for saving his life that day.

The chosen venue was a Black Pearl restaurant. It had good online reviews, and surprisingly, the food was excellent—a rarity given how hit-or-miss Black Pearl restaurants could be.

"The owner of this place is truly passionate about the food. I think it’s delicious. Please, try some," Claire Sheffield urged.

His hand was still wrapped in a bandage, making it difficult for him to eat.

Jane Lancaster’s gaze fell on his hand. "How’s your hand?"

"It’s fine, nothing serious," Claire Sheffield replied in a flat tone.

Jane Lancaster: "Really? It won’t affect your ability to hold a scalpel?"

Claire Sheffield sighed. "Alright, it might be a bit of a problem."

He was a little surprised by her terrifyingly sharp perception. "There was some nerve damage. The recovery isn’t going as well as hoped, so I’m planning to seek treatment abroad."

Jane Lancaster’s heart sank.

’Just as I thought! His hand was injured after all. He’ll never be able to hold a scalpel again.’

She almost laughed out of anger. So all her hard work had only amounted to saving the lives of those two scumbags, Lawson and Ethan Carter?

’No, that’s not right. Several other people got dragged into it. Those two girls should never have had to suffer such a senseless disaster.’

She lowered her long eyelashes, her eyes turning ice-cold as a wave of hostility surged in her chest.

Jasper Sterling frowned and turned to look coldly at Claire Sheffield. "Be clear. Your hand can be healed. The treatment plan abroad has a 95% recovery rate."

Claire Sheffield: "Right! It can be healed, you don’t need to worry."

He was a little surprised. Jasper Sterling’s expression just now had been a bit scary; he’d actually felt intimidated.

Jane Lancaster paused, and much of the hostility in her chest dissipated. "Is that so? That’s great news."

Jasper Sterling handed a file from the table to Jane Lancaster. "This knife attack was a completely senseless disaster."

As the conversation turned to serious matters, Claire Sheffield’s expression grew much more solemn.