Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Tristan Sterling! Get Out
To his surprise, Holly Sinclair glared viciously at Tristan Sterling.
The air froze.
Realizing he was the one being kicked out, Tristan Sterling’s expression turned darker than ever.
"Do you have any idea what you’re saying?"
He stared at her, his savage gaze like a sharp sword, killing without a trace.
’A choice between the two of them, and she chose Brandon Sterling?’
’Who gave her the goddamn nerve!?!’
Ignoring his warning glare, Holly pointed at the door. "You! Tristan Sterling! Get out!!"
Each word was spoken clearly and forcefully.
She showed him absolutely no respect.
A glacial aura emanated from Tristan Sterling, his face as cold as the King of Hell himself.
The atmosphere in the room dropped to freezing.
Seeing him stand there motionless, Holly suddenly exploded.
She grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him, screaming hysterically, "Get out! Go! I don’t want to see you! Get... COUGH COUGH COUGH... COUGH COUGH COUGH..."
Her emotions were too agitated, and a rush of blood seemed to surge backward, causing her to cough violently and uncontrollably.
She looked as if she might cough up blood at any moment.
It was a worrying sight.
Her movements were so wild that blood began to flow back into the IV tube in her hand.
A long section of the tube turned red.
"Holly!"
Seeing this, Brandon Sterling rushed forward to hold her hand, stopping her from thrashing about.
Then he turned to Tristan Sterling and pleaded in a low voice, "Tristan, Holly’s throat was injured from swallowing river water. The doctor said she shouldn’t get agitated..."
Tristan Sterling’s face was ashen.
He looked at her small, pale face, now filled with rage, then at the back of her hand, which was bleeding where the needle had come loose.
He turned and walked away.
BANG!
He slammed the door violently on his way out.
Holly, as if completely drained of energy, collapsed back onto the hospital bed.
"There, there. Tristan’s gone. Don’t be angry anymore. Here, drink some water."
Brandon Sterling soothed her repeatedly, pouring a glass of water and holding it out to her.
Holly’s hand trembled slightly as she took it and drank in small sips.
"Didn’t I tell you two to talk things out properly? Why are you both so stubborn?" Brandon Sterling sighed helplessly.
"Brandon, don’t talk about him. It makes me sick."
Holly’s face was frosty, her resistance clear.
"Alright, alright, I won’t. I won’t say another word." Brandon Sterling raised his hands in surrender, looking as if he was at his wit’s end with her.
...
「Two days later.」
Holly Sinclair was discharged from the hospital.
Brandon Sterling came to pick her up.
"Brandon, what are you doing here?" Holly was surprised.
"I came to take you home," Brandon Sterling said with a gentle smile.
"But shouldn’t you be at work right now?" Holly frowned.
Brandon Sterling’s expression stiffened.
But he quickly recovered, smiling. "I took some time off."
But his assistant, Nell, who was standing behind him, said indignantly, "Mr. Sterling, you were clearly suspended—"
"Shut up!"
Brandon Sterling snapped.
Nell fell silent, her eyes filled with grievance and indignation.
"Suspended? Why?"
But Holly had already caught the key word, and a bad feeling crept into her heart.
"Don’t listen to Nell’s nonsense. I really am just on leave," Brandon Sterling said softly, clearly not wanting to discuss it further.
Holly knew it definitely wasn’t that simple.
Taking her ID and the hospital bill from the drawer, she handed them to Brandon Sterling. "Brandon, Nell and I will pack up. Can you go downstairs and handle the discharge procedures for me?"
"Okay."
Without another word, Brandon Sterling took the documents and left the room.
"What exactly happened? Why was your boss suspended?"
The moment Brandon Sterling left, Holly immediately asked Nell.
Nell seemed to have been holding it in for a long time. As soon as Holly asked, she burst out in a flood of complaints.
"The CEO is just awful! He and Mr. Sterling are brothers, but he targets him at every turn. He sent Mr. Sterling to a war-torn country on business, and after all that, Mr. Sterling finally managed to land a huge project, only to come back and get suspended by the CEO! Then he just gave the project to someone else. Mr. Sterling risked his life for that project! What right does he have to just take it?!"
Nell’s face was full of indignation, and her eyes were red as she spoke up for Brandon Sterling.
「Twenty minutes later.」
「In the car.」
"I heard a new hot pot place opened on Klyne Road. Want to go try it?"
Brandon Sterling’s tone was cheerful, as if his suspension hadn’t affected his mood at all.
But Holly knew he was forcing a smile.
He was walking on thin ice in the Sterling family. If he could have handled this major project well, he would have earned their grandfather’s approval.
Then, his status in the Sterling family would have surely improved.
But now, Tristan Sterling had crushed his hopes in the cradle.
"Is it because of me?" Holly blurted out.
Her voice was low and sullen.
"What?"
"You were suspended because of me, right?"
Holly could still clearly remember the look on Tristan Sterling’s face when he’d slammed the door and stormed out of the hospital two days ago.
It was so ugly!
She knew he had been furious to the extreme.
But she had thought that if she was the one who angered him, he should have taken it out on her.
Who would have thought he would go after an innocent person?
’What did Brandon do wrong?’
’Just because he saved me and helped me, does that make Brandon’s crime unforgivable in his eyes?’
’What right does he have to maliciously target Brandon like this?’
’Does being the head of the Sterling Group mean he can do whatever he wants?’
’Despicable!’
’Shameless!’
’He’s gone too far!!’
Brandon Sterling was stunned for a moment.
Then, as if he understood something, he shot a displeased glare at Nell, who was driving, before forcing a smile. "Don’t be ridiculous. It has nothing to do with you."
"Brandon, I’m so sorry..." Holly’s heart ached with guilt.
She really didn’t want to drag anyone else into the mess between her and Tristan Sterling.
But now, Brandon had been unwittingly dragged in and become a casualty.
"It really has nothing to do with you. Don’t overthink it," Brandon Sterling quickly reassured her. Seeing her eyes turn red, he grew flustered.
Biting her lip hard, Holly said listlessly, "Brandon, I’m a little tired. Can you just take me home?"
"Okay."
Brandon Sterling said no more and had Nell turn the car around, heading toward The Elysian Gardens.
...
「An hour later.」
「The Sterling Group」
Holly Sinclair stormed straight into the CEO’s office.
"I’m sorry, miss, you can’t go in without an appointment..."
The secretary tried to block Holly’s path.
"Move!"
Holly snapped, her face like ice.
Perhaps her aura was too powerful; the young secretary was intimidated, and in her moment of hesitation, Holly seized the opportunity.
BANG!
Holly shoved the door open violently.
"Miss, you can’t—"
The young secretary cried out in alarm, but it was too late.
Inside the office, Tristan Sterling was on the phone, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
He was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, a lit cigarette held between his fingers.
Through the faint white smoke, the aloof and noble man’s eyes conveyed a sense of distance and indifference, yet he exuded an irresistible charm and allure.
Hearing the noise, he turned around.
"I’m sorry, Boss..." the young secretary stammered, trembling.
Tristan Sterling said, "Get out!"
As if granted amnesty, the secretary scrambled out of the room.
In the vast office, only Holly Sinclair and Tristan Sterling remained.
They stared at each other coldly.
