Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 264: Sleeping Here Tonight

"Right now you must feel like you won the whole world just because a nobody like you suddenly has the name Sterling, am I right?" Clara spoke with a hidden bitterness to her tone.

Even till the very moment she saw Andrew walk into the doors of the estate with Anne in tow, holding her hand in his, Clara still had found it hard to believe even though it was staring her right in the face.

Why did Andrew suddenly decide to marry her? He might have grown some feelings for her but still, it was too soon for a man who didn’t look interested in marriage at all.

Clara used to think that when she finally got him to make her his woman, she would need a year or two to be able to fully convince him to marry her and make their relationship permanent, but what she thought would happen in years Anne had actually made it happen in the shortest time imaginable.

The thought of this made Clara hate Anne even more. It was a kind of detesting that rose from the bottom of her heart.

"So your truth finally comes out, you never meant that apology at all. I don’t get it, if you’re still so fixated on Andrew, why did you marry Gabriel?" Anne wasn’t too surprised to see Clara show the real viciousness she was hiding a while ago, but she felt genuinely confused.

What purpose would Gabriel serve her?

"Try guessing Anne, why did you think I married Gabriel? It could be because I failed to get one Sterling man so I chose the next, or it could be because..." Clara drawled her words, walking with slow steps till she reached Anne again to lean down to whisper in her ear like someone telling a secret, "... Gabriel might just be my ticket to get Andrew back from an undeserving woman."

Clara pulled away chuckling to herself, as If she alone found her own words funny.

"The man you want is married to someone else yet you still have eyes on him, I never knew you could stoop this low but you continue to surprise me."

"I don’t feel ashamed for still wanting Andrew, I’ve wanted him even before you showed up. Did you honestly think you actually deserve him? I don’t know what tricks you played or how you managed to get him to marry you but keep in mind it won’t last, better take your time enjoying your last moments as his wife."

It won’t last...

Anne stiffened when Clara said this, that was because those words were very close to the truth.

Her marriage to Andrew wasn’t designed to last right from the start.

Clara quickly caught the crack in Anne’s expression and she lit up, her eyes glowing with a curious light.

It seemed her suspicion was right...

Gabriel that big idiot was still holding out on her, he wouldn’t share the remaining details with her about why the marriage was done so sudden and so privately, it was his stupid way of having some leverage over her. That information was vital for her to know yet Gabriel didn’t want to show her all the cards yet. They might be working together but they didn’t fully trust each other.

Clara didn’t believe she wouldn’t be able to find out the truth for herself, it was only a matter of time before she would crack the code, and Anne’s expression had given something away.

There were some strings to this marriage, and those strings, Clara would definitely uncover them.

"What? Scared of losing the little position of Mrs Sterling? I bet Andrew isn’t even proud of having you as a wife, why else is it still hidden that you’re his wife?"

Anne remained quiet, choosing not to answer. She raised her head to meet Clara’s gaze, clearing all the emotions that slipped through her expression.

"If you’re so curious Clara, go ask Andrew, and tell him you’re still so infatuated with him while you’re at it, I would truly love to see his reaction to that."

Anne’s words had jabbed at Clara equally she also went stiff, unable to utter a retort.

Anne gave Clara a sweet smile before swirling around to walk away. She had stalled Clara with that for now, yet a bitter smile showed on her face.

If Clara couldn’t tell Andrew about her feelings, she was also the same. Loving him but not daring to utter a word of it, but of course this weakness of hers, she would never show to a viper like Clara.

Anne met Donald afterwards who went on to yap to her about how he couldn’t believe that both his brothers were married now and how he was shocked at Gabriel’s choice of a wife.

Anne sat down to chat with Donald for a while until Jennifer who held onto a wine glass came to pass by and suddenly stopped, her eyes fixing onto Anne like someone appraising a product.

Even Donald who was talking non stop had to pause his words and exchange weird looks with Anne silently questioning her why the woman seemed to be staring so blatantly.

"Do you even know how damn lucky you are?" Jennifer suddenly asked making a confused look appear on Anne’s face.

Jennifer suddenly entered the room sitting on the same sofa Anne currently sat on next to her. She looked at Donald but didn’t say anything to him, instead she whispered in a lowered voice so only Anne could hear.

"Right now you have a Sterling heir growing inside you, I’d take advantage of that if I were you. The Sterling blood is so expensive, your husband is CEO, your child is going to be the heir to a billion dollar empire, you need to mobilize the power you have smartly or you’ll fall and there’ll be absolutely nothing to land on. If you want, I can teach you everything you need to know."

After saying these, she suddenly stood up releasing a light sigh, looking down at Anne to add, "Think about it and come to me when you’re ready."

She whirled around with her glass of wine still in hand sauntering away.

"Whatever she said to you, don’t listen to her." Donald immediately told Anne when she was gone.

Right from the start he never really liked that woman and he would much rather Anne stayed away from her as much as possible.

"I wasn’t planning to, Don." Anne replied completely dismissing what the woman just told her.

Some time later, Andrew came back down after discussing some things with elder Sterling.

"Let’s go home." He said to Anne, a light smile on his face as he extended a hand to her.

Looking up at him and his hand held out to her, Anne felt her heart skip a beat.

Home...

That was right, for now her home was with him.

Anne smiled back at him and placed her hand in his.

When they returned to the Black Thorn Manor, all the staff welcomed them enthusiastically.

Anne felt really exhausted so she went upstairs immediately to take a warm shower and headed to bed, she was wearing a comfortable set of black pajamas whose fabric felt quite warm and cozy. While Anne was sitting on the vanity and towel drying her hair, she heard a knock on her door. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The sweet fruity scent of her shampoo still hung in the air like a quiet cloud in her bedroom. Her head whipped towards the door at the sound.

Since her hair was already dry, Anne padded to the door to answer it.

She almost sucked in a breath when she found Andrew standing outside her door in the quiet hallways.

What was he doing here? She thought he would be equally as exhausted as she was and want to go to bed too by now.

He was wearing dark sleep pants and a simple gray t shirt that did little to soften the lines of his imposing shoulders. He held a pillow in his right hand like a casual ornament he’d grabbed randomly.

Anne wanted to ask what he was doing here but before she could even do that he had stepped past her, walking into her room, leaving her with no choice but to close the door and turn to face him.

His presence in her room always seemed to make the space feel smaller.

Anne quietly watched him as he casually strolled around her room, touching things here and there. From stopping to assess a bunch of fresh flowers inside a vase kept on a small table, to looking through an open book.

"Andrew, what are you doing?" Anne asked watching him curiously.

He strolled towards her bed, dropping the pillow decisively before swirling to her direction to say,

"I’m sleeping here tonight."