My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 168: Trading Barbs

"When did you get back?" Kian Sterling hung up the phone and asked Silas Norwood. "I heard The Norwood Family has had a lot on their plate these past few days."

"Even if there’s a lot to do, that’s a problem for Julian Langdon and the board members. What does it have to do with me?" Silas Norwood replied nonchalantly.

"So you come back just to sit around?" Kian Sterling’s voice dropped a few notches as he recalled finding this guy lounging on the sofa the moment he got home. "Didn’t you see Cece looking like she was about to lose her mind helping with homework?"

"..." Silas said quietly, "Actually, I was the one tutoring for the first hour and a half. She just took over less than five minutes ago."

Kian Sterling fell silent.

"I never thought helping with homework would be more exhausting than work," Silas Norwood mused. "Was Cece like this when she was little?"

"Even more of a handful than Natalie Shepherd. She knew I doted on her and spoiled her, so she was completely unrestrained." Kian’s tone warmed a bit as he recalled the past. "But every time she finished making me mad, she’d come right back to win me over. I was completely helpless against her."

"She’s much better behaved now, then," Silas Norwood said slowly. "These days, she only tries to win me over. She’s never actually made me angry. I wonder what it would feel like if she tried to provoke me on purpose."

The words were gentle, but they struck a nerve with Kian Sterling.

Kian Sterling said, "Usually, when one person in a couple deliberately tries to make the other angry, they’re paving the way for a breakup."

This time, it was Silas Norwood who fell silent.

「In the study.」

Natalie Shepherd roughly wiped away her tears and silently picked up her pen.

Celia Sterling stood beside her. "My brother will have someone send you home the day after tomorrow. As for your older brother... since my brother is letting you go back, he’ll definitely handle that situation."

Natalie Shepherd just said, "Oh."

"It’s not that he dislikes you." The adult world was too complex, so Celia chose her words carefully, sticking to what the girl could understand. "It’s just that he’s very protective of his personal space. It’s only natural that he’s not used to suddenly having a child around."

After she finished, she tapped the desk. "You’re just a kid, so don’t overthink it. Just have fun here for the next couple of days. We still have a few problems left. Let’s keep going."

"I like Kade the most." Natalie Shepherd poked the paper with the tip of her pen. "He doesn’t seem to like me."

"You have all of your mommy’s love. My brother and I were separated from our mother when we were little, so it’s only natural that we’re a bit colder," Celia said faintly.

"You’re lying." Natalie Shepherd looked up at her. "Mommy obviously loves you more than she loves me."

Celia: "...Hah."

’She never thought Ms. Coleman could put on such an act, especially in front of her own daughter. She had seen through Ms. Coleman’s true feelings for her years ago. It was a good day if she wasn’t on the receiving end of a veiled insult. And she was supposed to believe she loved her *most*? Ms. Coleman could love anyone in the world, but it would never be her, Celia Sterling.’

Natalie, seeing her disbelief, protested, "Look at my name! It means ’missing you’! Mommy chose it because she’s always thinking of you, Celia!"

"I was still little when you were born. Maybe she felt some motherly love for me back then," Celia said, noncommittally. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"She loves you the most now, too!" Natalie said, annoyed that she wasn’t being believed. "Every single night, she looks through your childhood photo albums before she goes to sleep. The pictures are covered in her teardrops! If you don’t believe me, I’ll bring you one tomorrow. She’s always telling me stories about you, from when you were a newborn and how you grew up. I’ve heard them so many times I’m sick of it, but she never stops talking about it."

"My childhood photos? From when I was how little?"

"From when you were a tiny baby, all the way until..." Natalie gestured, not having a great sense of size. "...until you were as big as a kindergartener."

Celia: "..."

’No wonder I can’t find a single childhood photo of myself in the entire Sterling Villa. They’re all at June Coleman’s place.’

But she absolutely refused to believe that June Coleman cried over her photos. "Oh? In that case, bring a few for me to see tomorrow."

"Tomorrow after school, I’ll sneak back to the Shepherd house and get them from my mommy’s safe," Natalie huffed. "If I’m lying, I’m a puppy."

Kian Sterling truly had no intention of getting close to Natalie Shepherd.

At dinner, he remained aloof and indifferent the entire time. Natalie, who seemed to worship him for some reason, kept trying to start conversations, but he ignored her several times. After the meal, he simply had a maid get her ready for bed and went back to his study to work without so much as a word of goodbye.

"A man as impatient as Kade..." Silas’s tone was unreadable. "I wonder how he managed to be so patient back then, doting on you all those years."

The two of them returned to their room as well.

Two hours later, Celia was nestled in Silas Norwood’s arms. His warm hand gently stroked her back, helping to even out her faint gasps for air.

A video call came in from Quinn Sinclair.

Celia waited another two minutes to catch her breath before lazily answering the call. "It’s so late. What do you want?"

"Late? It’s not even midnight! I’ve been trying to video call you for two solid hours—I must’ve called seven or eight times. Why didn’t you pick up?" Quinn Sinclair was curled up on her sofa munching on potato chips, her eyes fixed on the screen. "Are you sick? Your eyes are a little red and you look flushed, like you have a fever."

Celia dodged the question. "Just get to the point."

"I heard you’re back in the city from your trip! Nina Sterling and the girls are putting together another private get-together, just for the inner circle, and they wanted me to ask if you’re free."

"Another party? Don’t they have anything better to do?" Celia neither agreed nor declined.

Quinn clicked her tongue. "That joint announcement from Silas Norwood and Kian Sterling a while back really shook up our circle. It’s been about ten days now, and a lot of people are dying to laugh at your expense."

Celia scoffed, "What is there to laugh at?"

"They want to see the poor, lonely wife who got snubbed by the ’unattainable ice king’," Quinn said, treating it as a joke since she’d seen how Silas really treated Celia at the food stall. "They all think Silas was forced into this marriage and are guessing you’re living a sad, lonely life. So they’ve set up this little party to ’console’ you."

"How pathetic," Celia said, her face cold. "I’m not going."

"The more you refuse to go, the more they’ll think you’re getting the cold shoulder from Silas. If you ask me, you should just bring your man with you and shut them all up at once. Then maybe you’ll have some peace and quiet."

"How I’m living my life is none of their business, and I don’t need to prove anything to a bunch of nobodies."

"Alright, alright, forget I said anything." Quinn took a sip of her Coke and asked casually, "Are you lying on the couch? I thought I just saw your pillow move."

"Oh, no," Celia paused for a beat. "I’m lying on Silas Norwood’s lap."

It slowly dawned on Quinn that she had just spent the better part of the conversation bad-mouthing the man right to his... lap. Her face flashed red and then pale, and it took her a long moment to choke out a single sentence:

"Could you maybe give me a heads-up next time?"

She hastily hung up.

Celia put her phone down and gave Silas’s thigh a gentle squeeze through his pajama pants. "This pillow feels nice."

Silas caught her wandering hand, pulling her fully into his embrace. "Don’t go touching me like that. I didn’t get enough earlier, and if you keep it up, you’ll be the one crying again."