Chapter 174: Chapter 174

Anna Thornton knew Conrad Sterling was here to deliberately irritate Finn Grant. Coincidentally, she also wanted to get rid of Finn Grant to avoid future trouble, so she straightforwardly told him the truth as the man wished.

"That’s right, my child’s biological father is Conrad Sterling!"

Upon hearing this, Finn Grant looked at Anna Thornton in shock, then at Conrad Sterling.

Clearly, he didn’t see this coming at all!

If Anna Thornton’s daughter was also Conrad Sterling’s, Finn Grant might find it hard to accept.

"Really? I don’t believe it! Did you ever date that Sterling guy?"

"Since you’ve investigated my past, Young Master Grant, but don’t know who my child’s biological father is, you should’ve realized he’s not an ordinary person."

Finn Grant indeed had suspicions before. Even he couldn’t find out which man Anna Thornton had a child with four years ago, suggesting the man’s power and status weren’t below his own.

But he thought that person was in Veridia, while he was in Aethelgard, and there was no need to delve deeper.

Unexpectedly, that person turned out to be Conrad Sterling.

Seeing Conrad Sterling’s daughter as his own would be a bit difficult for Finn Grant.

No matter how cute the child looked, having to live together for a long time, every interaction would remind him of Conrad Sterling’s face, which he hated. Wasn’t that just making things difficult for himself?

Anna understood from his expression that this information was hard to digest and took the opportunity to persuade, "Young Master Grant, I think you should go home today and clear your thoughts. Also, you might as well take your gifts back, so you won’t regret sending them later."

Seeing Finn Grant’s rejected intentions, Conrad Sterling smirked with satisfaction.

However, in the next second, Anna turned to dismiss him too, "President Sterling, you should go back as well. Even though Pop is your daughter, technically, you have no relation with us now and you won’t in the future. These toys, no need to trouble you; I’ll take them back myself."

Anna just received a package from Conrad Sterling’s hands and wanted to take more, but the man wouldn’t let her.

"It’s quite heavy, so I’ll just take one. After all, the apartment is small, nowhere near President Sterling’s house. You can keep the rest of the toys at your place. Whether to use them after getting married and having kids or throw them away is up to you."

After saying this, Anna left both men behind and walked away gracefully. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novᴇlfire.net

She took the elevator, and when she reached her floor, the elevator next to hers ’dinged’ and opened two seconds later.

Conrad Sterling stepped out from the adjacent elevator, carrying several packages of toys.

"Since I’ve already brought them here, I won’t take them back."

Hearing him say this, Anna reluctantly said, "Alright then, just leave them at the door, I’ll move them later."

This apartment was given to Anna Thornton by Conrad Sterling, so he naturally knew the way.

Arriving at the door, the man placed the packages down but did not rush to leave.

Instead, he stood to the side, waiting for Anna to unlock the door.

The sound of Anna unlocking the door prompted the nanny inside to walk to the door.

"Miss Thornton, you’re back..."

The nanny greeted Anna and suddenly noticed Conrad Sterling standing beside her, hesitating in her tone.

"Auntie Walters, could you please help me with these packages?"

"These are Pop’s toys."

Auntie Walters and Anna each carried a package of toys inside, while Conrad Sterling seized the moment the door was still open and stepped in.

He had visited this place once before; it was quite clean.

But, how should I put it, according to President Sterling’s standards, it was just small! Very small!

Such a small place, yet housing so many people.

Pop sat barefoot in the middle of the living room’s children’s rug, eating cookies and watching TV. Seeing Anna return, she quickly ran over.

She hugged Anna’s leg and acted spoiled, "Mommy~"

Anna put down what she was carrying and picked up Pop, who gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Of course, Pop also noticed Conrad Sterling standing behind Anna.

She tilted her little head but showed no reaction.

Just a few days apart, Pop didn’t even call him ’Daddy’.

Anna didn’t bother to remind her.

The mother and daughter seemed to have agreed to together ignore Conrad Sterling.

The only one who noticed him was Auntie Walters, who passed by carrying the freshly prepared dinner, "It’s time to eat. President Sterling, you probably haven’t eaten yet, right? Do you want to stay for dinner?"

The two of them spoke simultaneously, but they gave completely opposite answers.

Hearing this, Anna curiously glanced at Conrad Sterling, "You haven’t eaten this late?"

"Then why not eat at your own place? You have all kinds of gourmet food at your home. Why come here to scrounge for a meal?"

Conrad Sterling originally intended just to drop off a toy and leave.

But perhaps seeing the mother and daughter ignoring him made him reluctant to leave.

Or maybe it was when Nanny Walters passed by with a freshly cooked plate of dumplings that smelled quite appetizing, Conrad suddenly felt hungry.

He’s so picky that the food he tolerates is scarce.

So without any explanation, President Sterling sat down at the dining table and replied to Anna Thornton with three very willful words: "Mind your business."

Fine, considering the house was given by him, reluctantly let him have dinner with them.

There were originally four people in the house, including Mary, so there were no extra bowls and chopsticks.

Auntie Walters, seeing the situation, sensibly stepped aside and didn’t join the table.

"Auntie Walters, sit and eat with us!" Anna Thornton called to her.

"No need, Miss Thornton. I ate with Pop when I fed her this afternoon, so I’m not hungry now. You and President Sterling... you guys eat, I’ll go clean up the kitchen."

Anna Thornton and Mary returned home from work too late; this dinner time was indeed more like a bedtime snack.

Tonight’s dinner was dumplings. Nanny Walters noticed President Sterling was there, so she opened a bottle of red wine especially.

Red wine with dumplings, Anna Thornton tried this East-West fusion pairing for the first time.

As for the little one, she had a cup of milk to drink.

Conrad Sterling, being particular, tasted the red wine before picking up his chopsticks.

Anna Thornton couldn’t help but laugh at him: "President Sterling, this wine is just some cheap stuff from the supermarket, can’t compare to the ones in your cellar, right?"

Indeed, it couldn’t compare. Conrad drank a sip and then put it down.

But the dumplings were good; Conrad finished a whole plate and asked Auntie Walters to get more from the pot.

Strangely enough, at the Sterling Family residence, he doesn’t care for these foods at all.

Dumplings are too ordinary, made without any skill, and usually wouldn’t appear on Conrad Sterling’s dining table.

To be honest, Auntie Walters’ cooking skills definitely don’t match the family’s hired renowned chefs.

They’re just simple pork and cabbage dumplings, yet they stood out with their thin wrapper and generous filling, each plump and round. A bit of potato starch added during the dough-making made the skins semi-transparent, revealing the pink content inside and looking particularly satisfying.

Especially seeing Pop and Anna Thornton eating one after another, Conrad’s appetite improved a lot.

Before, Conrad wouldn’t eat unless the chefs made exceptional dishes.

But now he realized that maybe it’s not the chefs’ fault, and perhaps the atmosphere... is more essential.

The final result was Conrad Sterling eating two large plates of dumplings tonight.

Anna Thornton and Mary, having come home so late, didn’t eat much, so the whole pot of dumplings Nanny Walters cooked was finished by President Sterling alone.

He seemed still unsatisfied.

Nanny Walters considered making more dumplings, but Conrad noticed that Anna Thornton and the others were full, so he didn’t want to trouble them further.

Nanny Walters went to wash the dishes, Anna Thornton looked at her script, Pop watched "Peppa Pig."

Mary planned to catch up on a series using the tablet, but mindful of President Sterling in the living room, she decided to carry a stack of magazines back to her room.

"Pop, it’s nine o’clock. Come on, mommy will help you take a bath; then you go to bed."

Upon hearing this, Pop obediently turned off the TV and walked to the bedroom, led by her mommy.

As she passed Conrad Sterling, Anna Thornton seemed to finally recall his presence.

"President Sterling, I’m taking Pop for a bath. You don’t need to specially say goodbye to me when you leave; just close the door behind you."

"I’m not leaving tonight."

"Wh—what?" Anna Thornton wondered if she heard wrong.

But as she turned back and saw Conrad lounging on the sofa with his arms crossed, he clearly had no intention of getting up.

Conrad Sterling declared with a perfectly reasonable excuse: "I’ve been drinking, so I can’t drive."

"Come on, you only drank a little wine; it’s not enough to get drunk, right?"

"Drinking is drinking; doesn’t matter how much, there’s always a risk. Are you going to encourage me to drink-drive in front of the child?"

Anna Thornton felt Conrad Sterling might indeed be drunk; otherwise, how could he be so shameless tonight?

First, scrounging food and drink, and now deliberately using Pop’s presence to impose educational coercion, insisting on staying over.

However, seeing the little one innocently looking up at her with a bewildered expression, Anna really couldn’t bring herself to force Conrad Sterling to drive away.