Chapter 308: Chapter 308
The wind that had just stopped suddenly blew over again from above the river.
Carrying moist air, the damp cold northwest wind seemed to form an invisible layer of thin ice on the skin, otherwise how could everything feel so cold?
The seahorse balloon in Conrad Sterling’s hand was never taken by Anna Thornton.
The pink balloon, blown by the wind, bounced between the two, yet Anna never deigned to give it even a glance.
What did Anna Thornton just say?
Almost... decided to entrust her whole life to him?
Conrad Sterling’s heart, colder than the river water, suddenly clung to her words, as if he had grabbed onto a thin but life-giving branch while falling into an endless abyss.
The man couldn’t help but step forward and press down on Anna Thornton’s shoulder as she prepared to rise, explaining once more, "I never contacted Holly Sutton, and I didn’t instruct her to poison your father. What she did was completely unrelated to me!"
Upon hearing this, Anna finally looked at him, but her gaze was filled with contempt: "Conrad Sterling, you’re so despicable! Using others to commit murder and then washing your hands clean of everything, trying to gain favor by dealing with Holly Sutton. Do you want me to be grateful to you? Compared to breaking promises four years ago, you’re more of a scoundrel than I imagined!"
It wasn’t the first time Anna had called him a scoundrel, but this time, her words felt like a dagger cruelly stabbing into his heart.
With Anna’s disdainful gaze, it was as if she twisted the dagger around.
"Anna Thornton, I hate the Thornton Family! I can tell you that if it hadn’t been for the dance we shared four years ago, I would have made Kenneth Thornton’s end a hundred times worse! There wouldn’t be a Thornton-Sinclair Group now!"
Conrad was bold enough to say this, intending to tell Anna Thornton that he would admit things he had done. If he didn’t do it, he wouldn’t let anyone pin it on him.
She thought four years ago the Sterling Group collaborated with the Thornton Family for what reason?
Conrad had long planned a trap to doom Kenneth Thornton, to devour the entire Thornton Family.
If it weren’t for Anna Thornton’s birthday party making Conrad reconsider, he wouldn’t have waited for Holly Sutton to make a move.
Holly Sutton acted treacherously, seeking wealth through harm.
When Conrad struck, it would be utter obliteration, not even ashes left behind.
This would soon be evident to Anna Thornton.
"Should I thank President Sterling for sparing our lives then?" Anna mocked, "For hating the Thornton Family so much, why don’t you target me? Is it because I’m pregnant with your child? Do you want to see me give birth and then be entrapped by your offenses, only to eventually discover you’re one of the accomplices who brought about my father’s death, leaving me in unbearable pain?"
"Anna, I never thought that way." Conrad tightened his grip on Anna’s hand once more.
He realized this woman was smart, but her mind was too active, leading her to overthink.
He couldn’t just simply like her?
He had liked her for four years!
He was still attached to the dress she’d worn, unable to bear seeing her in such pain.
Conrad transferred Jane Jennings and hid that person named White to keep Anna from knowing any of these things.
Despite all precautions, some mouths still couldn’t be sealed.
"Who whispered what in your ear?"
"Even if you don’t tell me, I can find this person!"
"Conrad Sterling, if you dare act recklessly again, I won’t let you off!" Anna warned him, clenching her fists.
Then Anna shrugged off his hand from her shoulder, stood up, and gently patted herself.
Watching her quietly dust off her dress, she was about to turn away.
Conrad couldn’t help but step forward and grab her arm again: "Anna, speak! I need to know your current thoughts!"
"What do you want me to say?" Anna asked him back.
"Don’t you have any questions to ask?"
This person was really amusing; at the start, Anna had asked so many questions, but he refused to answer any.
Nor did he speak about his grudges against the Thornton Family or Anna’s father.
Yet he insisted Anna continue to ask questions!
"I don’t want to know anything anymore! Asking you questions now means finding excuses for you, giving myself a reason to forgive you. But I don’t want to forgive you!"
Her tone when saying ’not wanting to forgive’ was colder than the weather by the river.
The seahorse balloon, clueless as ever, floated over in front of Anna.
She simply cut the string and let it fly away.
The hydrogen balloon, just off the string, wobbled upward, blown off course by the river wind toward the southeast for a moment, then ascended vertically into the sky, quickly turning into an unseeable black dot.
"Anna, you said you had let go of the grudges from four years ago!"
"That only happened because I believed Holly Sutton was the culprit and had already faced justice. Would you let it go if it were you? If you could let it go, you certainly wouldn’t have watched with open eyes as my father shared a pillow with The Devil, leaving every asset of our Thornton Family to be consumed by Holly Sutton till nothing remained!" Anna said angrily.
She had seen the video of her father being harmed four years ago firsthand, seen the struggle and despair in his eyes before the end, and felt breathless now thinking of it.
"Conrad Sterling, my mother died early, and I’ve been raised by my father with great effort. You attended my eighteenth birthday; you saw how much he loved me! Later, no one loved me anymore! He only stayed with me until eighteen, at my most rebellious and ungrateful age. He looked after me but didn’t wait for me to reciprocate; he never saw Pop and Lola born. This tragedy could have been avoided..."
"Now I love you too!" Conrad stubbornly insisted she wasn’t ending their relationship. They had just recently started seeing progress between them, "Anna, I know you feel something for me!"
As if to confirm this feeling, the man forcefully pulled Anna Thornton into his arms.
His domineering lips came down, possessing and urgently prying open her lips, only to be bitten hard.
Conrad didn’t retreat at the taste of blood, and the exchange of the sanguine flavor couldn’t stop his nearly mad desire for possession.
Anna even felt Conrad was about to strip her clothes right here.
A sharp slap landed heavily on the man’s face!
"Are you awake now?" Anna asked him.
"President Sterling, you’re always a gentleman. So even discussing hatred today, I wanted to do it courteously."
Conrad bit the molars on the side that took the slap, asking her courteously, "So, is there still a chance for me with you?"
"Absolutely not!" Anna answered straightforwardly.
She decisively sentenced Conrad to doom.
Four years ago, he had the chance to keep the Thornton Family from being torn apart.
Conrad Sterling chose to give it up!
Anna pried open Conrad’s hands holding her one finger at a time. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by NoveI-Fire.ɴet
She turned and left, the river wind growing more rampant.
It was the first time Conrad, a man so meticulous he wouldn’t allow any deviation, saw his coat, usually free of even the slightest wrinkle, whipped up by the wind...