On the Day I Was Kicked Out of the Wealthy Family, I Had a Flash Marriage with a Tycoon-Chapter 51: Playing Along to the End

Phoebe Sinclair pulled her arm back and rubbed it. She shot Damian Rivers a dissatisfied look, her tone laced with sarcasm. "You haven’t actually fallen for Chloe Sterling, have you?"

Damian Rivers looked at her and said seriously, "That’s right. Phoebe, I don’t care what methods you use to get Jasper Lockwood, but you are not to harm Chloe Sterling."

"Damian, is there something wrong with your eyes? Is some woman from the countryside really worth all this?"

Damian Rivers’s expression was serious. "She’s worth it."

Phoebe Sinclair’s expression was grim. "I doubt she’d even give you a second glance. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be trying so hard to seduce Jasper Lockwood."

Damian Rivers scoffed. "I haven’t seen her seducing Jasper. If anything, Jasper seems to be the proactive one."

"Didn’t she come running to Jasper today? And you just had to tag along. I never realized you were so noble and selfless."

Damian Rivers, in no mood to bicker with her any longer, strode toward his car.

Phoebe Sinclair didn’t say anything else, simply turning and walking away.

「In the car.」

Chloe Sterling stared out the window, her mind still replaying Jasper Lockwood’s sudden move from a moment ago. ’I wonder if anyone else saw that.’

Jasper Lockwood, on the other hand, seemed to be in a great mood. A smile touched his eyes as he gazed at the young woman’s profile.

Sensing his gaze, Chloe suddenly turned to meet his smiling eyes. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You lost so much money today. How can you possibly look so happy?"

Jasper Lockwood replied leisurely, "Things aren’t always what they seem. On the surface, it looks like I lost a significant amount of money today, but that might not actually be the case."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

A mysterious smile played on Jasper Lockwood’s lips. Instead of answering, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his embrace. "Don’t worry," he whispered, "I won’t let myself come out on the losing end."

Leaning against his chest, Chloe tilted her head back to look at his impossibly handsome and confident face. And just like that, she believed him.

’She had a feeling a man as devilishly clever as Jasper Lockwood would never let himself be at a disadvantage.’

Just then, her phone buzzed, signaling a new message.

She immediately pulled out of Jasper Lockwood’s embrace, took her phone from her pocket, and glanced at it. The message was from an unknown number.

Jasper Lockwood’s eyes fell upon the screen. He recognized the number, the very one he had once tried to investigate. Now, he was fairly certain he knew who it belonged to.

"That’s Silas Coldwell, isn’t it?" he asked suddenly.

Chloe Sterling nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Aren’t you going to see what he sent you?"

Chloe didn’t open the message. "I don’t have to look. I already know what it says."

"Oh? You know him that well, do you?" Jasper said, the jealousy in his voice unmistakable.

Chloe caught his tone and cleared her throat. "You don’t have to know him well to figure it out. It’s an easy guess. He’s gloating about you losing money."

"He lost plenty himself. What’s there to gloat about!"

"That’s just the kind of guy he is. As long as the enemy loses a thousand, he considers losing eight hundred a win."

After a moment of silence, Jasper huffed. "You really do know him well!"

Chloe: "..."

Suddenly, her phone received another message. It was from Silas Coldwell again.

Since the phone was in her hand, the message preview appeared directly on the screen.

"Babe, don’t worry. You’re about to see an even better show."

"..."

Chloe Sterling frowned. Jasper had seen it.

It wasn’t that she was intentionally trying to hide the message, but that man’s term of endearment for her was just too intimate. No matter how many times she told him to stop, Silas wouldn’t listen.

Sure enough, the moment he saw the word "Babe," Jasper Lockwood’s expression soured.

No man could tolerate another man calling his woman that—especially a man who was actively pursuing her.

Chloe’s expression was slightly chagrined. "I’ve told him countless times not to call me that, but the guy just won’t stop."

The look in Jasper Lockwood’s almond-shaped eyes deepened. He paused for a moment before saying leisurely, "Since he wants you to watch a show, then just sit back and enjoy it."

Chloe looked at him, puzzled. "What are you planning to do?"

"What else?" Jasper Lockwood’s voice was chillingly calm. "I’ll play along, of course. Right to the very end."

Chloe pursed her lips. "We could just tell him that this is only a transaction between us. Then he wouldn’t..."

"No!" Jasper cut her off before she could finish. "With you, it has never been a transaction."

A flicker of emotion crossed Chloe’s eyes. She paused, then said, "I just mean we could tell him that. I don’t want you to keep taking losses because of me."

Jasper’s long, pale fingers suddenly lifted her chin. His expression was serious. "This isn’t because of you. You know that he and I already had a history. Even if you and I didn’t have our current relationship, the situation between us would still be the same.

He was bound to retaliate after I engineered a way to take his project. He came to Crestfall looking for the Pharmacist, Lynn Chester, and I was looking for Lynn Chester, too. So, our conflict was inevitable. You just happen to be Lynn Chester, and you happen to be my wife. It has nothing directly to do with my history with him."

"You were looking for me, too?" Chloe was surprised. "How come you never mentioned it before?"

"Are you sure?" Jasper’s deep, almond-shaped eyes were fixed on her. He added, "How many people were searching when Grandfather was sick?"

A flicker of guilt crossed Chloe’s eyes; she had actually forgotten about that. She pushed his hand away from her chin and retorted defensively, "I meant I’d never heard you mention it before that."

"And what good would saying it have done? Said Pharmacist had no intention of telling me, treating it as nothing more than a transaction."

"..."

Just then, another message arrived from Silas Coldwell.

"Babe, whatever you do, don’t let our little secret get out. Jasper Lockwood is definitely not a good person, remember that."

The line of text appeared at the top of the screen, in full view of them both.

Jasper Lockwood’s eyes were glued to the phone screen, his handsome face turning as cold as ice. If Silas Coldwell had been there at that moment, Jasper probably would have killed him on the spot.

Sensing the cold fury emanating from him, Chloe quickly said, "He’s doing it on purpose. There are no secrets between us."

"I believe you." Jasper Lockwood tore his gaze away from the phone, staring at her delicate, pale face for a moment before capturing her lips in a hard kiss.

「At the same time.」

「In another car.」

Silas Coldwell looked at the sent messages on his phone, a laugh escaping him as he pictured the look on Jasper Lockwood’s face—the look of a man who’d just been cuckolded.

His subordinate glanced back at him, both confused and cautious, and asked worriedly, "Boss, are you all right?"

’Was he so angry he’d gone mad?’

Silas Coldwell lifted his gaze to him. "Do I look like I’m not all right?"

The subordinate: "...As long as you’re okay, sir."

After a moment’s thought, Silas Coldwell sent another message to Chloe Sterling.

"Babe, see you tomorrow."

Chloe didn’t see this new message. Jasper had no intention of letting her go.

A short while later, the car pulled into the Lockwood Residence and stopped in the courtyard. The two bodyguards silently exited the vehicle.

The heat had yet to fade from Chloe’s face when the man’s magnetic voice sounded by her ear. "We’re home."