CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 38: DRAINED

Skylar Hughes clenched her fist, "Paige Sterling, what a coincidence, you’re here for a meal too?"

Paige Sterling glanced at her indifferently, thinking that she really should check the almanac before going out lately, always running into annoying people.

She released her hold on Julian Hawthorne’s arm.

Julian Hawthorne stared at his arm for a moment, the expression in his eyes gradually dimming.

The hallway was blocked by Skylar Hughes, and Paige Sterling said expressionlessly, "You’re in the way, please move, thank you."

Skylar Hughes glanced at Julian Hawthorne and moved aside.

But what she didn’t expect was that Paige Sterling walked past her, and just as she was about to continue speaking with Julian Hawthorne, he also walked past.

The two of them headed toward the same private room in tandem, clearly together.

No matter how good Skylar Hughes’ acting was, right now she couldn’t maintain her composure.

"Paige Sterling, are you dining with President Hawthorne?"

Paige Sterling didn’t respond to Skylar Hughes at all, showing poor manners.

Skylar Hughes directly looked at Julian Hawthorne, giving him what she believed was her most beautiful smile.

"President Hawthorne, it’s just as well I haven’t eaten either, how about we all dine together?"

Julian Hawthorne finally said something to Skylar Hughes, "It’s inconvenient."

Skylar Hughes, "..."

The expression of being utterly devastated fell into Dylan Dunn’s eyes, truly making one feel heartbroken.

Dylan Dunn immediately forgot Skylar Hughes’ earlier rejection and instead felt sorry for her.

"What do you mean by this? How can you speak to Skylar like that? You’ve hurt her feelings! Apologize to her!?"

Paige Sterling, "...?"

Skylar Hughes really knows how to attract brainless people.

Paige Sterling and Julian Hawthorne ignored him, and when Dylan Dunn reached out to pull Paige Sterling, Julian Hawthorne pulled her behind him.

His cold eyes stared at Dylan Dunn, causing him to involuntarily take half a step back.

Seeing this, Skylar Hughes stepped forward, "Paige Sterling, there’s no need for such hostility between us, is there?"

Paige Sterling raised an eyebrow, "Hostility, that depends on whether you’re worthy of it."

Skylar Hughes’ face turned stiff and unsightly, she truly hated Paige Sterling’s always lofty demeanor.

"Paige Sterling, I hope we can have a talk..."

She reached out to grab Paige Sterling, who drew her hand back, but Skylar Hughes happened to grab her watch.

The watch instantly flew off, landing in a dish of spicy oil at the nearby table, whose diners had just left.

Paige Sterling’s expression turned strange for a moment, and Skylar Hughes had a bad premonition, deciding not to entangle further and hurriedly tried to leave.

Paige Sterling coldly said, "Did I say you could leave? Come back."

Skylar Hughes, feeling cornered, asked, "Paige Sterling, do you still need something?"

She pointed at the dish, "Pick it up for me."

Skylar Hughes’ face turned even worse, almost a bit green.

That was so dirty, how could she possibly want to dirty her own hands by picking it up herself?

"Paige Sterling, you’re not short of this watch, why do you have to be so aggressive in everything?"

Some people make mistakes, and when they’re not forgiven, they say the other is aggressive and lacking generosity.

Truly, where do they find the face?

"Whether I’m short or not is my business, but since you dropped my item, you should pick it up for me. I’ll say it again, pick it up."

Skylar Hughes stood motionless, while Dylan Dunn wanted to say something but was also scared by Julian Hawthorne’s gaze.

Julian Hawthorne stood beside Paige Sterling in a protective stance, like an iceberg, making one shiver just from a glance.

"Of course, you could choose not to pick it up for me, but however you threw my watch away, I’ll throw you out in the same manner."

"Paige Sterling, you..."

Paige Sterling, however, couldn’t be bothered to argue with Skylar Hughes, pressing her head directly onto the dish on the table.

Seeing as her face was about to disgracefully touch the spicy oil, Skylar Hughes was really frightened, how could Paige Sterling do such a thing?

"I’ll pick it up, I’ll pick it up for you, let go!"

Lowering her head to Paige Sterling in front of so many people, Skylar Hughes also felt humiliated, especially since there were people here who knew her, and news would probably spread throughout the circle quickly.

But what could she do? Paige Sterling was decisive, if she really was pressed into the dish by her, wouldn’t she be even more humiliated?

Skylar Hughes gritted her teeth, went to pick up the watch for Paige Sterling.

Going head-to-head with Paige Sterling, she was always destined to be the one on the lower side, because she didn’t have the same confidence, a wealthy biological father, like Paige Sterling.

But when Paige Sterling came to collect the watch, Skylar Hughes gritted her teeth looking at her.

"I’ve already picked it up, what more do you want?"

Paige Sterling looked at her calmly, "My watch wasn’t like this at first, was it? Now it’s dirty."

This meant she should clean the watch, right?

Skylar Hughes’ molars almost ached from clenching.

Fine, since Paige Sterling wanted to be so excessive, she might as well let Julian Hawthorne see just how vicious Paige Sterling was!

With this thought, Skylar Hughes bore the humiliation and cleaned the watch for Paige Sterling.

Paige Sterling glanced at the watch face, "The face is cracked, and the hands aren’t moving now, you’d better compensate me?"

Skylar Hughes, "...?!"

Paige Sterling, "It’s the latest model from DR, you should know how much it’s worth, right? If not, you could ask President Hawthorne, it’s from their company."

Skylar Hughes looked at Paige Sterling’s serious face, truly unbelievable, "Paige Sterling, you want me to compensate you?"

"What else? Do you mean you can damage other people’s things without compensation? Anyway, the money you have isn’t yours, paying me back is essentially just returning to the original owner, so there’s no need to feel reluctant, don’t you think?"

This made Skylar Hughes anxious, "Paige Sterling, don’t go too far!"

"You’re the one refusing to listen, always treating my words as wind past your ears, Skylar Hughes. I’ve made myself clear, don’t force me to make you leave the Sterling Family."

Paige Sterling couldn’t bring herself to like people like Skylar Hughes even a bit.

But indeed, she couldn’t actually do anything to Skylar Hughes, even if she did, Skylar wouldn’t dare react, but after all, this was Yvette Hughes’ daughter, and Yvette Hughes was going to spend her remaining life with Jared Sullivan, if she really showed no mercy to Skylar, Yvette and Jared’s relationship would also be affected.

But this didn’t mean she would always tolerate Skylar Hughes.

Paige Sterling didn’t know when Skylar Hughes would completely cross her line, but she knew it might not be far off, though she was already prepared for it.

Skylar Hughes felt so angry she wanted to cry, how could Paige Sterling be so outrageous? Even saying such things in front of Julian Hawthorne?

"Fine, how much should I compensate?"

"This watch, when purchased, was only tens of millions, right? Though I’ve only worn it once or twice, it indeed isn’t brand new anymore, you could compensate me five million."

Five million? She had only saved five million over all these years in the Sterling Family, was Paige Sterling trying to empty her out completely?