Everyone Can Hear My Thoughts, and Now They're Panicking

Alvin Lancaster’s mind was a jumbled mess, and his head throbbed violently, as if being pierced by countless awls.

The golf club in his hand fell to the floor with a CLANG, startling the people around the corner.

Jane Lancaster peeked around the corner at Alvin Lancaster, her gaze falling on the golf club he was picking up.

"Alvin Lancaster, what are you doing with a golf club so late at night?" Jim Jenson asked as he walked over.

After a pause, he added deliberately, "You’re not planning to play a round, are you? Or perhaps you want to hit someone? Wow, so even a cornered rabbit will bite!"

When Jim Jenson saw Alvin Lancaster walk into Henry Hughes’s room, alarm bells had gone off in his head.

He had crept closer to the door to eavesdrop... and it was no surprise at all that Henry Hughes would sell him out.

But so what? Their childhood grudge was water under the bridge. Besides, Alvin Lancaster hadn’t even blamed him back then. It was Jane Lancaster who refused to let it go.

Besides, he was the one who had suffered the most. First, Jane Lancaster had dragged him into the water and nearly drowned him. Then he went home with a fever, only to get a beating from his old man before being shipped off abroad.

No one else, no matter who, paid any price whatsoever.

Especially Jane Lancaster. She was the one who actually killed the dog. How did she get away with it completely?

If Alvin Lancaster was going to hate someone, it should be Jane Lancaster. He’d heard the siblings didn’t get along, that they’d had a complete falling out in the past. Now, they were probably just maintaining a superficial peace.

For the past two days, Luna Morgan had been lying in the hospital, and all three Lancaster brothers had been by her side day and night. Jane Lancaster had probably fallen out of favor long ago.

Jane Lancaster turned to look at Jim Jenson. "What are you doing here again? If your mouth is that idle, go lick a toilet."

Anger flashed in Jim Jenson’s eyes. ’Your whole past is about to be exposed, and you still have the nerve to be this arrogant,’ he thought.

"Jane Lancaster, I’m not the one saying this. Your second brother remembered it all by himself." He paused, then raised his voice. "Uncle Lancaster forced my family into a gag order back then. I wanted to help you keep it a secret, I really did!"

"But look at the things you’ve done! Killing a dog when you were eight, and killing a person when you grew up!"

The remaining guests all turned to look.

The words were sensational. Alan Wallace’s wife, standing nearby with her child, quickly retorted, "You’re lying!"

Jim Jenson said, "I’m telling the truth. Ask her brother! Didn’t she kill a dog in the yard when she was a kid? That dog even belonged to Young Master Golden from next door."

"As for killing someone, doesn’t everyone already know about that? Three years ago, she dragged someone off a building with her, causing the other person to die on the spot."

He looked at Jane Lancaster smugly. ’Aren’t you supposed to be silver-tongued? Cat got your tongue now?’

Pausing for effect, Jim Jenson continued, "Actually, I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard the news back then. After all, when she was only eight, she dragged me into the water and tried to drown me over some petty disagreement. It just shows how cold-hearted and vicious she is..."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Alvin Lancaster lifted the golf club and violently smashed a potted plant.

The sound of shattering porcelain finally cut Jim Jenson off.

Alvin Lancaster stared at him, panting heavily. "Why don’t you mention how you bullied me? Why don’t you mention how you sicced that dog on me?"

Jim Jenson was taken aback. Why was he still siding with Jane Lancaster? "Are you insane?"

"I think you’re the one who’s insane," Jasper Sterling said, stepping out from the crowd.

He rarely got this angry, and his eyes were ice-cold. "The police reached a conclusion on that case years ago. Jay acted in self-defense; moreover, it was an act of courage. Any accusation against her is an attempt to subvert the judicial process and challenge public order."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to a few people in the crowd, and he called them out by name. "Judge Usher, Lawyer Knight, what would you say?"

The people he’d named were all renowned judges and lawyers in the legal field, and they quickly voiced their agreement.

The case was a textbook example, already included in legal course materials as a case study. There was nothing to dispute.

Besides, this was Jasper Sterling. They were more than happy to do him a favor.

Jasper Sterling said, "By attempting to subvert everyone’s understanding, are you trying to weep at a criminal’s grave and summon his spirit?"

Jim Jenson’s heart sank. He was wary of Jasper Sterling; the man was more capable than he’d imagined.

He had effortlessly seized control of the situation, rendering his accusations toothless.

"Fine, forget the person, but the dog was innocent, right?" he said, looking at Alvin Lancaster as an idea formed in his mind.

"Alvin Lancaster, let me ask you a hypothetical. If we went back in time, and Prince was chasing you, and Jane Lancaster raised a long knife to strike Prince, about to create a bloody scene—if at that moment you grabbed a golf club, would you swing it at the dog, or at your sister?"

Alvin Lancaster froze, then turned to look at Jane Lancaster.

Their eyes met. Jane Lancaster’s gaze was perfectly calm.

’This idiot was actually smart for once. That’s a good question. He’s put me in check.’

’Everyone here is an intellectual. No doubt there are plenty of animal rights activists in the crowd. They’d definitely choose the latter.’

She looked at Alvin Lancaster, her eyes urging him to answer.

’Go on, choose. If you had the chance, you’d obviously choose to protect Prince.’

Jasper Sterling’s expression tensed, and he couldn’t stop himself from starting, "Alvin Lancaster—"

"I would choose to hit Prince, of course," Alvin Lancaster answered decisively, his gaze dropping.

The crowd erupted in an uproar. Many people looked on with disapproval. ’Isn’t that too cruel?’

Jane Lancaster stared at him in astonishment.

’What is going on? What’s gotten into him today? Or... does he actually believe my side of the story?’

Jasper Sterling looked thoughtful. ’Believe her side of the story? What story?’

Jim Jenson cried, "Why? Are you insane? That was Prince! He only bit me because he was protecting you, and his punishment for that was being starved! Not only would you not save him, you’d want him dead?"

The accusation made Alvin Lancaster’s face turn pale. Of course he didn’t want Prince to die.

But there was no way to change what happened. The hypothetical was meaningless. Of course he had to side with his sister.

Even if she had been in the wrong, her intention had been to protect him.

"Jim, stop this nonsense!" Jean Hughes said, having emerged from the crowd at some point.

"Prince was my dog. It was wrong for him to repeatedly attack people. He deserved to be put down, so I have no objections. What right do you have to stand here and cry foul?"

As the dog’s owner, his words were perfectly reasonable.

But Alvin Lancaster found it unbearable. ’What does he mean, "deserved to be put down"?’

Many of the guests today had come specifically for the Hughes Family of Solara. Now that Jean Hughes had appeared, people immediately crowded around to greet him.

Jean Hughes, however, walked over to Jane Lancaster. "I’m sorry. I should have kept him in line. I apologize for the trouble he’s caused you..."

"Out of my way!" Jane Lancaster suddenly cut him off.

’Where are they?’

Jane Lancaster’s eyes scanned the area. Pushing through the crowd, she ran outside.

Jasper Sterling’s expression darkened. He, too, had noticed that Alan Wallace and his family were gone. He immediately followed after her.

After running a few steps, Jane Lancaster suddenly thought of something and shouted back over her shoulder, "Second Brother, go home! Don’t linger here!"

’That guy’s remembered everything now. He shouldn’t run into any trouble, right?’

’Whatever. As long as he doesn’t hold me back.’

Alvin Lancaster reacted a beat too slow. By the time he lifted his golf club to chase after them, the two were already gone.

"Alvin, did something happen? Do you need my help?" Jean Hughes asked.

Alvin Lancaster turned to look at Jean Hughes’s concerned face.