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

Jane Lancaster looked down at the ground. "Why did you kill those two dogs?"

It wasn’t that she couldn’t tell. Jasper Sterling had seen through her intentions and killed the dogs first, beating her to it.

’How many times has this happened now? Last time, I was wondering if I should smash Una Holt’s assistant’s phone, and he beat me to that, too.’

This man... it seemed like he was silently protecting her.

The very thought made Jane Lancaster’s heart clench.

Just as Jasper Sterling was about to speak, a subtle change came over Jane Lancaster’s face.

"Never mind, you don’t have to answer." She quickly turned and walked away.

The moment she walked away, the System couldn’t wait to pop up.

’What other reason could there be? He wants to steal you away, that’s what! Have you forgotten his character profile? He’s deliberately going against Caleb Lowell! The moment he finds out Caleb doesn’t love you, he’ll toss you aside like a worn-out shoe! You absolutely must not overthink this!’ The System was a little frantic.

How could there be real feelings between a villain and a vicious female side character? It had to be fake!

Jane Lancaster chuckled. ’As the vicious female side character, can’t I collude with an outsider to deal with the male lead out of unrequited love?’

The System was stunned for a moment. That made sense. This way, Caleb Lowell’s affection score would definitely plummet!

Even though the plot had gone a bit haywire, it didn’t matter. For now, it was still within the basic operational logic.

Jasper Sterling watched Jane Lancaster’s retreating back, wanting badly to touch her, or even hug her.

In truth, he had been there when Jane Lancaster fell into the water all those years ago.

That morning, Jean Hughes had invited him over, and in a room, he ran into an acquaintance.

The man was an admissions officer for the ’Genius Youth Program.’ Jean Hughes wanted to get into the elite circle of prodigies, so her family had paid to have the man come over and teach her the key points of the assessment interview.

Jean Hughes had warmly and magnanimously invited Jasper Sterling to listen in and broaden his horizons.

She had even said, "You’re so smart, what if you get a chance to pass the interview?"

Jasper Sterling knew what was going on the moment he heard it. Jean Hughes was resentful that Old Master Hughes had praised him, and she was secretly competing with him, trying to put him down.

Jasper Sterling had said at the time, "Well, in that case, please begin your lecture, professor. I’d love to broaden my horizons."

The admissions officer was already feeling incredibly guilty. How could he possibly dare to continue his lecture with Jasper telling him to? He immediately made a hasty excuse and left.

Jasper Sterling was a bit disappointed. Since the teacher wasn’t teaching, he decided to leave as well.

Jean Hughes, her mind filled with suspicion, stopped him from leaving and demanded to know what his relationship with the admissions officer was.

Jasper Sterling pulled a test paper out of his school bag. "You want to get into the Genius Youth Program, don’t you? If you can score above a 60 on this test, you might have a chance."

Half an hour later, he returned to look for his dropped earbuds and found that Jean Hughes was no longer in the room. The test paper had been torn to pieces and scattered across the floor.

Jasper Sterling wasn’t particularly surprised. Someone without enough intelligence to tackle this set of real test questions would only end up questioning their existence.

As he was leaving the villa, he overheard a few boys talking. They were saying things like, "Who knew Jane Lancaster was that kind of person? She looks so delicate, but she’s actually so cruel."

They also said, "If she’s killing dogs at her age, will she kill people when she grows up? That’s too terrifying."

Jasper Sterling’s heart sank. He broke into a run towards the neighboring property, just in time to see Jim Jenson and Jane Lancaster struggling in the water.

He saw it all. Jane Lancaster was forcefully dragging Jim Jenson under, with a posture that screamed, ’I might not live, but you have to die.’ It terrified Jim Jenson to his core, and he started thrashing and kicking like a madman.

There was, after all, a huge difference in their physical strength. Jim Jenson managed to swim to shore. Still shaken, he accused Jane Lancaster of trying to kill him, then viciously ordered everyone not to save her, telling them to let her die.

Jasper Sterling leaped into the water and pulled up Jane Lancaster, who had started to sink.

Before she passed out, she grabbed his collar and said, "Be my witness! Jim Jenson tried to kill me!"

Everything had been calculated perfectly. She wasn’t really trying to kill Jim Jenson; she was trying to make everyone see how he had kicked her into the water and how he had tyrannically forbidden anyone from saving her, attempting to let her drown.

She must have guessed back then that the incident where Alvin Lancaster was nearly mauled to death by the dogs wouldn’t be taken seriously by her father, so she turned herself into a bargaining chip.

’My second brother only getting a scare means nothing. But what if you add me nearly drowning? Is that enough?’

Jasper Sterling saw through her scheme, but he didn’t find her scheming or manipulative. He only felt a profound sense of shock.

For as long as he could remember, Jasper Sterling knew he was emotionally detached.

His father died in an accident, and his mother, unable to bear the blow, followed him in death, leaving Jasper behind as a young child. Many people said the boy was pitiful.

But he never considered himself pitiful. Even without his parents’ protection, he could live just fine.

In his eyes, the world was mostly filled with fools who created their own trouble, and a few other fools who thought they were clever.

Dealing with these idiots was utterly effortless for him.

It wasn’t until he entered the Genius Youth Program that he realized the world wasn’t entirely made of fools. There were also many brilliant geniuses—like Jane Lancaster, for instance.

Jasper Sterling never believed in ghosts or gods; he had no faith.

But on that day, he suddenly found one.

Jane Lancaster was his faith.

...

Jasper Sterling closed his eyes and sighed. She asked a question but refused to hear the answer, leaving his heart hanging in suspense.

It was probably only her—it could only be her—who could evoke such intense emotions in him.

The man in the leather jacket was still yelling, insisting that they had to compensate him.

He had come out to stop them, and they still killed the dogs—it was outrageous! No matter what, these people had to give him an explanation.

Alan Wallace had already called the police and an ambulance. He was holding and comforting the child, in no mood to argue with the man.

The man in the leather jacket probably noticed this. He didn’t dare to offend Jasper Sterling, so he directed all his shouting at Alan Wallace.

Jane Lancaster walked over. "You want compensation? Fine. Let’s go to the Jenson family together right now and ask the real dog owner how we should compensate you."

The man in the leather jacket froze for a second, then said warily, "I am the real dog owner. What nonsense are you talking about?"

Jane Lancaster replied, "Is that so? Then why did Jim Jenson tell me at Jean Hughes’s villa that you were the one he hired to raise his dogs for him?"

Suddenly, the man’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and cautiously stepped aside to answer it.

Jim Jenson was already home when he saw the message.

He wasn’t too concerned. The dog handler was just too timid.

So they attacked a few passersby, what’s the big deal? If the dogs didn’t even have that much ferocity, all his effort in training them would have been for nothing.

Although the area was on the outskirts, it was still a villa district. There was a park, but rich people usually had private gardens and would never bother visiting it.

Instead, it was the clueless poor people who would wander into the park, secretly taking pictures of the villas from a distance.

He leaned back lazily on the sofa and sent a long voice message, instructing the man on what to say.

The matter was easy to handle. Just say that he was renting a house near the park to raise the dogs, that he walked them at this time every night, and that the other party had trespassed and startled the dogs, so they had no one to blame but themselves.

However, seeing as the other party was injured, he would be willing to offer some money for medical fees to settle the matter privately.

If he was dealing with a pushover, he might not even have to pay the medical fees, and the whole thing would blow over.

But just as he sent his instructions, a photo came back from the other end.

All three dogs were dead. One of them had died a particularly gruesome death.

Jim Jenson completely exploded with rage. There was no way he was letting this go!