Chapter 294: Julian’s Favorability Is Skyrocketing

"I admit, I’m the one who set the trap," Jasper Sterling confessed freely. Then, his tone shifted. "But I have to say, I didn’t expect it to work this well. I figured that with his fiancée begging him to stay and his company facing a major crisis, any normal person wouldn’t choose to run off after Miss Morgan. After all, there was no guarantee she was actually in any real danger."

’He’s either an idiot or a cheater. He has to own up to one of them.’

Chloe Dave shot back, "Caleb was just frantic with worry!"

Jasper Sterling smiled. "So, which part of President Lowell’s story is actually true? One minute, he claims his heart hasn’t strayed. The next, he was ’frantic with worry.’"

The two people at the center of it all, Caleb Lowell and Luna Morgan, both felt a strange sense of embarrassment.

Caleb Lowell was mortified. His past failures were being dragged out and picked apart again, and he was furious.

’And what was Jasper Sterling getting at? Was he deliberately trying to humiliate him? Pointing out that not only had he cheated, but he’d also torpedoed the company’s deal? That was going too far!’

Of course, Jasper Sterling was doing it on purpose.

’You two are the main characters of this world. Your love story is so profound, the denizens of Aethelgard are shipping you like there’s no tomorrow. But he just had to be the one to drop a piece of rat shit in the candy, to make sure anyone who even thought about shipping them would be thoroughly disgusted.’

Of course, this was only just the beginning.

Caleb Lowell remained silent until his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, then his head snapped up to look at Jane Lancaster.

"Miss Jane, the Master didn’t leave! He knows there’s been trouble at home, and he’s rushing back from the airport!" the butler exclaimed, walking over with a phone in his hands, his face ecstatic.

He put the call on speaker, and Timothy Lancaster’s voice boomed out. "Sweetheart, don’t be afraid! Daddy’s on his way home right now! No one is going to bully you today!"

Julian Lancaster’s pupils constricted. He immediately turned his head and shot a cold glare at the butler.

The butler’s expression froze, and he shrank back in fear.

Caleb Lowell finally found his voice. Stepping forward to block Julian Lancaster’s gaze, he said, "I was the one who called Uncle Lancaster."

He had been holding his tongue until now, wanting to probe Julian Lancaster’s attitude.

After all, he might be able to contend with Leo Grant on his own. But if Julian Lancaster had some kind of evidence and was dead set on sending Jane Lancaster to prison, then there would be nothing he could do.

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious Timothy Lancaster’s business trip seemed. On a hunch, he had sent people to the airport to intercept him.

Fortunately, Timothy Lancaster’s plane had experienced a malfunction after boarding and had never taken off. With the subsequent flights all fully booked, Timothy Lancaster was still stranded in the VIP lounge. That was how his men had been able to get to him.

Now that Timothy Lancaster was on his way back, he should be able to keep Julian Lancaster in check and prevent him from turning on his own sister.

’Jasper Sterling had run his mouth off, deliberately humiliating him over that farcical kidnapping plot, but what had he actually done for Jane Lancaster?’

’What’s the use of just standing around, trying to act innocent and curry favor?’

Leo Grant burst out laughing. "President Lowell, so devoted to the last. Then what does that make Luna?"

Caleb Lowell’s heart skipped a beat. He looked over at Luna Morgan and saw her brow tightly furrowed. She was swaying on her feet, looking like she was about to collapse.

Luna Morgan had injured her ankle saving him, and it still hadn’t healed. After the harassment she’d endured from the Lucas family today, the injury had only gotten worse.

But at the time, she had gritted her teeth and insisted she was fine. Worried that Leo Grant would harm Jane Lancaster, she had insisted on coming.

His heart aching for her, Caleb Lowell quickly swept Luna Morgan into his arms and placed her on the sofa. "Does it hurt badly? I’ll take you to the hospital right now..."

Luna Morgan grew anxious. "No! If you leave, what will happen to Miss Lancaster?"

’After all, she owed Jane Lancaster so much. She couldn’t just abandon her.’

Caleb Lowell closed his eyes, steeling himself. "Uncle Lancaster will be back any minute. She’ll be fine. Your injury, on the other hand, can’t wait."

’He shot a subtle glance at Jasper Sterling. He had made his position clear now—he held no lingering feelings for Jane Lancaster. Surely, the other man would back off now.’

’He just hoped Jane Lancaster wouldn’t get the wrong idea and think she had reliable support, encouraging her to keep acting so outrageously.’

He gently but firmly suppressed Luna Morgan’s protests, holding her tight in his embrace as he turned to leave.

Suddenly, someone stepped forward, blocking his path.

Caleb Lowell looked up to see Julian Lancaster. Assuming he was concerned about Luna Morgan’s injury, he said, "I’ll take good care of Luna. You don’t need to trouble yourself with worrying..."

"Apologies," Julian Lancaster said, his voice cold. "You may leave, but she cannot."

Luna Morgan nodded frantically. "That’s right, I can’t leave! Young Master Lancaster, I’m begging you, please don’t go after Miss Lancaster. She’s your sister!"

’She was frantic, struggling to get out of Caleb Lowell’s arms.’

’If she just left like this, her conscience would plague her for the rest of her life.’

But the more she behaved this way, the more it strengthened Caleb Lowell’s resolve to take her away.

But Julian Lancaster stood his ground. "I said, you can go. But she must stay."

’Caleb Lowell was getting annoyed. He felt Julian was just making things more chaotic. Even if Luna Morgan didn’t want to leave, couldn’t the man read the room?’

"Young Master Lancaster, you’re being too stubborn. President Lowell is only taking Miss Morgan away for her own good," Leo Grant chimed in, trying to persuade him.

’He considered himself and Julian to be allies, fighting on the same front. Naturally, he didn’t want Luna Morgan and Caleb Lowell sticking around to get in their way.’

’Even if Julian Lancaster wanted to fight Caleb Lowell for a woman, now was a terrible time for it.’

"Your father is almost back. Everything you’ve worked so hard to plan could be for nothing. Why get tangled up in romance at a time like this? ’Isn’t getting your revenge more important right now?’"

’He cast a subtle glance at Jasper Sterling, feeling wary of the man. It would be best if Julian Lancaster could get rid of him.’

’He refused to believe Julian Lancaster was completely unprepared, letting him and Jasper Sterling move about the Lancaster residence so freely. There had to be more men lying in ambush.’

Julian Lancaster glanced at him, then suddenly shot out a hand, grabbing Luna Morgan’s arm and yanking hard.

"I said, she’s not leaving."

Luna Morgan was pulled off balance and crashed to the floor. A searing pain shot through her ankle as it hit the ground, and the color drained from her face in an instant.

"Luna!" Caleb cried out, his voice thick with anguish and self-reproach. He rushed to crouch down and help her up.

"Julian, what are you doing?!" Pauline Shaw demanded, indignant on her friend’s behalf. "Even if you wanted to honor Luna’s wishes, why did you have to be so rough?"

Chloe Dave and Vincent Holt crowded around Luna Morgan. Even Leo Grant frowned, annoyed that Julian Lancaster was refusing to listen to reason.

Every one of them cared deeply for Luna Morgan. They all had their own positions in this storm, yet they were united in their desire to protect her and keep her from getting caught in the crossfire.

"Heh." A low chuckle escaped Julian Lancaster.

His eyes were ice-cold as he looked down at Luna Morgan. "Does it hurt? When Alvin injured his ankle for you, I wonder if it hurt this much."

At that, everyone realized something was very wrong.

Jane Lancaster’s brow twitched. A sense of foreboding washed over her.

’Sys, what is going on? What’s wrong with Julian?’

「In Aethelgard」 The Black-Haired Oracle looked down at the frantically soaring data, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.

[Julian Lancaster’s favorability toward you is rising frantically.]

"What?!" The word escaped Jane Lancaster’s lips in pure shock.

’Where did things go wrong? Why is this happening? What is Julian even trying to do?’

She instinctively turned to look at Jasper Sterling and found the answer in his gaze.

Jasper Sterling had simply given Julian Lancaster a copy of some information he’d dug up. Whatever the man chose to do with it afterward was beyond his control.

But evidently, the consequences were a little more severe than he had anticipated.

Julian Lancaster now thoroughly despised Luna Morgan, believing she was the root cause of all this chaos.