Chapter 205: Luna Didn’t Give the Medicine to Her, but to Me

Jim Jenson: "What do you mean?"

Jasper Sterling placed a file on the table. "The man in the leather jacket is named Frank Miller, but his real boss... that would be Jean Hughes, wouldn’t it?"

Jim Jenson froze for a moment, then picked up the file and began to flip through it. His reading quickened, and by the end, his face was deathly pale.

The file suggested that not only was Frank Miller working for Jean Hughes, but the partner who opened the dogfighting ring with him was one of Jean Hughes’s men as well.

No wonder Jean Hughes had refused when he’d tried to pull him in as a partner and offered him a piece of the pie. It was because he was already the boss behind the scenes.

Jim Jenson’s voice was strained. "So when Frank Miller called me... was it to deliberately expose me?"

That way, if anything went wrong, he would be the one to take the fall, and Jean Hughes wouldn’t be implicated.

’What a brilliant scheme,’ he thought bitterly. ’I was just a pawn they were using.’

Jasper Sterling said, "You’re not completely stupid."

Something occurred to Jim Jenson. He turned to look at Old Master Jenson. "The rabies... it was real?"

Old Master Jenson didn’t speak, but his eyes gave Jim the answer.

Jim Jenson slumped back into his chair.

He remembered the incident vividly. He had been bitten by Prince, and Jean Hughes had reminded him to get vaccinated, even giving everyone a quick lesson on rabies.

At the time, Jean Hughes had mentioned he was curious about how rabies spread. Jim had joked, "Well, why don’t we find a sick dog and test it out?"

Later, when the Lancaster Family accused him of infecting Prince with rabies and having the dog bite Alvin Lancaster, he had been furious, thinking they were deliberately framing him.

’Looking back now, how could it have been such a coincidence?’

He never imagined that Jean Hughes had been so manipulative even back then, plotting against him all along.

A chill ran down his spine when he thought of Jean Hughes’s gentle, refined demeanor.

"What is it you really want?" Old Master Jenson asked, his voice low.

He didn’t believe this young man was acting purely out of goodwill.

Jasper Sterling was candid about his intentions. "I intend to deal with the Hughes Family. Naturally, I don’t want people who are ignorant of the truth to blindly pick their side. That would be an inconvenience for me."

He paused, then added, "Of course, you can continue to side with the Hughes Family. But if Jean Hughes were to find out that you know about his schemes..."

He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Old Master Jenson had to admit, this young man was dangerously clever.

This was a gambit played out in the open, not some hidden conspiracy.

The Hughes Family had always been aggressive and domineering, forcing the Jenson Family to carefully weigh the pros and cons before picking a side.

But now that the Jensons knew about the Hughes’s machinations, siding with them would likely bring them no benefits. In that case, it was better to cut ties with the Hughes Family completely.

Jasper Sterling stood up. "In fact, you should be thanking Jane Lancaster. If she hadn’t forced Jim Jenson to go abroad, the Jenson Family wouldn’t be able to extricate themselves now, even if they wanted to."

The door to the private room opened. Before he left, he gave Jim Jenson one last look.

’It’s because he’s young that he has a chance to be set straight.’

If Jim Jenson hadn’t been sent abroad, he would have likely caused some catastrophic trouble by now.

He didn’t expect any gratitude from the boy, but if Jim dared to hold a grudge against Jane Lancaster, then he shouldn’t blame Jasper for what would come next.

---

Jane Lancaster had no idea that Jasper Sterling had gone to see the Jenson Family.

Adrian Lancaster had told her to get lost, so she got lost.

’As the villainess, acting a little cold-blooded is perfectly normal. It’s in character, and it’ll keep raising Julian Lancaster’s disgust level for me.’

She checked her mission progress on the way.

[Adrian Lancaster’s Favorability: cleared. Julian Lancaster’s Favorability has dropped to a shaky 3%. Keep up the good work and it can be cleared as well.]

When she flipped to Alvin Lancaster’s character panel, she froze.

’Sys, why has Alvin Lancaster’s Favorability become unviewable?’

Sys: [Target’s current emotional state is unstable. Favorability changes cannot be read.]

Jane’s hand paused. ’I remember his Favorability was fluctuating, it never fully cleared. If it stays like this, won’t I be unable to complete my mission?’

Sys: [What?]

’Is that the important part?’

Jane replied with conviction, ’Of course it’s the important part! He can’t go crazy yet. He has to clear his Favorability for me *before* he goes crazy!’

Sys had a bad feeling. [What are you going to do?]

Jane smiled. "Why should I get lost just because Adrian Lancaster tells me to? Who is he to me now? His Favorability is cleared. He’s completely useless, isn’t he?"

---

Inside the hospital room, Alvin Lancaster had been sedated and was sleeping soundly.

Julian Lancaster tucked the covers around him, then suddenly spoke. "You can hear Jay’s thoughts, can’t you?"

Adrian Lancaster was stunned for a moment before he understood. "Big Brother, you..."

Julian Lancaster gave him a slight shake of the head. Adrian immediately realized that Lucy Finch and the others were still outside.

The Hughes Family had just spoken with Julian, proposing a condition that the Lancasters found completely unexpected.

Jean Hughes was fond of Jane Lancaster. If the two of them were to get engaged immediately and marry before the end of the year, the Hughes Family would let the entire incident go.

Adrian Lancaster’s immediate reaction upon hearing this condition was that it was impossible.

While marriage alliances between powerful families were common, this situation was very different. The Hughes Family had added another condition: they required Jane Lancaster to get pregnant and give birth before they would get a marriage license.

In exchange, the Hughes Family was willing to help the Lancaster Family establish a firm foothold in Solara.

Any family that truly loved its daughter would never agree to such a demand, no matter what concessions the Hughes Family offered. It was a blatant insult to Jane Lancaster.

And the Lancaster Family was different. Timothy Lancaster, who doted on his daughter to the core, had even agreed to her breaking off the engagement with the Lowell Family. How could he possibly agree to such an absurd condition?

Besides, Jane was their sister. Julian would never agree either.

The two brothers stood on the balcony, gazing at the city’s nightscape, their hearts heavy.

"Big Brother," Adrian began his analysis, "Jay has the ability of foresight. It’s impossible that she didn’t know the exact timing of Alvin’s breakdown. But not only did she say nothing, she brought him here and pushed events forward."

Julian Lancaster lowered his gaze. That was the very source of his anger.

One could argue that others couldn’t have foreseen the severity of the situation, but Jane was different. She knew everything.

He could understand her not saying anything, even though she had all the information; after all, not everyone would have believed her.

But she had helped Jasper Sterling escape his fated calamity, yet she watched her own brother walk into his doom without lifting a finger. No, what was more terrifying was that she was actively pushing them all toward their predetermined fates.

Perhaps overcome by the emotional turmoil, Julian Lancaster suddenly clutched his stomach and winced.

Adrian grew worried. "Big Brother, you need to take care of yourself."

Julian waved his hand. "I’m fine. It’s just my stomach acting up. I’ll be fine once I take my medicine."

He paused before explaining, "In Jay’s thoughts, I get cancer. I start coughing up blood and live all the way until the ’grand finale,’ only dying after wasting away completely."

He figured his time to die hadn’t come yet, so he wasn’t too worried. But he never expected his younger brother to have a breakdown so suddenly.

"However, it seems she doesn’t know what kind of cancer I’ll get," he added lightly.

Adrian asked, "Could it be stomach cancer?"

"I don’t know." Julian’s expression was impassive. "But she did try to snatch a bottle of stomach medicine from Luna once."

Adrian grew frantic. "She wanted to let your condition worsen..."

"But she failed," Julian added. "Luna didn’t give her the medicine. She gave it to me."