Chapter 249: This Proves You’re Truly a Hopeless Case

The drinks sent up to the second floor were all pre-arranged. Out of an abundance of caution, he had personally drugged Jane Lancaster’s wine when the waiter wasn’t looking.

There were no security cameras in the hallway, so he hadn’t left a single trace.

As for the other one... that idiot was sound asleep in his room. All he had to do was send the guy down the mountain later.

Jasper Sterling gently laid Jane Lancaster’s hand down, rose to his feet, and before anyone could react, slammed a fist into Gordon Dawson’s abdomen.

Gordon Dawson clutched his stomach in pain. "Are you insane?"

Jasper Sterling didn’t answer, but launched himself forward again.

His eyes were as fierce as those of an enraged beast, and his blows were merciless.

At first, Gordon Dawson thought nothing of it. Jasper Sterling had been a well-known honor student back in the day and had probably never been in a real fight in his life. At most, he’d picked up some flashy but useless moves at the gym.

Unlike himself, who had plenty of real-world fighting experience and knew exactly where to land a dirty hit. Taking down a pampered rich kid who’d been coddled his whole life should have been a piece of cake.

But he quickly realized his mistake. Jasper Sterling could really fight!

His second thought was, ’Fuck, this guy is even better at fighting dirty than I am!’

He was beaten so badly he couldn’t parry the blows. Finally, he was sent flying by a kick, and he lay sprawled on the floor, unable to get up.

The room fell silent.

The owner of the manor, who had just been trying to smooth things over, was now as quiet as a mouse, utterly terrified.

Gordon Dawson was livid. "Are you trying to beat a confession out of me?"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. A bodyguard opened it, and Beverly Lynch rushed in anxiously. "Jane, are you okay?"

Gordon Dawson’s gaze fell on the person who followed her in, and his pupils constricted.

Shawn Sutton was soaking wet and being supported by a waiter. His face was pale from the biting cold, but he disdainfully flipped Gordon Dawson the middle finger. "You son of a bitch, I’m a better man than you."

"How dare you curse?" Pauline Shaw couldn’t hold back. Jasper Sterling was one thing, but who the hell did Shawn Sutton think he was?

Shawn Sutton: "I’m not just gonna curse, I’m gonna beat his ass! He dared to set me up!"

He swayed in anger, wanting to stumble forward and land a few kicks on Gordon Dawson, but a single glare from Beverly Lynch stopped him in his tracks.

"Who are you in any state to beat up? Stop trying to act tough right now!"

"Oh." Shawn Sutton’s head drooped. He obediently let the waiter help him into a chair across from Jane Lancaster.

"I can testify that he was the one who had someone put drugs in the wine," he said, pointing at Gordon Dawson.

Pauline Shaw tensed up, her voice sharp. "What evidence do you have?"

Beverly Lynch looked at her as if she were a complete idiot. "You’re still defending this piece of trash? Pauline Shaw, have you lost your mind?"

Jane Lancaster, however, wasn’t surprised. ’She’s always had a thing for siding with the underdog. Whoever looks the most pitiful is the one she’ll champion. Her brain is fine, she just loves to play devil’s advocate.’

Pauline Shaw: "..."

She stubbornly stared at Shawn Sutton. "Then show us the evidence right now!"

Shawn Sutton said, "Of course I have evidence. About an hour ago, a waiter brought me a drink and insisted I have it. Only after I drank it did he tell me it was a gift from Miss Lancaster. Then he shoved a room key into my hand and ran off. Not long after, I started feeling hot all over. My head got groggy, and I passed out. I was then taken to the room number on that key card by another waiter who found me."

He sneered. "Luckily, I knew something was wrong the second I saw that room key, so I took a good look at the waiter. I noticed he had a mole on the back of his neck with a hair growing out of it."

Jasper Sterling turned to the manor’s owner. "Find him. If he’s gotten away, I’m holding you responsible."

The manor owner broke out in a cold sweat. He’d always thought this young man was good-natured, but now it was clear he wasn’t just ill-tempered—he was terrifying.

He didn’t dare delay and immediately sent his manager to find the man.

Shawn Sutton tossed the key card onto the table. "Oh, right. There’s also this key card. You can check whose room it is."

Soon, the manor’s owner tracked down the room’s registered guest. After placing a call, the person on the other end heard there was trouble and was too scared to hide anything, quickly ratting out Gordon Dawson.

Jane Lancaster looked at the employee. "Aiding and abetting is a crime. I suggest you confess now. Soon, you won’t have the chance."

The employee had been scared out of her wits seeing Jasper Sterling’s violent display. How could she possibly dare to hide anything now?

"I’m sorry, I was wrong! He gave me fifty thousand to insist that I’d made a work-related error and given out the wrong key card. He also said that if I got fired, he would arrange a job for me as his secretary... I-I never thought something like this would happen!"

’A secretary is a secretary. What’s with the blushing?’ Jane Lancaster had an uneasy suspicion.

’Don’t tell me he was hitting on her too? Then again, to get what he wants, he’s never been picky.’

Impossible! Pauline Shaw refused to believe that Gordon Dawson would ever hit on a woman who was her inferior in every single way.

"Why are you blushing? Are you trying to imply he made a pass at you? Do you think you’re even worthy? That he’d give you the time of day?" she demanded, her voice shrill.

The employee was stung by the insult. "And what if he did? He said he likes that I’m honest and not pretentious. Or did you really think he likes a hypocritical, fake bitch like you?"

Pauline Shaw’s mind went blank. "You’re calling me hypocritical and fake?"

Her eyes instantly welled with tears. How could she fail to understand the meaning behind the other woman’s defiant stare?

"Bitch! You’re the bitch! You want to be his mistress, and you act like you’re in the right..." Furious, she lunged forward and grabbed the woman’s hair.

The other woman screamed and, refusing to back down, began to grapple with her.

"This is so noisy!" Beverly Lynch was completely fed up. "Pauline Shaw, shut up! What do you have to feel so wronged about?"

Pauline Shaw glared at her furiously. "And you think you’re in the clear? Why don’t you ask whether Shawn Sutton drank that wine *knowing* it was from Miss Lancaster, or not knowing? Why don’t you ask if he really passed out and was carried to that room, or if he went there on his own?"

Shawn Sutton stared at her in horror. ’Is this woman insane? She’s trying to drag me down with her!’

Beverly Lynch frowned. "Calm down."

Pauline Shaw laughed triumphantly. "You don’t dare ask, do you? Did you think I was the only one betrayed tonight? You were betrayed too! Because that’s just the kind of person she is—she loves stealing other people’s boyfriends."

She turned her head to smile at Jane Lancaster, her eyes filled with unconcealable malice.

Jane Lancaster wondered, ’When exactly did I give her that impression?’

Seeing Jane’s utter lack of self-awareness, Pauline Shaw couldn’t resist a sneer. "What, trying to play the innocent victim now?"

The words had barely left her mouth when she was slapped across the face.

Pauline Shaw was in disbelief. "Beverly Lynch, you hit me?"

"Damn right I hit you!" Beverly Lynch lowered her stinging hand and cursed, incandescent with rage. "Pauline Shaw, are you a fucking toddler? You’ve been like this since we were kids, blaming Jane Lancaster for every little setback you face! Is she your mother? She helped you study, she pushed you to improve yourself, and in return you leeched off her and made her endure your toxicity! You’re a worthless, ungrateful bitch!"

Pauline Shaw, stung, shot back, "What do you know? She just pretends to be a good person to satisfy her own control-freak ego! Do you have any idea how miserable I’ve been all these years?"

Beverly Lynch snorted. "I call you worthless and you still don’t believe it. She tried to teach you self-discipline and you found it ’miserable’? That just proves you’re a hopeless cause!"