Chapter 677 - 673: Half a Year

"I’ll make a concession."

Before Julian Summers could start sniveling, Cecilia Sterling decided to stop teasing him. She smiled and nodded. "We’ll do the acquisition together."

Instantly, Julian Summers’s expression brightened, the gloom completely swept away. "Really?"

Blair and Jane Sterling, watching from the side, finally couldn’t hold back their laughter. Blair said, "Cecilia planned to include you from the very beginning. She was just messing with you. Look how worked up you got."

"Who would believe you’re the chairman of the Sullivan Group if they saw you acting like this?"

Julian Summers paid them no mind, continuing to shake Cecilia Sterling’s arm as he pressed her, "Is it true, Cecilia? Are you serious? You’re really letting me in on it?"

He was shaking her so hard she felt dizzy. Cecilia Sterling nodded hastily. "Yes, yes, it’s true. But you have to act within your means. Go back and see how much liquid capital you have and what percentage of the shares that can cover. I’ll take care of the rest."

"No problem!" Julian Summers exclaimed, excitedly pulling Cecilia Sterling into a hug. "Ah, I knew you saw me as a real friend! I knew you wouldn’t screw me over!"

"Then what was all that huffing and puffing about just now?"

Julian Summers replied with a deadpan expression, "I was having an asthma attack!"

The group burst out laughing, and the atmosphere instantly turned cheerful.

But Estelle was absent at that moment.

On the beginner’s track, Estelle had just completed three laps. When she got out of the go-kart, her head was beaded with sweat.

A clean-cut young man walked over and handed her a fresh towel. "You’re within the passing time, and you didn’t exceed the collision limit. Keep this up, and you’ll definitely get your beginner’s license next time."

That’s right. While Cecilia Sterling and the others had all successfully obtained their "Advanced Go-Karting Licenses," Estelle was still struggling on the "Beginner’s Track."

And her "pretty boy" instructor happened to be a beginner-level coach. This left Cecilia and the others wondering if Estelle was genuinely struggling to pass the beginner’s license test after six months, or if she was intentionally failing because of her handsome instructor.

In the rest area, he handed her a bottle of water. Estelle twisted it open, took a couple of sips, and looked at the young man. "Peregrine Jones, if I pass, will you keep teaching me?"

"I’m afraid not. I don’t have an intermediate coaching certification. The club is pretty strict; I can’t give private lessons above my level."

Estelle pressed her lips together and nodded, showing she understood.

A warmth spread over her hand as Peregrine Jones took it in his. He looked at her and said, "It’s alright. As long as you come here, we can still see each other."

Estelle smiled at him. Their eyes met, and for a moment, affection swelled between them.

Peregrine Jones leaned his face in closer. Estelle sensed what was about to happen, and her heart began to pound wildly.

But just as their lips were about to meet, Estelle couldn’t break through her mental barrier. She tilted her head slightly, and Peregrine Jones’s kiss landed gently on her cheek.

Even so, that light touch was enough to make Estelle’s face turn completely red.

She quickly stood up, averting her gaze. "I-I’m going to go find my friends."

Without waiting for Peregrine Jones to reply, Estelle turned and ran off without looking back.

Peregrine Jones watched her run until she disappeared from sight. He then raised a hand to lightly touch his own lips and couldn’t help but sigh.

’Six months, and all I’ve gotten is a kiss on the cheek.’

’Anyone who didn’t know better would think I was courting some maiden from ancient times...’

"Why is your face so red?"

The moment Estelle returned, Jane Sterling noticed her unnatural blush.

Estelle cupped her cheeks and shook her head. "It’s not, is it? It probably just got stuffy inside my helmet."

"I bet you two were making out," Blair said, cutting right to the chase.

Estelle blurted out defensively, "No, he just kissed my cheek!"

Her words made everyone laugh. Cecilia Sterling looked at her and said, "That doesn’t seem right, my lady. I took you to hire male models, and I don’t remember you being shy about touching their pecs!"

"How is that the same? I paid for that!"

She had a point there.

Cecilia Sterling couldn’t help but marvel, "You’re really something else. He gets one kiss on the cheek in six months, while I go through a new guy every six."

"Honey, if it’s not working, just let it go." Jane Sterling instantly switched into her love expert persona. "The fact that you’re so guarded and unwilling to take the next step with him means you don’t feel secure or certain in your heart. And that means he’s the wrong person for you."

In this day and age, it wasn’t that relationships with no progress after six months didn’t exist, but they were exceedingly rare.

Society today is all about efficiency. You can watch a whole movie summarized in a five-minute short video or a sixty-episode drama in twenty minutes.

Making someone wait half a year just to kiss you on the cheek...

It was better to let him go, and to let yourself go as well.

"But I think I really do like him," Estelle Goodman said hesitantly.

The friends exchanged a glance. Liking someone was far too subjective; none of them could force Estelle Goodman to deny her own feelings.

In the end, Cecilia Sterling said softly, "Forget it. Everyone’s perspective is different. It’s still Estelle’s first kiss, so it’s understandable that she’d treasure it."

Hearing the words "first kiss," Julian Summers looked as if he’d just seen a caveman. "Damn, I gave my first kiss away to the prettiest girl in my kindergarten class when I was six."

Estelle Goodman bit her lip, a sudden wave of insecurity washing over her.

’Maybe the problem really is me. This must be torture for Peregrine Jones. And he’s still been so patient, pursuing me for this long.’

She just didn’t know why she was like this. Her friends were all so carefree, and she was exposed to their ways every day, so she should have been influenced by them. Yet when it came to the critical moment, she just couldn’t do it.

She was very disappointed in herself, too.

*

「Hearthstone Villas」

Two cars, approaching from the north and south roads, arrived at the community gate at the same time and coincidentally came to a stop just outside.

A guard came out of the security booth to ask, "Which residence are you looking for?"

From the red BMW, Megan Nash leaned out. "Number Eight, Fifth Street. The Sterling Family!"

As she leaned out, Randall Jennings, sitting in the back of the black Bentley, happened to see her.

The car window rolled down, and Randall Jennings called out to her, "Megan Nash!"

"Randall?"

They both opened their car doors and got out. "You’re here to give Jasmine New Year’s greetings too?"

Randall Jennings smiled and nodded. "There have been a lot of family gatherings after the New Year. I only just managed to find some free time now that the fifteenth is almost here. Are you also here to see Jasmine?"

’Jasmine?’

Megan Nash caught the natural change in how Randall Jennings addressed her. He used to call Jasmine "Ms. Sterling," maintaining a clear sense of boundaries.

But she didn’t say anything about it, simply smiling and nodding. "Yes. I went to my maternal grandfather’s house with my parents for the New Year. I only got back yesterday, so I rushed over."

Since they were both visiting the same residence, the guard made a confirmation call, then registered them and opened the gate to let the cars pass.

Jasmine Sterling had come to the gate in advance to greet them. Seeing the two of them get out of their cars one after the other, she couldn’t help but laugh. "Did you two plan this?"

"Happy New Year, Jasmine."

Jasmine Sterling first reached out to take the things from Megan Nash’s hands, saying cheerfully, "I told Randall to bring you over for a meal long ago, but you were never around. Today, you finally came together."

"Jasmine, Randall and I broke up before the New Year. We just happened to run into each other today by coincidence," Megan Nash said, her tone casual as she clarified the situation.