Early the next morning, Julian Sterling lazed in bed for a long time. Ethan Caldwell had stayed home to coax him for a while before going to work, while Julian buried himself in the blanket and scrolled through his phone.
Fortunately, he did not have classes today.
Actually, Ethan had not done anything too excessive yesterday; they only did it once before cuddling to sleep. It was mainly that Julian still could not adapt to the size of that hateful thing.
Moreover, he was also lazy.
Having spent a whole lifetime being diligent, he now only had a passion for being a slacker.
Julian fiddled with his phone, opened a stock investment app, and secretly logged into the hidden account he had opened. Inside, it displayed a figure reaching nine digits.
Obviously, this number was not even equal to the loose change General Director Sterling once owned. But for the current Julian, it was not a small sum.
He had to withdraw it quickly.
Just then, Julian's phone rang. He glanced at it; it was Lucas Hill's number.
Julian turned over, used a pillow to prop up his bottom, and leaned against the headboard.
"Hello, I'm listening."
"Jules, I have good news for you." Lucas's voice came from the other end of the line. The surroundings were a bit noisy; it seemed like he was out on the street. "By the way, is Ethan right there with you?"
Julian heard that and laughed. "Don't worry, Ethan went to work already."
"That's good then." Lucas murmured, then added, "I helped you contact the bank. The account you opened yesterday has been transferred to a secret account. Rest assured, it's not easy to trace. Your card is also a special card. In a few days, come with me to the bank to pick it up!"
Julian heard Lucas say that and curled his lips. Yesterday, Lucas had taken him to a bank with a prestigious reputation in the international market. This was a bank where not just anyone could open an account. Especially regarding this bank's secret accounts, they had the function of blocking most investigation methods from wealthy families and even the government. Unless there was proof that the account holder violated the law, the authorities could not touch it.
With Julian's current status, how could he possibly open an account in this bank? Fortunately, Lucas had someone behind him who could help.
"Thank you, Lucas!"
"Oh, don't mention it. Ah right, about switching majors, what do you think?"
"I am trying to improve my grades so I can switch majors," Julian replied. His gaze idly drifted to his laptop placed in a corner, which was displaying a special recruitment page.
Julian thought for a moment, then said to Lucas, "Oh, just now I found information about a competition specializing in Data Analysis. I heard it's organized in collaboration between top corporations and prestigious universities. It looks really interesting, but I don't understand any of it."
"Huh, what competition?" Lucas asked back. Julian even heard him mutter, "Why don't I know anything about this?"
Julian narrowed his eyes slightly and recounted the information about the competition he had just found. Julian wanted to use this competition to test Lucas's level. It was not that he did not trust him, but it was a habit from before to understand a person clearly. Only when he thoroughly understood a person's capabilities could he easily cooperate with them.
"Uhm, do you like it? I'll send you the link."
"Do you think I have enough ability to participate in such a big competition?" Lucas joked.
"Of course you do!" Julian's voice was very firm. "I can't do it, but I believe in you. You have to try your best, Lil' Luke. I'm waiting for you to win the prize and take me along to broaden my horizons!"
"What is that nauseating name you're calling me!?"
"Ha ha..."
The two joked around like that for a long while. After hanging up, Julian leaned forward, opened the laptop, turned on an incognito tab and professional IP masking software, then accessed a special website.
He did not know why this world and the real world Julian lived in before had a few overlapping things, just like overlapping time and space. There were some things already in this world that Julian felt were very familiar, as if they had happened in his old world.
Especially the special websites related to the financial market and some other specific industries. Julian even had the illusion that he had not "transmigrated" to another world, but had merely come back to life in a different body. But this place was not like his world; there was no corporation he used to run, nor was there another Sterling family calling the wind and rain.
However, he did not have much time to figure this out right now. What he needed to do now was to quickly utilize these strange things to build power for himself.
Julian accessed that website, found information about the competition he had mentioned to Lucas earlier, then drafted a complete article and posted it on a small economic forum. After posting, he opened a tool to edit the posting time and date a little.
Fortunately, Julian's father in his previous life was too much of a perfectionist and forced him to learn everything. Now, it had quite a lot of use.
Chapter 20: Fighting Fire with Fire
After sending the message to Lucas, Julian hugged his laptop and typed away for a bit. During this time, he received a message from a stranger on his messaging app. Julian tried to recall, but couldn't remember who this person with the nickname "XXX" was. He decided to ignore it and simply continued his work.
A moment later, the phone vibrated again. Julian glanced at it and discovered a series of messages displayed on the screen.
XXX: [Julian, now that you're married, you think you've grown wings, huh? You haven't bothered to come home for a whole week?]
XXX: [Don't think just because you have Ethan Caldwell backing you that I wouldn't dare to do anything to you.]
XXX: [Hurry up and drag yourself back home to apologize to Aaron. I won't forgive you!]
Julian stared at those three messages for a moment before realizing that this was likely the account of his *precious* older brother. Julian picked up the phone, opened the chat interface to take a look, and couldn't help but laugh out of anger.
Clearly, the Sterling family had four members, but aside from Edward, no one else in the family had added him on the app. Even then, the main reason he and Edward were connected was so the latter could send him living expenses.
A few pennies a month; pitiably poor.
Julian looked at it, then decisively dragged this "XXX" account into the blacklist. What Sterling family? He didn't know them.
Julian propped his chin up, thinking for a bit. Why did Edward suddenly send him messages? If it was about not coming home, Julian didn't think that with Edward's temper, he could have held back this long before messaging. And apologizing to Aaron...
If he remembered correctly, that topic had completely died down, and no one was digging it up anymore. On the second day after he got married, a few tabloids had posted articles, but obviously, the Sterling family had cleaned everything up neatly.
So why...?
Julian frowned, his fingers flying quickly across the keyboard, searching for information related to the Sterling family on economic news sites. Displayed above was a series of information about projects and new development plans of the Sterling Group. A moment later, Julian's mouse cursor paused right at a small headline.
[Young Master of the Sterling Family Officially Joins the Group.]
Julian clicked to read the article. Basically, this article was about how young and talented Aaron Sterling was, following in his brother's footsteps. Truly worthy of being a Sterling; so young yet already possessing such capability.
Julian stared at the words "Sterling family member" and sneered. He scrolled down a bit and, sure enough, saw some arguments in the comments section regarding his and Aaron's status.
There was even a short interview video of Aaron from that day. Julian was too lazy to look at his face, so he scrolled down to read the highlights written by the journalist.
[I think everyone has misunderstood; the relationship between Julian and me is very good. It's just that recently we had a small trivial matter, so he's sulking at me for a few days, that's all.]
Below that was a series of questions from reporters asking if Julian was jealous of him. Aaron answered very cleverly; his mouth kept denying it, but every word implied that Julian was angry and refused to come because of envy.
This move really drew a lot of hatred towards Julian. Many passersby felt he was truly awful—lacking ability yet having a jealous temperament. However, some people defended him, saying Aaron was like a cuckoo occupying a magpie's nest while feigning innocence. Some even reposted screenshots from the school forum, exposing Julian's past hardships.
Julian finished reading the article and smirked.
Perhaps Aaron wasn't the simple, innocent type he had thought. It seemed he needed to re-evaluate just how capable this cheap brother of his was.
Since Aaron couldn't win over all the public sympathy, he went home to sell a sob story to steal the family from him?
That cheap affection that only focused on saving face—Julian wouldn't want it even if it were given to him. Truly, only the destitute would pick up trash others had thrown away.
How despicable.
Julian propped his hand on his chin in thought, then suddenly remembered something.
Oh, he didn't have elders at home to tattle to, but didn't he have a husband?
Come now, good children don't get candy. Only by acting spoiled with one's husband can one taste the sweetness.
So, Julian dialed Ethan's number. As soon as the call connected, without waiting for the other side to speak, Julian spoke first: "Ethan..."
His voice sounded aggrieved, as if he were about to cry.
"What's wrong, baby? Did something happen at home?" Ethan's voice came through from the other side.
"Ethan, Edward scolded me... he was so fierce. Will... will he force me to go back and... lock me up like before?" Julian sniffled as he spoke, his voice choking up as if he were being bullied.
Ethan didn't know the details, only that he had to lower his voice to coax him. Actually, sometimes he found it difficult; this person hadn't been in his home for long, so why did he have to spoil him so? Granted, their sexual life was very harmonious, but ultimately, it wasn't to the extent that he had to pamper him like this just for sex.
It was just that when he heard Julian's aggrieved voice, Ethan couldn't stand it. His heart felt as if someone were scratching it, itching with discomfort.
After hanging up, Ethan thought for a moment. Recalling some information his subordinates had just investigated, he narrowed his eyes, opened his phone again, and made another call.