Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney) novel Chapter 126

Chapter 126

#26 BONUS

Elliot blinked at the message in surprise and tapped on the study door upstairs.

“Mr. Sterling, Ms. Wilson just sent me a message…” He trailed off as Julian’s calm, steady voice came from inside, phone pressed to his car.

“Grandma, I swear I didn’t ditch you on purpose. Something urgent came up. Don’t get upset. It’ll push up your blood pressure.

“Yes, yes, I’ve been so busy I feel like I’m splitting in two. You’re right-if this keeps up, I’ll die a lonely bachelor,

Elliot thought bitterly, ‘No one else in Jouleston could get this treatment. Only his grandmother makes him endure such patience.’

As soon as Julian hung up, his expression cooled. “What did she message you for?”

“She said she’d bring your suit back.” Elliot hesitated, then deliberately cleared his throat. “Since you’re so busy, maybe I should tell her not to. Don’t want to waste your time.”

Julian’s sharp glare landed on him. “Tell her to bring it.”

“When?”

“Now.”

“Mr. Sterling? Aren’t you busy?” Elliot swallowed, not daring to press further.

“Got it. I’ll reply right away.”

From the staircase, Peter popped a candy into his mouth and muttered, “Why ask at all? With how clean-freak Mr. Sterling is, he’d never want something from an outside dry cleaner anyway.”

Chapter 126

“Mr. Sterling said Ms. Wilson should deliver it herself,” Elliot told Peter, shooting him a look that made him feel like an idiot. “And he said now.”

Elliot: [Ms. Wilson, Mr. Sterling is free right now. Please bring it over.]

Elliot: [We’re at the Delta Mansion.]

Sydney froze as the messages arrived one after another.

They actually meant it?

Still, after what had happened that night, she owed Julian a proper thank-you. Maybe this was her chance.

She carefully folded the suit jacket, got in her car, and drove to the Delta Mansion.

Oddly, despite the mansion’s reputation for tight security, this was the second time she had been waved through without a single question.

She followed the lakeside road, her chest tightening as the villa came into view.

To Julian, her behavior that night must have looked pathetic. He had probably written her off as a hopeless lovesick fool a hundred times over.

Undoubtedly, he would mock her again today.

“Ms. Wilson, you’re here!” Elliot hurried out as soon as he spotted her car, opening the door for her. “Would you like coffee or juice? Any sweets? I can have something prepared.”

He treated her just as he had when she lived under Julian’s roof-like a little sister he had grown up looking after, but always with a measure of respect. It felt as if nothing had changed, as if she were simply home again.

For a moment, Sydney almost believed she had never left.

She blinked away the daze, picked up the suit, and stepped out of the car. “Juice is fine. Thanks, Elliot.”

“Thanks? What for?” Elliot waved off her formality with a smile. “We’ve been looking after you since you were a child.”

Julian had chosen them himself from the orphanage. They were loyal, without weak spots.

When Sydney was first brought into the household as a little girl, they had been fascinated by her. She was soft, sweet, and precious. They had doted on her as if she were a treasure.

Even after everything that happened later, she remained Julian’s little sister in their eyes. Always had been. Always would be.

Her eyes stung. She quickly looked away. “You did take care of me for many years.”

Noticing her sadness, Elliot pointed upstairs. “Go on. Mr. Sterling is waiting for you.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

She glanced at the second floor, nerves twisting tighter in her chest.

She knew every corner of the family estate, even the number of anthills in the backyard. But this was her first time inside the Delta Mansion.

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It was strange and unfamiliar-just like her and Julian now.

She climbed the stairs, stopped outside the study, and knocked. “Mr. Sterling, I’ve brought the suit.”

“Come in,” Julian said.

The house was unfamiliar, but that voice was the same as she remembered-cool and detached, yet oddly steadying. Her racing heart slowed as she opened the door.

She froze.

The study was almost identical to the one he had kept at the family estate, with the same austere style that warned people to keep their distance. Which was why the pastel blue seashell wind chime hanging in the floor-to- ceiling window looked so out of place.

It was the one she had made the summer before middle school, after Julian had finished his SATS. He had taken her to Brimcrest City, where she had collected shells and strung them together over several days.

He had frowned and called it ugly, yet he had let her hang it in his study.

Now, years later, it was still here.

Julian lounged in the leather chair, his gaze following hers to the wind chime.

“Well, Ms. Wilson? Weren’t you here to deliver a suit? Cat got your tongue?” His voice was flat, almost indifferent.

Sydney blinked herself back to the moment, set the suit on the sofa, and said, “It’s been dry-cleaned.”

Remembering his aversion to anything unclean, she quickly added, “If you’d prefer, I can buy a new one… though it won’t match this custom piece.”

“Sure,” he said, cutting her off.

She froze. He really wanted her to?

She nodded anyway. “Then I’ll find time in the next couple of days to buy it.”

Julian smirked. “You know my measurements?”