The Moment I Stepped Into His World as the Fake Girlfriend, I Became the Real Prize novel Chapter 51

In the afternoon, The Whispering Grove was filled with couples on dates.

Ignoring the curious glances of the couples, Lydia Lansbury walked down the shaded path, heading straight for the gazebo.

Right behind her followed a striking young man—Sterling Hawthorne himself!

"Didn't everyone say Sterling got a new girlfriend?"

"Yeah, so why is he following the school belle out here..."

"What's so weird about that? The one you can't have is always the best!"

...

The couples whispered among themselves. Though incredibly curious, they didn't dare get too close, opting to watch from a safe distance.

"Sterling, you've been following me. Is there something you need?"

As she reached the gazebo, Lydia came to a halt.

She spoke without turning around, clearly aware that Sterling was right behind her.

"Lydia..."

"Sterling, you have a girlfriend now. It's inappropriate for you to call me that."

The moment Sterling opened his mouth, she calmly cut him off.

Her reaction was noticeably different from her usual demeanor.

Recalling Elena Larkin's words, Sterling was taken aback. "I've always called you that."

Standing on the steps just outside the gazebo, Lydia's voice grew remarkably even. "That was before. You didn't have a girlfriend then. It's different now, and you know it..."

Pausing, she brought up Elena. "Your girlfriend, Ms. Larkin, minds our past. If she hears you calling me by my first name, she'll get jealous."

The word 'jealous' coming from his crush's mouth further proved that Elena was right!

Sterling took a step forward, staring at her back. "What a coincidence. She said you were the jealous one. I want to know... is she right or wrong?"

She?

Without needing to think, Lydia instantly realized the 'she' he mentioned was Elena.

But Elena... why would she tell Sterling that she was jealous?

"Sterling, who you date is your own business. I just don't want to get dragged into the gossip and become a prop in your little games."

The more she spoke, the colder her tone became.

By the end, she was practically radiating an icy aura. "And I don't want people misunderstanding and labeling me as the other woman! Sterling, you know I despise home-wreckers who ruin other people's relationships—"

Sterling did indeed know a bit about her background.

When Margaret Lansbury was young, she had been deceived by a married man. She unwittingly became the other woman, got pregnant out of wedlock, gave birth to Lydia, and suffered through endless vicious rumors.

Perhaps that was the very reason she had consistently rejected everyone's confessions, including his.

"You wouldn't be the other woman."

Sterling's tone was certain. His relationship with Elena was fake; he could clear it up at any moment.

Lydia lowered her gaze, making her decision. "I just hope that while you have a girlfriend, you won't contact me."

In an instant, Sterling completely dismissed Elena's intuition.

If Elena's intuition was right, and she was jealous and had feelings for him... then what was this right now?