A Warm Marriage After Rebirth

The mere mention of his injuries made Leo Warren’s entire body ache. He had never met an heiress with such fighting skills, and one who specifically targeted vital points, no less! But even so, at best, she was just a wealthy young lady who was good at fighting. That black card, however, was something only people of a certain net worth could possess. ’Is Seraphina Sterling’s status high enough?’

Although Leo Warren didn’t press the issue, Martin Quinn could see the question written all over his face. "Don’t underestimate her. What if she’s the future head of the Sterling Family? You still think she wouldn’t be qualified for that black card then?"

"The head of the Sterling Family?" Leo Warren exclaimed, the sudden movement aggravating his injuries. "But doesn’t the Sterling Family still have Owen Sterling? Her, a mere girl? How is that possible? Has the old man of the family gone mad? Even if he were insane, he wouldn’t hand the Sterlings over to some slip of a girl, would he?" It wasn’t that Leo Warren lacked composure; he simply couldn’t fathom such a possibility.

"What’s so strange about that? The head of the Sterling family is a cunning old fox who’s perfected his craft. With your intellect, you could rack your brains all day and still not grasp his true intentions." Martin Quinn stared at the wound on his own leg. ’Just a young girl, and she looks so slender. I never would have thought she had that kind of power.’

Leo Warren decided not to dwell on it. He wasn’t as smart as his boss, anyway. "So, about the car... should we keep investigating?"

Martin Quinn’s pleasant mood instantly clouded over at Leo Warren’s words. A dangerous glint flashed in his deep-set eyes. "Investigate! Of course, we’ll investigate! I want to see just who was audacious enough to try and fool me, Martin Quinn!" Someone had tried to use him as a weapon to take out someone else. He would make damn sure they learned just how sharp this particular "borrowed knife" truly was.

In truth, Martin Quinn already had his suspicions, but he wanted to know everything. Every last detail. Often, it was the details that revealed a person’s true intentions.

Seraphina Sterling desperately wanted to floor it and fly through the streets, but Aethelgard’s god-awful traffic rendered her high-performance car useless. She was forced to crawl along at a snail’s pace. By the time she reached her destination, she was nearly an hour late.

Fortunately, the person she was meeting hadn’t decided to leave.

A man in his early thirties, dressed in an immaculate suit, sat drinking coffee by the window. He didn’t look like he was waiting for someone; rather, he seemed to be enjoying a moment of leisure.

Seraphina Sterling took a deep breath, walked over to his table, and sat down. "My apologies, Mr. Sykes. I’m late."

Chester Sykes lifted his wrist and glanced at his watch. "One hour and five minutes. No matter. A lady has the privilege of being late. It’s just that I’ve already had five cups of coffee, so I suspect I’ll be making a few more trips to the restroom."

Er—

’What a unique response to being late.’ He hadn’t berated her for being rude, nor had he simply left. His reaction left Seraphina momentarily stunned. ’Are programmers and software developers just wired differently from normal people?’ "That’s the most creative response I’ve ever heard."

Chester Sykes returned a polite smile. "It seems Miss Sterling is often late. You’ve even reached the point where you can compare people’s reactions to it."

"I take back what I just said!" ’A moment ago, I thought he was a well-mannered gentleman, but now I see he’s just better at hiding it. I knew it. Who would possibly be so pleasant to someone over an hour late, acting as if nothing had happened?’