A Warm Marriage After Rebirth

Justin Hale’s expression turned incredibly ugly. There was nothing inside? The stone Seraphina Sterling had her eye on didn’t even show a speck of green? He looked at Seraphina in confusion and saw her let out a slight sigh of relief. Her expression of lingering fear didn’t seem like an act. ’Could it really be a coincidence? This is too bizarre!’

Franklin Sutton was also shocked, but his shock was mixed with the relief of having dodged a bullet. ’If I had bought that stone, I would have lost a fortune!’

Willow Hale wasn’t nearly as calm as Justin Hale. Seeing fifteen million go down the drain, the joy from her earlier win vanished completely. She immediately rushed up to Seraphina Sterling. "You liar! You did this on purpose! You deliberately drove up the price and made Mr. Hale think this stone would produce jade! This was all part of your plan! You liar! You’re going to compensate us today!"

"Willow Hale, it seems your memory is just terrible. Can’t you even remember what happened yesterday? This isn’t your backyard; you can’t just say whatever you want! If you don’t understand the rules, then don’t stand here spouting nonsense and embarrassing Mr. Hale! You’ll make everyone think he’s a sore loser. It’s only fifteen million. I’m sure Mr. Hale isn’t that stingy!"

Every sentence from Seraphina Sterling mentioned Justin Hale, directly pinning the blame for Willow Hale’s idiotic behavior on him. Sure enough, the way the crowd looked at Justin Hale changed. The young master of the Hale Family of Aethelgard, getting angry over a mere fifteen million... he really lacked grace.

Willow Hale noticed Justin Hale’s displeased expression and grew even more anxious. ’Our family is counting on Mr. Hale for help! If I anger him and he refuses to help, I can’t even begin to imagine the consequences!’

Willow Hale’s anger intensified. "Seraphina Sterling! Stop your nonsense! Considering Mr. Hale’s status, why would he care about such a small amount of money! My point is that you deliberately tricked us! You set Mr. Hale up!"

"Stone gambling is, at its heart, a gamble! As Philip Hale’s daughter, haven’t you heard your father say that nine out of ten gambles fail? I never once claimed that my judgment is always perfect or that I never make mistakes! Mr. Hale losing the bet is a result of his poor judgment and bad luck! How can you possibly blame that on me?"

Seraphina Sterling put on an innocent expression. "I never asked Mr. Hale to fight me for the stone. If Mr. Hale is so confident in his abilities, he’s more than welcome to pick his own! Nobody forced him to buy the one I had my eye on!" She deliberately used the word "fight," making Justin Hale’s expression even uglier.

"Seraphina Sterling, you..." Willow Hale was about to explode with anger, but she couldn’t find a word to refute her.

"Shut up!" Justin Hale barked harshly. No matter how unwilling Willow Hale was, she had no choice but to fall silent.

Justin Hale regained his usual gentlemanly demeanor. "Impressive methods, Miss Sterling! I wonder, was this revenge satisfying?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Seraphina Sterling returned his smile. "Whatever are you talking about, Mr. Hale? When did I ever get revenge on you? Everything was your own choice!"

"Miss Sterling, besides the Golden Thread Variety, you haven’t had any other gains this morning. I hope you can keep that smile on your face." Justin Hale’s gaze deepened. He kept feeling as if this Seraphina Sterling held some sort of hostility toward him, ’but I’m certain we’ve never met before!’

"Of course I will." Seraphina Sterling was still beaming. "Master, please cut this one."

Everyone was stunned. The topic had changed far too quickly! And when had Seraphina Sterling even bought that stone? How had none of them noticed?