Seraphina Sterling took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself. A warm smile returned to her face before she turned to meet Justin Hale’s gentle gaze. Though he appeared as mild as a gentleman, Seraphina felt a bone-chilling cold.

’From now on, I have to fight this dangerous man to the very end!’ She hid the hatred in her heart, her smile growing even warmer and more harmless.

"Mr. Hale, you flatter me."

’To think she can still be so calm and composed in my presence!’ Justin Hale was secretly astonished. ’The shocks this girl delivers just keep coming!’

"Flattery?" Justin Hale took a few steps forward, his smile growing even more gentle.

"I don’t think so. In the matter of acquiring Philip Hale’s businesses, I always thought my biggest rival was Felix Gallagher. I never imagined that from beginning to end, Felix Gallagher was working for you! I never would have thought that a leading domestic jeweler and a mere high school sophomore—two people of such vastly different statuses—would actually cooperate!"

"And that’s why Philip Hale’s businesses ended up in my hands, not in your pocket!" Seraphina Sterling had no desire to waste any more words with Justin Hale, cutting him off completely.

Justin Hale was stunned. Seraphina Sterling had always been all gentle smiles and soft words in his presence. This sudden, domineering statement left him speechless. He had a whole list of probing questions prepared, but now he couldn’t get a single word out. He could only stare blankly at her retreating figure.

’She must have had her eyes on Philip Hale’s businesses from the very beginning. First, she got him thrown in jail, and then she sacrificed profits at the stone-selling convention to get close to Felix Gallagher.

’She knew that if she approached Philip Hale directly about an acquisition, given his intensely vengeful nature, he would rather watch his businesses fail than sell everything he’d built to the very person responsible for landing him in jail and ruining his company. So, she had Felix Gallagher pretend to compete with me, putting Philip Hale in a bind.

’When Philip Hale’s anxiety reached its peak, Seraphina reappeared, deliberately stoking his resentment to make him toss this hot potato to her! Philip Hale thought he was trapping Seraphina, expecting me to team up with Felix Gallagher to take her down.

’Little did he know, this was all part of Seraphina’s plan. Felix Gallagher’s relationship with her is anything but shallow. He’s firmly on her side and would never make a move against her.

’And on top of that, Seraphina is the student of Terrence Grant, the Grant Family’s Demon King of Chaos. Even I can’t make a move against her out in the open! In other words, Philip Hale’s plan was doomed from the start!

’Everyone involved, including me, was just a pawn in her game! The only question is, is the Grant Family’s Demon King of Chaos the player, or is he just another piece on Seraphina’s board?’

Seraphina Sterling returned home, set up the desktop computer she had pre-ordered from Sanford, and got her new laptop. The funds were all in place. Now, it was time to rake in the cash!

With her current capital, she could make a killing in the stock market. Needless to say, she remembered with perfect clarity the economic situation of the past decade, the development of major corporations, and the few major crashes and booms in the stock market!

Everything she had painstakingly studied for Justin Hale back then was now coming in handy!

At Tollan City’s current economic level, while there were a few internet cafes in town, personal computers were not yet very common. Someone like Seraphina Sterling, who owned both a desktop and a laptop, was an extreme rarity.

Seraphina Sterling opened her computer, registered an account, and glanced over the major stocks. When she saw Keystone Technologies had hit rock bottom, she immediately started buying like crazy! She couldn’t help but feel relieved. ’Thank goodness I made it in time! Otherwise, this golden goose would have flown the coop.’

After that, Seraphina Sterling looked at a few other stocks she vaguely remembered and bought them up in large quantities. She cast a wide net, investing in pharmaceuticals, automobiles, film and television, real estate, and cosmetics, until almost all of her two hundred million in capital was spent!

With all that done, Seraphina Sterling could finally breathe a small sigh of relief. It was a good thing she had caught this financial storm while the stock market was in a slump! This time, however, the financial crisis hadn’t originated in Apex; the country was only caught in the crossfire. Apex’s economy was still very robust, and in just a short six months, the market would heat up again!

For the past six months, Seraphina Sterling had been working tirelessly to accumulate capital, all for the sake of seizing this very opportunity.

But while this problem was solved, another big one remained.

After the incident with Philip Hale, Seraphina Sterling had turned into a model student, going to and from school on time every day. Because of what happened at the police station, she was still only surrounded by Summer and Mindy Linton, but she was quite satisfied with the current situation. It was peaceful. She had plenty of time to plan many things! However, some people just didn’t want to let her have that peace and quiet.

Then, one day after school, Justin Hale was waiting in front of the school gate, leaning against a flashy red Ferrari. A handsome face and a cool sports car were more than enough to attract everyone’s attention! Especially the women!

The moment Seraphina Sterling saw Justin Hale, she had a bad feeling!