Secret Scion

Upon exiting the hall, Noelle arrived at a spot under a few palm trees in the courtyard and chose to pick up the call there. "Mr. Williams, what's the matter?"

Ever since Shaun pledged his loyalty, he had been nothing but loyal to Noelle. After all, he was very clear that Noelle was not just the matriarch of the Stewards, but she was also the CEO of the company. His future would be bright if he hung around Noelle.

Shaun was one of the people in charge of the project involving the revamping of the old city. For him to have called at this moment, it was for sure related to the matter of the project.

"Ms. Steward, the paperwork for this project is almost done, but there is one part of the process that requires a trip over to the Capital City. Would you like to arrange for me to go there on a business trip?" Shaun asked.

Noelle casually picked a leaf off the tree, her fingertips tracing the texture lines of the leaf. After a moment of thought, she replied, "Prepare the necessary documents. I will personally go there." "Ms. Steward, the process of obtaining approval won't be difficult. I should be able to complete it on my own. There are still many things that are waiting for you to deal with here. I'm afraid that you won't be able to take so much time out of your busy schedule for this trip."

"My schedule can always be adjusted. Billions of dollars will be thrown into this project. There's no room for any margin of error. Just prepare what's necessary." After she finished speaking, Noelle hung up the call right away.

She tilted her chin slightly as she muttered to herself, "Asher, I'm going to the Capital City to deal with business matters. I'm not going there specifically to look for you."

After Asher returned to the Capital City, Aiden had given him some guidance. With the latter's assistance, Asher's understanding toward Metamorphosis improved by leaps and bounds. Although this martial artform was not a physical presence and could not be accurately described, it was somewhat spiritual, illusive, and ethereal.

However, his increase in terms of strength was quite obvious. After waking up this morning, Asher practiced two sets of Metamorphosis dutifully. Regardless of his strength, speed, or even adjustment period and reaction, it was clear that he had improved.

Asher was quite content with this change.

After having breakfast, Asher originally planned to take a walk, but his phone chose to ring at that moment. When he pulled out his phone, he was surprised to see who the caller was before answering it. "What is it?"

The person on the other end was none other than Rose.

"I'd like to ask you out for a cup of coffee. Are you available today?" Rose asked with a smile. Cycling through his thoughts quickly, Asher instantly knew that Rose was contacting him in order to obtain the footage, so he took his time replying her. "I don't like to drink coffee." "Wine or tea, your choice."

"Then let's have some wine," Asher said with a faint smile. "I remember that you used to have quite a high alcohol tolerance, I wonder how it is now."

"Beating you in terms of drinking shouldn't be too hard. Seven in the evening. See you at Riverside Tavern." After she was done speaking, Rose hung up.

At night, as Asher was making his way to Riverside Tavern, he saw a graceful figure leaning against the rails by the riverside. Clad in a short black skirt and a long-sleeved blouse, Rose's curly long hair danced lightly in the wind by the riverside as she exuded the aura of a graceful goddess.

Asher approached her with a cigarette trapped between his fingers. Tapping it once to get rid of the ash, he asked, "Are you alone?"

"Isn't it good that I'm on my own? Don't you want us to be alone?" Rose looked at Asher, a faint smile played on her lips. Asher could not deny that this woman's charm had not reduced at all since all those years ago.

Asher said with a laugh, "With Xavier's style of doing things, he should have sent Rodrick to protect you. If the discussion doesn't go well, he could just make a move without a care about his own identity."

Rose said with a frown, "Asher, it was indeed a little beneath Grandpa's status to get Rodrick to assassinate you, but from another point of view, this means that he recognizes your potential and value. If it were someone else, he wouldn't have given such orders now, would he?" "Oh? Then should I be thanking him instead?" Asher chortled dryly. A disdainful expression was apparent on his face. It was clearly an assassination attempt, and yet it was packaged so beautifully by those words. Was there any meaning in this?

At that moment, the wind by the riverside suddenly got stronger, carrying with it the dampness and smell that only rivers possessed. Rose instantly shivered and subconsciously crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Let's go in and talk. It's cold outside."

Rose took the lead and entered the tavern. There were not many customers inside. The surroundings were very quiet, which was extremely suitable for private discussions.

In a private room, Asher and Rose sat across from each other. The latter was a regular at the tavern, so she said to the waiter. "We'll get the usual. Also, we'll have two bottles of wine as well." "All right. Please wait for a moment."

"Do you still remember the last time you asked me to come here and drink? At the end of the session, you drank too much and proposed to me in front of everyone. That was also the last time you asked me out for a drink," Rose murmured with a faint smile. "Time has passed so quickly. In the blink of an eye, two years have already passed. There's no going back from that." Naturally, Asher remembered his last drinking incident with Rose. It was coincidentally also the beginning of fall. He had booked the entire place and proposed to her in front of many friends, only to get rejected by her in front of everyone he knew. Not long after that, he got engaged to Phoebe.

However, what Asher could not decipher was the reason why Rose brought up this matter. "Back then, we were both young. When we did things, we didn't leave any room for regret. If that incident were to happen now, I wouldn't have rejected you in front of everyone and left your reputation in the dust." Rose looked at Asher and smiled softly before continuing, "I still remember the time when you said you liked me. Less than a year later, you got engaged to Phoebe. I had originally thought that you would hold on for very long, but later on, I realized that I was the one who had placed too much faith in your feelings for me."

Soon, some dishes and two bottles of wine were served. The waiter poured two glasses of wine for them before leaving the private room respectfully.

Asher picked up the wine glass but did not sip from it. His fingers twirled the glass slightly, and the white wine within swirled. His gaze suddenly landed on Rose as he said with a smile, "If you keep babbling about the past, I might've thought that you regretted everything." Rose's bewitching eyes turned to him as if a hint of emotion was swirling in them. She said with a pursed smile, "Why not? You were originally the heir of the Crawford family and was already regarded as the next patriarch of your family. Now, you have the entire Rollinsford dancing in your palm, so you're considered to be young and successful. It wouldn't be surprising for me to regret the past now, would it?"

Rose smiled brilliantly. Any man would have found it irresistible. Her two shallow dimples gave off a feeling of innocence amidst her mature charm.

Asher put down his glass and looked at Rose in interest. "Is that so? Never would I have imagined that you would acknowledge me, a useless trash. I'm truly surprised by your overwhelming praises."

"However, now that you already have a woman you like, it's too late for regrets, isn't it?" Rose sighed with resentment.

Asher looked at Rose for ten full seconds before he suddenly grabbed her right hand. It felt so soft and wonderful.

How could Rose possibly bear Asher's teasing? She subconsciously withdrew her hand, and her eyes turned sharp in an instant. "If you dare to touch me again, I'll make you regret it." Asher shrugged and smiled as he placed his hand under his nose to sniff it. It was as if Rose's unique fragrance still lingered on his skin. "You won't even let me touch your hand. How could old flames of passion possibly rekindle at this rate?"

Rose suddenly blushed. Although she was used to men flirting with her all these years in her social circle, she had always been a conservative woman. Having reached the current age, she had never had her hand held by someone of the opposite gender. When Asher had grabbed her hand just now, it was as if a light current had run through her body. It was a feeling that could not be described.

Rose tried her best to calm down by downing her entire glass. Then, she said, "You have so many women by your side. How could I possibly believe that you'd develop feelings for me once again?"

Asher said with a laugh. "As long as you sleep with me, I promise that you're the only woman for me."

Rose may have a good temperament, but she instantly unleashed a murderous aura when she heard this sentence. Even her expression turned extremely cold as she gritted out, "Asher, if you continue to ramble nonsense, don't blame me for turning against you!"

Asher just smiled faintly as he lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "Rose, your greatest weakness is that you don't know how to act. Your acting is extremely terrible. You brought up my memories and intentionally lured me just because you wanted me to hand over Garrett's footage to you on my own, right?"

He already knew that Rose's attitude was abnormal right from the start. This woman had never looked at him straight in the eye. All these years, Asher knew perfectly well who she liked. Therefore, Rose's sudden change of attitude toward him was definitely a trap.

"If this were to happen two years ago, perhaps I would have fallen for it, but now, I can only say sorry to you." Asher laughed lightly.

Now that her plan was already exposed, an awkward expression surfaced on Rose's face It was bad enough that her scheme failed. What made it worse was that Asher even touched her hand. Rose was practically furious beyond words as she gritted the words through her teeth. "State your conditions then."