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Ch 02: An Old Acquaintance

Before the man in the brown suit could think any further, Fendrik was already storming toward Leon, his face twisted with rage.

"Bastard! I'm gonna kill you!" Fendrik roared.

The man in the brown suit realized the situation and tried to warn Fendrik not to act recklessly. But he’d only just opened his mouth when Fendrik attacked.

Fendrik threw a flurry of punches and kicks. Leon dodged them all with ease.

Watching Leon’s movements, the man in the brown suit paused. Doubt crept into his earlier judgment of Leon.

"No. He doesn’t seem to be a cultivator," he muttered, his brow furrowing slightly. "He must just be a disciple from some backwater martial school who happens to be good at fighting. Maybe I was overthinking this."

After indulging Fendrik for a few moments, Leon took control of the fight. His bare fist swept across Fendrik’s jaw, followed by a hard knee to the gut. Finally, he shifted behind Fendrik and struck his back, sending the man crumpling unconscious to the floor.

It all happened so fast that everyone in the lobby could only gape at the fight.

Leon then lifted his cold gaze toward the man in the brown suit.

Instantly, the man froze, caught in the weight of Leon’s dominating stare. There was a terrifying aura there that he couldn’t even begin to explain to himself.

"What the hell is with that look? He’s clearly not a cultivator, so why am I this scared?" he thought. "No. My hands and legs are suddenly shaking. Wh-why?"

He unconsciously took a few tense steps back as Leon began walking toward him.

"W-what do you want? D-don’t do anything crazy. Y-you’ll regret it!"

Logically, if Leon were just an ordinary man, the man in the brown suit could have easily threatened him with his status. But his emotions were out of control. His brain said Leon was someone he could step on, yet his heart was scared half to death.

Leon didn’t say a word. He acted with a quiet mystery, leaving everyone in the lobby waiting to see what a troublemaker like him would do in a major company like Pirette Group.

Leon’s steps drew closer to the man in the brown suit. But the man exhaled slightly in relief when Leon passed him with a cold face, continuing toward the reception desk.

The man in the brown suit turned around, his expression still tense, staring at Leon’s back as he muttered, "Damn it. What’s wrong with me? Was I hallucinating?"

As Leon approached the reception desk, a woman and her two coworkers exchanged panicked glances. Who was this man? Would they end up like those two guards if they resisted? Or... was he here to rob them?

The shoulder-length-haired woman slowly slid her hand under the desk and pressed the emergency button repeatedly.

"I’m not here to cause trouble. I just want to meet CEO Chloe," Leon said.

The shoulder-length-haired woman swallowed and gave an awkward smile.

"S-sorry. CEO Chloe hasn’t arrived yet."

"What time does she come in?"

The woman shook her head slightly. "It’s not fixed. Do you have an appointment?"

"No. I don’t have an appointment. But I can wait for her here."

The woman was silent for a moment, then glanced at her coworkers standing behind her. They communicated with their eyes, and one of them gave a nod.

"Alright. You can wait on that sofa." The woman gestured politely with both hands toward a luxurious sofa not far away.

"Thank you," Leon said.

He walked toward the sofa without hesitation. As he moved, the eyes of everyone in the lobby followed him. But Leon didn’t care. He sat down casually, picked up a magazine from the table, and began reading.

Not long after, about seven burly security guards ran into the lobby. Vander, the head of security, exchanged looks with the women at the reception desk. The shoulder-length-haired woman signaled with her eyes, pointing toward the sofa.

Vander nodded in understanding and immediately had his six colleagues follow him. They ran past the man in the brown suit, who was still confused by his own fear of Leon.

Leon exhaled when he noticed the guards arriving. He just wanted to sit quietly until CEO Chloe came. He’d already tried to keep a low profile. But apparently, this was just his unlucky day.

"Are you here to throw me out too?" Leon asked calmly.

He glanced for a moment at the shoulder-length-haired woman who had let him wait, making her quickly look away from Leon in fear.

"I told you, I just want to meet CEO Chloe. I’m not someone who likes to cause trouble. But if you force me, then I won’t hesitate to entertain you."

"Bullshit!" Vander barked. "I don’t know what trick you used to take down Johan and Fendrik."

"I also don’t care what your business is with CEO Chloe. The point is, you’ve disturbed the order in this office. Look, everyone’s scared because of you!"

"Get out of here, or you—"

"Or what? The two men lying on the floor said the same thing. Don’t end up like them."

"Damn you!"

Vander’s face flushed red, a vein throbbing at his temple. He turned to the colleagues behind him and ordered them to beat Leon.

"Stop!"

Just as they were about to move, a woman’s voice echoed through the air. From the open elevator, a beautiful woman walked out with a stern gaze. Her skin was flawless, her hair styled in French layers. A slender body, thick brows, thin lips—anyone who saw her would talk about her beauty.

"Miss Bella?" Vander blurted, turning around. He immediately fixed his expression and pointed at Leon as he said, "This man came here to cause trouble."

Bella didn’t comment and kept walking past Vander.

As her steps neared the sofa, Bella looked a little excited. A faint smile touched her lips, as if she were about to meet an old friend. But when she saw the man sitting on the sofa, her smile vanished instantly.

"My apologies. I thought you were someone else," Bella said, clearing her throat awkwardly. She straightened up, fixed her expression, and looked at Leon formally.

Leon’s gaze was deep as he looked at the woman who was once his old friend. Ten years had passed, and she’d become even more beautiful.

But right now, Leon didn’t want to reveal who he was yet.

Since the tragedy at Maplewood Pavilion, at that dinner banquet, Bella was the only person who had faithfully tended Billi Vint’s grave to this day.

Billi Vint’s death that night had been staged by Grasella as a tragic accident—so the law never touched them. Billi Vint was buried in a remote forest, at his own request in a will that had been forged by Grasella.

When Leon learned about it, he was furious. Every month, he secretly watched Bella—she never missed a visit to care for his father’s grave.

He didn’t understand. Why did Bella do that? What debt did she carry that she would travel far from the city to a remote forest, alone, just to tend a grave?

"You mean...?" Leon let his sentence hang.