Standing before Love

Serena was suspicious and she stared at the man who was holding Myra in his arms.

When Henry had mentioned that Miss Stark was a friend of Tony’s, Serena thought that she might be Tony’s girlfriend. After all, Tony did not have friends who were women, let alone bring them home. However, it seemed that Miss Stark was already in a relationship.

Serena frowned slightly before she asked with a pleasant smile, “And who might this be?”

Before Myra could answer, Sean replied, “Miss Hart, it looks like you’ve already met my wife. I’m Sean Chase, by the way, from the Chase Group. We’re here for Old Master Hart’s birthday banquet.”

His wife?

Serena’s smile faltered slightly. She sighed inwardly as she glanced at Myra, then turned to address Sean, “On behalf of my grandfather, I thank you for coming. Please go on in.”

Meanwhile, Myra nodded silently at Serena, then proceeded to walk through the entrance with Sean’s arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Suddenly, the hand that gripped her shoulders tightened ever so slightly, making her turn to look up at him.

As they entered the Ritz Carlton, the bright lights brought out Sean’s defined and attractive features. He looked dapper in his black suit and crisp white shirt, the dark teal of his tie adding an understated pop of color to his outfit. He was tall and broad-shouldered, easily standing out among the other guests who were gathered by the entrance.

Myra’s heart dropped to her stomach. Did he just introduce me as his wife?

When was the last time she had felt this way?

Or was he only putting on a show?

Tears pricked her eyes, and it took a moment for her elation to die down as she told herself that he was only acting for the sake of the event. All she had to do was to play along with him, and she shouldn’t allow herself to believe any of this was real.

They were glued to each other as the night breeze picked up but even so, there was no warmth between them.

As if sensing someone’s eyes on her, Myra halted in her steps and glanced over to the side, only to see a flurry of people hurrying over to the car that was pulling up at the entrance.

She saw that it was a silver gray Bentley Musanne. Someone called out ‘Director Hart’, and a familiar figure stepped out of the vehicle, looking cool and distant. He was dressed in his usual black suit and white shirt, the simplicity of which brought out the chiseled angles of his face. Every one of his movements was regal and imposing, and he looked as though he was glowing under the lights of the hotel.

Myra had long known that Tony drew attention everywhere he went. The panther-like grace with which he carried himself made him stand out in any crowd, even if there were millions of others around him.

From a distance, he appeared to be unruffled as he looked ahead, but he turned and let his gaze fall upon her.

Myra pursed her lips as she thought about how shameless he was.

Just then, an abrupt pain shot through her arm, and she thought the bones in her wrist were about to shatter.

“Be sure to address him.” Sean turned to cast her a cold, warning gaze.

However, when he looked up and saw a business acquaintance standing not too far away, he quickly resumed his gentlemanly front.

Myra’s lips pressed into a grim line and she looked away from Tony.

When Tony saw the ‘happily married’ couple who were standing at a distance, his eyes darkened like a stormy sky over tempestuous waters.

“Tony, please don’t tell me you actually have feelings for Miss Stark—or should I say, Mrs. Chase,” Serena said in a warning tone. She had seen the look in Tony’s eyes; he’d been openly staring at Myra since he got down from the car. Her heart grew heavy as she lowered her voice and added, “She’s married. I just met her husband—”

“So what if she’s married?” Tony cut her off, shrugging nonchalantly. With that, he walked straight ahead, disinterested in whatever else his sister might have to say.

Resigned, Serena sighed to herself and watched as he walked away.

Sebastian Hart’s birthday banquet saw a full-fledged Hart family gathering, save for his wife—Lisa Hart—who was down with a fever and had to stay home. The titans from nearly half of the business industry in Bradfort City were present at the banquet as well. Myra looked around—the event was refined and proper, which explained why Sean had wanted to make an appearance with her in the first place.

In social events like this, men often grouped together to talk about business, while the women stood by the sidelines.

Myra was tired after going around the hall with Sean to greet a couple of directors who had close business relations with Chase Group. She was also tipsy after downing a few glasses of red wine. She had never been good at holding her drinks and though Sean knew this, he did not offer to drink the wine for her.

They had only just moved away from a conversation with another group of acquaintances when they ran into the two Hart brothers—Tony and Damian.

Tony was renowned in Bradfort City ever since he had taken over the Hart Group, but Damian served in the military and was thus an elusive character to most. However, it was not hard to guess who the latter was, seeing as his military rank insignia was embroidered on his uniform. Furthermore, standing side by side, both brothers shared a strong resemblance between them.

Sean’s eyes narrowed slightly when he saw them, but he smiled courteously and abruptly wrapped an arm around Myra’s shoulders before going up to the two men. “General Hart, Director Hart, it’s a pleasure to meet both of you. I saw Old Master Hart, but he looked so busy that I didn’t get to wish him a happy birthday.”

Damian suddenly froze.

He and Tony had initially planned on heading over to have a chat with Mr. Engleham, but the moment he took a step forward, Tony discreetly blocked his way. Not long after that, they found themselves being greeted by the couple before them.

Damian did not spend much time in Bradfort City, so he had no idea who Sean was. Tony, on the other hand, casually raised a glass at them, a light smile playing on his lips. “The pleasure is ours, Director Chase. Thank you for taking the time to attend our grandfather’s birthday banquet, and thank you as well… Mrs. Chase.”

His gaze openly fell on Myra as he muttered the last two words with an amused undertone.

“Speaking of which, I truly admire your work, Mrs. Chase. Now that our companies are in a partnership, I look forward to working together with you,” he added.

He might be smiling but his eyes were as cold as ever, and Myra couldn’t help but think about the things he had done to her even after he found out that she was married.

Her fists clenched instinctively.

Sensing that something was off with Myra, Sean recalled the scene from the video. He frowned as he stepped smoothly in front of her, cutting off Tony’s line of sight.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Director Chase,” Damian chimed in lightly, having quietly observed the scene before him. He was surprised to see his little brother make the first move. He had heard about the Chase Group, but he couldn’t figure out why Tony was getting worked up all of a sudden over a small real estate project. Nonetheless, he smiled as he continued, “We have a lot of guests today, so we apologize for not being able to attend to you.”

The smile on Sean’s face was a distant one as he said politely, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well then, if you’ll excuse us, Director and Mrs. Chase.” Damian did not wait for the couple to say anything. Having sensed that there was something off with Tony, he steered him in the direction of Sebastian Hart, who was standing not too far away from them.

Meanwhile, Sean was frozen in place as he watched Tony leave with a cold gleam in his eyes. He was a man, after all, and he did not miss the look in the latter’s eyes when they fell on Myra.

A rush of anger seized him and without pausing to think, he dragged Myra toward the back gardens.

Some distance away, Damian still had a genteel smile tugging on his lips, but his tone was suspicious as he asked, “Tony, did you go up against them on purpose?”

While this was Old Master Hart’s birthday banquet, everyone knew that the old man preferred quiet affairs—the dinner party was only a lavish guise for him to play matchmaker for his two bachelor grandsons. Gambling on their chances to climb up the social ladder, respectable families in Bradfort City were now bringing their unmarried daughters before the old man, hoping he would spare them a glance.