“You’re right, Mr. Nacht. I’ll make sure to learn as much as I can from you.”
Charlotte didn’t seem affected by his words at all. Smiling long and meaningfully, she turned and left with her bodyguards in tow.
“Oh, move out of the way!” Lupine made sure to give Ben a hard shove as she pushed past him.
“You…” Ben gnashed his teeth, furious.
Seeing that Charlotte had left, everyone else dispersed quickly, knowing that the show had ended as quickly as it had begun.
However, it had been an exciting show-down while it lasted. As everyone walked away, they started discussing the matter amongst themselves.
“Gosh, did you see how haughty Ms. Lindberg was? She kept on mocking Mr. Nacht, but he remained gentlemanly and refused to lose his temper. If it was somebody else, however, he would’ve exploded at them immediately.”
“Doesn’t he hate being mocked by people the most? What happened just now? Why did he let her off so easily?”
“In my opinion, Mr. Nacht knew the value of retreating in order to advance.”
“Yeah, right! I think he was just trying to get that beautiful girl out of her bind.”
“Haha!”
Hearing this, Ben’s face turned steely with rage. However, Zachary seemed rather nonplussed. His eyes continued to follow Charlotte as she walked further and further away…
A few businessmen wanted to network with him, but their friends held them back. “Mr. Nacht is probably stewing right now. If you go up to him now, nothing good will come of it!”
The businessmen felt that their friends were right. Timidly, they went up to Zachary and said hello to him before darting away quickly again.
As he gazed at Charlotte, Zachary’s heart swelled with emotion. He tried to keep them under wraps…
He had thought of her day and night for two years, tormented by the guilt in his heart. He finally had a chance to set those feelings free today…
She had returned at last!
She had really appeared in front of him in flesh. This time, she wasn’t a mirage or a dream he had conjured up in the middle of the night— she was actually here.
He had stood close by her just now. Their short conversation stirred up some of Zachary’s memories from the past…
Back then, she had enjoyed bickering with him thoroughly. Although she never managed to beat him in a battle of wits, she liked issuing a challenge to him anyway.
As he thought about this, his lips curved into a smile. The expression in his eyes became much gentler than before.
Had she pretended not to recognize him because she was still mad at him about what had happened all those years ago?
No matter. He would take it one step at a time.
Slowly but surely, he would erase whatever negative feelings she had towards him, and make her return to his side.
“Mr. Nacht, Ms. Lindberg is young and reckless. Please don’t take her words to heart,” Mr. Potter said, trying cautiously to calm Zachary down. “When I find the chance, I’ll make sure to give her a good talking-to.”
If another person had mocked Zachary like that, the fight would’ve ended horribly for them. Even the event organizers would’ve been implicated in the matter. Hence, Mr. Potter felt obliged to apologize for the earlier altercation.
“What a woman! She has some character.”
Zachary smiled brightly and walked away.
Ben and the bodyguards hurried after him.
“Um…” Mr. Potter stood rooted to his spot, feeling a little lost for words. “W-what just happened?”
“Couldn’t you tell what happened, Mr. Potter?” his assistant asked with a smile. “Mr. Nacht has developed feelings for Ms. Lindberg.”
“That can’t be true!” Mr. Potter exclaimed in horror. “The Nachts and the Lindbergs are arch-enemies!”
“All’s fair in love and war.”
Mr. Potter was speechless.
He thought the entire situation was unlikely, but since Zachary had decided to let the matter slide, Mr. Potter decided not to cause more trouble for himself.
Seeing that Zachary was about to leave, he snapped out of his daze and chased after him. “Mr. Nacht, wait for me! I’ll lead the way for you.”
…
Ashenville Garden had very nice scenery. It was located on sprawling grounds and complete with a golf course, a hot spring resort, a racing ground, and a luxurious banquet hall.
It was already late in the evening. The businessmen had returned to their hotel rooms to get ready for the banquet that night.
The Aploth Chamber of Commerce had reserved the entirety of Ashenville Garden for that night. Because there were a limited number of rooms, each participant could only bring two of their aides with them. The others would have to stay in the hotel over at the golf course.
As two of the most prominent families, representatives of the Nacht Group and Lindberg Corporation found themselves staying at the best villas Ashenville Garden had to offer.
However, the villas at Ashenville Garden were all duplex houses. Since both families had similar statuses, members of the Nacht family and the Lindberg family had been assigned to adjoining houses.
Remembering the fiasco from before, Mr. Potter asked if Zachary wanted to switch to a different house. However, Zachary replied cheerfully, “No need to change! I like this place.”
