Chapter 053: Finding Someone at Dawn

Solas had no recollection of this at all and couldn't help but ask, "When did this happen?"

Having no memory of it, he felt a twinge of regret in his heart.

So, they had a chance to meet that early on?

"It was during Young Master Fu's sister’s third birthday. At that time, Miss Pierce seemingly followed her mother to the Fu residence for the birthday banquet. Miss Pierce is the same age as Young Master Fu's sister—both were three then, while we were six."

Julian looked at them suspiciously. "No way, is your memory worse than mine? I remember it, yet you two have no impression at all?"

It wasn't a matter of memory strength. Solas remembered Frank’s sister’s third birthday banquet, but that didn't mean he could remember everyone who attended.

Moreover, back then, he wasn't the way he was now.

No one was more playful than he was; when he went to the Fu residence, he mostly stayed in Frank’s room playing video games and didn't go out at all, so how could he have met anyone?

"I remember," Frank said.

"It seems that since then, the relationship between Sera and Miss Pierce has been quite good; they stayed in touch occasionally. Later, they both joined the Astral Orchestra and became close friends." Frank’s sister, Sera Fu, was also a member of the Astral Orchestra, specializing in the pipa.

She joined the orchestra two years after Seraphina Pierce.

Solas wasn't particularly interested in these details.

Sera Fu and Seraphina were in the same orchestra; having never missed a single performance of Seraphina's, how could he not know this?

He just hadn't expected there to be such a connection.

If he had known there was a chance to meet her so long ago, he wouldn't have spent all his time thinking about video games back then.

No, if the him of that time had met the her of that time, he might not have been able to fall for her at first sight and never forget her since.

It was precisely because they met at

that

specific point in time that she entered his eyes and heart.

Thinking about it, aside from a bit of regret for not seeing her as a child, he didn't feel much else.

Compared to an unchangeable past, he cared more about the present and the future.

Cherish the present, look forward to the future.

"Young Master Fu, if I recall correctly, Miss Pierce seems to be somewhat related to you, doesn't she?"

"Mm."

Frank gave a faint response as if it weren't a major issue and said no more; Julian didn't ask further either.

He looked at Solas: "Back to the point, Solas, what are you actually thinking? Since Young Master Fu has said so, Solomon must indeed be a bit difficult to deal with now. Let me state first: since you have these feelings for Miss Pierce, I don't support you giving up, but the timing seems rather inappropriate. You can't be by her side to protect her every second..."

Solas was silent for a moment. "I... know what I'm doing."

This "I know what I'm doing" lacked a bit of confidence.

It was clear that Solas was not feeling well at this moment.

Seeing this, the two exchanged a glance and stopped pursuing the topic to avoid stabbing his heart further. The fact that he proactively said he was in a good mood was already a rare thing.

"Alright, let's not talk about that. Let's drink."

Julian poured wine for both of them.

Following that, Solas drank glass after glass; no matter how Julian tried to persuade him, it was useless.

Frank didn't try to stop him, but simply accompanied him for a few glasses.

Since he was on a mission, he didn't drink too much.

A mission that required both Frank and Julian to act was clearly not simple. They were supposed to act together, but after Frank received a message, he stood up to leave alone, leaving Julian there to watch over Solas.

After all, this was Solas’s territory, and they had already informed him. Although they said they didn't need help, how could Solas not grant them some conveniences?

The difficulty of the mission was greatly reduced.

Frank returned in less than half an hour.

They continued drinking.

At 11:00 PM, Seraphina was preparing for bed when she suddenly received a message.

Naturally, she didn't work alone. Even if her computer skills were good, she could only check certain information online.

For things like finding people, one had to turn to private investigators.

Ten days ago, she had contacted a private investigator to help her find someone. Only tonight did she receive news that the person's whereabouts had been traced.

The person wasn't anywhere else, but right at Dawn.

Thus, Seraphina changed into light clothing, put on a hat and a mask, and headed out.

At this hour, the family was asleep; even if they weren't, they would be in their rooms or the study.

Seraphina didn't run into anyone as she went downstairs.

However, she couldn't get a taxi from the Pierce estate, so Seraphina had to drive herself.

Driving herself would inevitably cause some noise.

So, she sent a message to Mrs. Pierce, saying that her friend needed her for something and she was going to the Zale residence.

Mrs. Pierce knew Seraphina was always sensible. Since her friend was looking for her this late, it must be something important.

For girls of this age, heart-to-heart talks with best friends weren't unusual. Mrs. Pierce didn't think much of it and simply told her to be safe—and if it was too late, not to come back and just stay over at the Zales'.

Ultimately, Mrs. Pierce trusted Seraphina too much to suspect her of lying.

This counted as a well-intentioned lie from Seraphina.

Close to midnight was Seraphina’s usual rest time, but it was the busiest time for Dawn; for many, the nightlife was just beginning.

As soon as Seraphina walked into Dawn, she heard the deafening music.

There were many people.

She headed straight for a certain bar counter, where a young man was holding a woman while drinking.

The woman was wearing heavy makeup, and the man looked shifty and untrustworthy.

Seraphina frowned slightly.

Pulling her hat down low, she stood in a corner and didn't go over immediately.

Suddenly, she saw a familiar figure in the crowd.

The Eldest Young Master of the Fu family, Frank Fu.

Frank was Sera Fu’s brother and a childhood friend of Solas; Seraphina naturally recognized him. However, her deep impression of Frank could be traced back to her past life.

When Solas met with his accident, Frank happened to be on a mission and couldn't even attend the funeral.

Later, when she sought revenge for Solas, Frank helped quite a lot.

Still later, when she took charge of the Sterling family, Frank was busy getting married, and after marriage, he was busy with his own life; their contact gradually dwindled.

Frank hadn't needed her help for anything, so strictly speaking, she still owed Frank a favor.

Seeing Frank moving through the crowd, appearing to have a walkie-talkie in his ear—and looking closer—there were several others in the crowd wearing walkie-talkies.

The answer was self-evident.

Frank was on a mission.

Suddenly, she noticed Frank and his team's gazes were cast intermittently toward the bar counter. The counter was not far from her, and the man and woman she had been watching were still sitting there.

To have Frank act in person and be so cautious, the target shouldn't be easy to handle.

If too much of a scene was made, Dawn might be affected.

Dawn belonged to Solas, and she didn't want that to happen.

Walking over, she beat the woman to it and took the glass the shifty man was handing over, simultaneously pulling the woman back. "What did you add to my friend's drink?"

The man wasn't panicked at all. He even looked Seraphina up and down; although she wore a hat and mask, one look at her figure told him she was a stunner.

His gaze was lecherous. "What is this beauty saying? I don't understand. Since we're friends, why don't we have a few drinks together?"

The heavily made-up woman pulled back by Seraphina looked at the drink, a flash of surprise crossing her face, followed by a bitter smile. Her eyes were dim and lifeless.

She stood quietly behind Seraphina.

"Want to drink? Sure! There are too many people here; let's change locations."

The man’s gaze was sinister. "The beauty has a good suggestion."

"My friend has had too much to drink, so she won't be joining us. I'll have someone send her back first." Saying this, she summoned a bartender, gave him some money, told him to send the person safely to a certain hotel, and noted down the bartender's employee ID in his presence.

She wasn't worried he wouldn't send her safely.

Besides, that was a hotel under the Pierce Group; she could find out if the person arrived with a single phone call.

The bartender agreed. He wanted to warn Seraphina not to go with the man, but after receiving a warning glare from the man, the bartender didn't dare speak again and only promised to deliver the person.

However, Seraphina’s sleeve was grabbed by the heavily made-up woman.

"This..."

She wanted to say "this lady," but remembering Seraphina just called her a friend, the woman changed her wording: "I've had too much, my head is a bit dizzy—stay with me."

The girl wore a mask, but one could tell she wasn't very old.

The woman didn't care about herself; she had come here to get drunk because her heart was dead, and she had already anticipated what might happen.

It didn't matter if she was decadent, but she couldn't drag someone else down.

This girl was clearly acting out of a sense of justice.

"It's fine. Since he’s your friend, I'll have a few drinks with him. I'm an old customer of Dawn; no one is more familiar with this place than I am. I'll host your friend for you—it'll be more thorough."

Saying this, she gently patted the back of the woman's hand. "Go back and rest first; I'll contact you later."

The woman was slightly surprised. She stared at her for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, then I'll wait for your call."

The girl's sentence revealed quite a bit of information.

The girl might not have failed to see the man's intentions, yet she still wanted to help. She also stated she was familiar with Dawn, which was a subtle way of telling her she wouldn't come to harm.

"I lost my phone a while ago and got a new one. You know I went through a breakup and didn't want to contact some people from the past, so I changed my number too."

Seraphina played along. "No wonder I couldn't reach you."

Taking out her phone: "Save the new number."

The woman recited a string of digits.

Seraphina saved it and dialed; only after the woman had her number did she leave with peace of mind.

Although the girl's eyes were certain and she should be able to handle the man, she was still worried. However, staying wouldn't help and might even become a burden.

After a rational analysis, she decided to leave first to find help, then call every so often to confirm if the girl was safe.

The woman left. Seraphina took a bottle of wine and two empty glasses from the counter. "Now then, let's find a quiet place to drink."

The man wanted nothing more.

Gazing lustfully at Seraphina's back as she turned to leave, he hurriedly rubbed his hands and followed.

Frank, who had been keeping an eye on this side, frowned and followed as well.

It was undeniable that Seraphina was familiar with Dawn.

She led the man directly to a hallway where few people ever came.

The hallway had high walls on both sides, was about two meters wide and fifty meters long; at this moment, there wasn't a single soul besides them.

With such high, smooth walls, it would be difficult even for Seraphina to leap over and leave.

Turning around, Seraphina directly smashed the wine bottle in her hand against the head of the man behind her.

Frank arrived just in time to see this scene.

[Author's Note]

Going premium tomorrow. Premium time is at noon; tomorrow's update will likely be around 2:00 PM.

I have my driver's license test (Subject 3) tomorrow and don't know when it'll end. I'll upload once it's over.

So, see you tomorrow.