Chapter 18: A Matter of Possessiveness

Alaric Vane understood his own psychology very well.

Men, after all, always have a bit of a possessive streak. He could divorce Seren Thorne, but she couldn't take his money to live a lavish life with some other "wild man." As long as Seren didn't mess around with other men, he didn't care about the cold war or the divorce.

Seeing Alaric’s indifferent attitude, Arthur Vane was fuming. "You brat, the only thing hard about you is your mouth. One day, when Seren really leaves, you’ll be the one crying."

"You don't need to worry about that. There are thousands of women in the world; I won't be lacking one Seren Thorne."

Crying his eyes out for a woman? He wasn't some "love-brain." Whether it was that "heroine" Seren mentioned or Seren herself, he had no interest.

"You're going to be the death of me! You deserve to be wifeless!" Arthur glared at Alaric in irritation. He turned to leave but remembered something. "By the way, the boy from the North family is getting engaged. The ceremony is this weekend; you and Seren will attend together."

Alaric asked, "Which family's daughter is the fiancée?"

Arthur replied, "The daughter of some nouveau riche, surnamed Jia."

At this, Arthur paused before continuing, "You’ve probably investigated that girl; she’s the woman Seren mentioned who stole Evangeline Frost’s identity as the wealthy heiress."

Evangeline Frost was the heroine who had saved the male lead, Sebastian North. After that day, Alaric had already investigated Evangeline’s identity and her family relationships. Evangeline was the true heiress who had been swapped at birth, and after she saved Sebastian, the fake heiress had indeed stepped in to steal her status as his savior.

Now, the fake heiress and Sebastian North were actually getting engaged. Everything was unfolding exactly as Seren Thorne had described.

Arthur felt a lingering worry. "Seren said you would fall in love with Evangeline Frost later, do all sorts of evil things for her, and eventually be sent to Northern Myanmar by Evangeline and Sebastian to have your parts harvested. That won't come true too, will it?"

Compared to Arthur’s anxiety, Alaric, the person in question, remained very calm.

"My fate is in my own hands. My future is controlled by me, not some plot in a broken book."

Seeing that Arthur still looked uneasy, Alaric continued, "Seren helped my Second Uncle before. Even if I really am in trouble, she surely won't sit idly by. With her around, you can rest easy."

Mentioning Seren finally gave Arthur some peace of mind. "Seren really is our family's lucky star. If not for her, the Vane family would probably have fallen apart by now."

With that, Arthur shot another glance at Alaric, speaking sarcastically, "Seren has helped our family so much, yet some people don't know the first thing about gratitude. Forget being caring or considerate—they just spend all day making her angry."

Alaric pretended not to hear the sarcasm directed at him. He skipped the topic, chatted for a few more minutes, and then headed to work.

When the weekend arrived, Seren was fished out of her bed by servants at 8:00 AM to start her makeup and dress fittings.

She originally didn't want to appear in public with Alaric, but hearing that today’s engagement party involved the male lead and the "vicious second female lead," her gossip-loving soul immediately caught fire. After hesitating for a long while, she finally decided to go.

The North family’s status in City A was currently inferior to the Vanes, but they were a century-old elite family with deep roots. Many people still wanted to curry favor with them. Although it was just an engagement party, nearly half of the upper social circle planned to attend; many without invitations were even trying to find ways to sneak in.

Where there were many people, there was bound to be intrigue and competition. As the representative of the Vane family's prestige, Seren naturally couldn't afford any lapses in etiquette.

The assistant had found her a makeup artist, a stylist, and several small assistants who swarmed around her all morning, ensuring not a single strand of hair was out of place. From the moment they entered the room, they showered her with praise, calling her "fair-skinned and beautiful" from head to toe.

Seren listened to their flattery, but her attention was on something else. While the assistant was away, she lowered her voice and asked the stylist, "How much is this gown Alaric prepared worth?"

The stylist answered honestly, "This gown is worth over six hundred thousand; it’s the latest haute couture from Brand C."

At this, Seren’s eyes lit up. {The latest model? It shouldn't be discounted much if sold... I could probably get five hundred thousand for it second-hand!}

Since Alaric had paid to rent the gown, the stylist assumed Seren wanted to buy it and said respectfully, "This gown is currently not for sale. However, if you truly like it, you can have Mr. Vane contact the brand. Given his influence, the brand would likely make a concession."

Seren froze. "What do you mean? Alaric didn't buy this gown?"

The stylist realized they were on different wavelengths and explained, "Mr. Vane has only rented this gown temporarily. We have to return it once the engagement party is over."

Seren: "..."

That dog man is way too cunning. He doesn't want to give me a single chance to make money!

In a fit of rage, Seren... stayed angry. Her ultimate act of rebellion was glaring fiercely at Alaric when she went downstairs. She couldn't help it; she was still earning money from the Vanes and couldn't afford to completely offend her employer.

The driver opened the door for her. Seren got in, and the person in the passenger seat turned around to greet her.

"Hello, Sister-in-law."

Seren nodded to Jasper Vane and asked, "How is the book I gave you coming along?"

Since Jasper wasn't built for cultivation and the path of drawing talismans and catching ghosts was blocked, Seren had set him on a different path: teaching him physiognomy and Feng Shui. Since most metaphysical books on the market were fakes, Seren had dictated tens of thousands of words of basic introductory material for Jasper to study.

Jasper said, "I’ve finished it all. I’m planning to practice today by checking the Feng Shui of the hotel where Sebastian North is holding his engagement. Since you’re here today, you can point out anything I get wrong."

Jasper hated studying and usually felt drowsy when reading, but he found the content Seren gave him fascinating and memorized it diligently every day. Partly out of passion, and partly because the fifty-thousand-a-month tuition would be a waste if he didn't learn, he was currently in the most hardworking state of his life, fearing his father would think the money wasn't worth it and stop him from learning.

As they were talking, Alaric got into the car and sat beside Seren. Catching sight of his face, the smile on Seren’s face vanished instantly. She turned to look out the window, leaving Alaric with only the back of her head.

Jasper was now Seren’s apprentice. Compared to his cold-faced cousin, he was naturally biased toward his Master. He roughly knew the reason for their recent conflict, and noticing Alaric’s attire, he couldn't help but speak sarcastically:

"Some people can't even afford to support their wife, only willing to spend a few tens of thousands to rent a gown, yet they wear haute couture suits and cufflinks worth millions. They aren't even afraid of being a laughingstock."

Alaric glanced at him coolly. "Is your skin itching? Do you want to go out and move bricks for a living?"

Most of the money for Second Uncle's family came from Alaric. If Alaric cut him off, Jasper wouldn't just lose his tuition—he might not even have money for lunch.

Having his economic lifeline squeezed, Jasper could only shrink his neck back in frustration.