From Nobody to Everyone's Obsession (Seraphina Vale) novel Chapter 28

Chapter 28 The Rival Arrives

Chapter 28 The Rival Arrives

Zachary didn’t respond to the man. He strolled forward with an easy smile.

“What a surprise. We meet again.”

Seraphina looked up and gave him the kind of look people usually reserved for clueless idiots.

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He knew the jig was up. The whole dramatic entrance, the timing, the swagger-it had all been a setup And she’d seen right through it.

Embarrassed, Zachary turned toward the man who had blocked her path. His voice dropped several degrees.

“Tiger. Take him. Teach him some manners.”

“Yes, Mr. Smith!”

“No-Mr. Smith, I was wrong! Please-I’m sorry-please-don’t-”

The alley filled with the sounds of panicked pleading, then screams. And then, silence.

Zachary turned back, dropping the act. His smile was sheepish.

“Miss Vale, considering how hard I’m trying here… could you at least look at me like I’m not totally hopeless?”

Seraphina gave him a sidelong glance. Her moonlit eyes narrowed just slightly, studying him like a puzzle she already knew how to solve.

That subtle, effortless dominance in her posture-it sent a ripple of pressure into the air, like she could tilt the entire world if she felt like it. Zachary winced. Then raised a hand as if swearing an oath.

“I promise. That’s it. No more games. No schemes.”

She raised a brow, voice flat. “Pending review.” She rejected again.

Zachary clutched his chest in mock pain, but he wasn’t ready to give up.

“Okay, okay. Look. In two months, there’s a private appraisal tournament in Valedawn. You’d win it. No doubt in my mind-”

“Not interested.”

“… Miss Vale,” he sighed, switching to full-on shameless mode. “If you keep refusing me, I swear I’ll just start showing up at your house for dinner.”

A nearby bodyguard nearly choked on air.

What kind of threat was that? This was the heir of Stratmoor Group… and this was his grand strategy?

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Chapter 28 The Rival Arrives

Seraphina tilted her head, blinking slowly like she was actually considering it.

Zachary perked up immediately, sensing hope.

Ding. Her phone lit up with a new message.

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It was from Cassian.

“Will the surgery proceed on schedule?”

There were two earlier messages too.

“Where are you?”

“What are you doing?”

She hadn’t checked her phone all day. She typed back with practiced speed. “Unless something unexpected happens-yes.”

She hit send, then looked up. Zachary was still grinning like a man who thought he’d cracked the code.

Seraphina leveled her gaze and spoke slowly, “Still not interested.”

Just because someone smiled didn’t mean she wouldn’t hit back. And Zachary? She kind of liked hitting him-at least metaphorically.

Zachary had never felt this defeated in his entire life. Later that night, he drove to the executive suite of Stratmoor Group headquarters and barged into the office.

“I’m out. The appraisal expo? Get Alex to do it. I’m done.”

Behind the desk sat a man with a sharp profile and an air of detached authority.

Cassian didn’t look up right away. When he finally looked up, his eyes were calm and steady.

Zachary grabbed the glass of bourbon Victor had just brought in and knocked it back in one swallow.

Then he launched into a dramatic retelling of the entire disaster. The near-mugging, the gallant rescue, the cold rejection.

Every wild move he’d tried. Nothing worked. Cassian listened in silence.

“She’s really that good?” he asked finally, his tone cool.

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