His Dangerous Angel (Serena and Sebastian) novel Chapter 119

Jackson’s assistant panicked. "Miss Q, Mr. Jackson is already in Evervale City. Normally he wouldn’t personally attend the finals, but this time he broke precedent just to meet you. Considering his age and how exhausting the trip was, could you make an exception and see him, just once?"

He did sound sincere.

Ten minutes later, Serena and Kelly arrived outside Luther’s office.

"You really dared to come!" Kelly sneered.

She had only suspected before that Serena might try to worm her way into Hayes Corp’s evaluation by improper means. Now it looked like Serena really was that shameless.

Too bad for her, Jackson was notorious for being rigid and incorruptible—no one was getting through his back door.

"If you don’t want to humiliate yourself, you still have time to walk away," Kelly said coldly.

Serena ignored her and knocked. After Luther’s "Come in," the two of them entered the office.

The sight of Serena made Luther hesitate for a moment.

Jackson’s aide Spencer glanced from the papers to the people in front of him. "And you are…?" Not finding Serena’s name in the documents, his gaze naturally slid to Kelly. "Kelly, then who is this?"

"I’m Serena Quinn. You asked me here," Serena said calmly.

Her upright tone nearly made Kelly laugh aloud.

The moment Jackson heard that name, his face turned dark. "You’re Serena? Who told you to come?"

Spencer paled. "Not me!"

Of all things, researchers despised people who tried to pull strings.

He looked at Serena with open distaste. "Serena, none of us asked you to come."

"You’re sure?" Serena asked.

Spencer straightened, even a little angry. "Absolutely sure! We’d never recruit someone who relies on connections, no matter who you know."

"In that case, fine. Don’t regret it."

Her words were light, but in everyone else’s ears they sounded arrogantly provocative.

Jackson almost blew his top. His stubborn streak flared instantly. "I’ve never been afraid of anyone in my life! Even if you brought the head of Hayes Corp here, it wouldn’t matter!"

It was practically written across his forehead: I don’t bend.

Serena said nothing more, simply left the room.

And the only one who had just come and been turned away was… Serena. Q—did it stand for Quinn? Could it be…

Spencer felt a chill run up his spine. Jackson, too, was momentarily uncertain.

Kelly’s heart sank. She turned to Celeste. "Did you see anyone else outside? Maybe someone was turned away?"

Celeste, still simmering from being sidelined, snapped, "I saw Serena chase off a student heading this way. Could it have been her?"

Jackson’s uncertainty evaporated. Miss Q couldn’t possibly be Serena. Miss Q wasn’t the type to chase fame and profit, much less need Hayes Corp to open doors for her.

And besides—Miss Q didn’t need anyone’s help.

But the thought that Serena had driven away the very genius he had come all this way to meet sent Jackson’s fury surging again.

"Mr. Luther, how can your school have a student like this? Cheating, trying to use connections, and now even impersonating someone we’ve been desperately searching for?"

With that one outburst, Kelly and Celeste both understood—Jackson’s true purpose in coming was to find Miss Q.

Luther wiped his brow. Serena was a connected student, not someone he could easily punish. But Miss Q was from Haven High School too, and he could promise to help Jackson find her, so his trip wouldn’t be in vain.

Only after much reassurance did Jackson calm down.

Then he pulled out a sheet of paper. "Here—take a look. How many of these characters can you recognize?"