Seline shouted excitedly, “I love it!”

Lester smiled faintly, but there was a hint of coldness in his eyes. When he looked at Stephen, his gaze seemingly said, “Oh? You’re learning to use kids as a talking point? Are you learning from me now?”

Stephen looked at him. The look in his eyes screamed, “So what? You got a problem with that?”

Marianne ended up accepting his gifts when she saw how much Seline liked them. She had also slightly warmed up to him again.

Despite having only a short conversation with Marianne, Stephen showed no intention of leaving.

Marianne had the housekeepers carry all the gifts upstairs so that Seline could play with them. Seline then pulled Cassandra up the stairs in excitement.

Back in the living room, Stephen and Lester sat there like two big statues, and the air between them was extremely tense.

Marianne stayed to talk for a short while before heading upstairs to play with Seline.

Tessa did not want to stay stuck between them, but they were her guests. Lester had brought Cassandra over to accompany Seline, while Stephen had brought Seline so many gifts.

It would be rude of her to just leave them there. Hence, she had no choice but to sit on the couch and watch TV in boredom.

Stephen wanted to talk to her, but Tessa was not in the mood. Whenever he said something, she would just answer perfunctorily and end the conversation.

It wasn’t until Lester brought up legality issues that Tessa became interested. They began discussing their law firm’s recent cases before moving on to legal theories.

Tessa slowly became invested in their discussion.

Not only did Lester have a lot of experience, but he also had a solid foundation in theoretical knowledge and had been keeping up with the latest developments in legal academia.

Seeing how animated their conversation was, Stephen’s expression slowly turned cold.

Soon, it was time for lunch, and the two men shamelessly decided to stay for the meal.

After lunch, Lester noticed that Stephen had no intention of leaving, and he could tell that Tessa was feeling uncomfortable. So, he decided to take the initiative to leave first before claiming he’d come back later to pick Cassandra up.

After Lester left, Stephen noticed that Tessa was still giving him the cold shoulder. So he said, “Tess, things are about to change in Arcton. The person behind James is about to fall.”

Tessa froze as she understood the insinuation behind Stephen’s words.

Once the government official supporting James fell, he would lose all of his power and support. When that happened, it would be much easier for them to deal with him.

How could she possibly not understand what Stephen was implying?

Once James was properly dealt with, they could get back together.

However, after everything that had happened, how could they possibly get back together as if nothing had happened?

Not to mention, Rowena was still alive, and she would never approve of their relationship.

Tessa lowered her gaze and hummed quietly in acknowledgement.

Stephen had assumed that she did not understand what he was implying, so he

got straight to the point. “Once I deal with James, you and your family won’t be threatened by him anymore.”

She avoided looking at Stephen’s

eyes as she looked down and said indifferently, “My dad has spent a lot of money hiring new bodyguards. He even hired a reliable female O bodyguard to follow me around.

“Even if James tries to pull anything, I won’t be afraid. That said, even if James is

no longer in the picture, we can’t go back to what we were.”

Pain flashed across Stephen’s eyes as his voice trembled. “Why?”

Tessa felt a sharp pain in her chest, and it took her a lot of strength before she was able to say what she truly wanted to say. “I-It’s because I don’t love you anymore.”

Stephen’s expression stiffened, and he immediately paled. The sharp pain in his heart was overwhelming as he stood frozen in place.

Tessa murmured a soft “sorry” before she turned and ran away.