His Unveiled Passion

Hayden was respectful and deferential. His tone had completely lost the haughty quality it had before. "I was having a good time chatting with Ms. Yates about her hobbies and interests."

Tessa's hand, which had been resting by her side, twitched slightly. She lifted her gaze and locked eyes with Stephen. With a polite but distant tone, she greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Jacobson."

Barry wasn't around the law firm very often, and he didn't keep up with the goings- on in the entertainment industry. Although he could recognize Nancy's face, he didn't know that she and Stephen were rumored to be dating.noveldrama

He was even more clueless about Stephen being Tessa's ex-boyfriend.

It also didn't help that Barry wasn't someone who could interact with a person of Stephen's status regularly. However, he had a keen eye. Upon noticing how Hayden was behaving so politely toward Stephen, Barry instantly knew that Stephen was no ordinary person.

He mimicked Hayden's actions, greeting Stephen politely, "Mr. Jacobson, it's nice to meet you."

Stephen's eyes were still on Tessa. She was wearing makeup today, and her hair was tied up in a tall ponytail. With the way she was dressed in athletic wear, she looked like a university student. She was pretty and commanded the attention of the people around her. It was no wonder that Hayden, the pervert, couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Stephen's eyes moved downwards. He frowned when he noticed Tessa's pale and slender legs on display beneath her short skirt. Annoyance pricked at Stephen's heart at the thought of Tessa having to spend all her time with Barry and Hayden when she was dressed so attractively.

Sorely tempted to remove his jacket to tie it around Tessa's waist, he also wanted to chase off Hayden and Barry from her side. Suppressing the displeasure simmering in his heart, Stephen schooled his features into a mask of disinterest.

He hummed in response to their greetings. Then, before turning to leave, he mentioned, "I'll leave you guys to your chatting."

Stephen was at the golf club to spend time with a friend, Xavier Lumen, who had just returned from Arcton. It was thanks to Xavier's efforts that Jacobson Corporation managed to swipe the project that James had been working on in Arcton from under his nose.

After they had walked a distance away, Xavier finally broke the silence. He had been silently walking next to Stephen, but he wore an expression that gave off the impression that he had discovered an earth-shattering secret.

"Stephen, my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, are they? Wasn't that woman just now your fiancée? Why are you two acting like strangers?"

Xavier had immigrated to Arcton more than a decade ago. He didn't know Tessa personally, but he had seen her picture in Stephen's villa in Arcton a few years ago. Stephen had told him that she was the woman he was secretly in love with.

Later on, Xavier had specially made a trip back to Orkford to attend

party. When he noticed that

Stephen's fiancée was the woman he had been crushing on forgears, he even congratulated him for having his dreams come true.

Stephen and Tessa's en net

"We broke up."

"What?" Xavier sputtered. "Why would you break up with her when your relationship was going well? Especially after you yearned for her for such a long time."

A caddy approached Stephen and

Xavier and handed a pair of golf

clubs to them. Stephen accepted the golf club. He swung it and sent the golf ball soaring off into the

ve

distance. "I don't want her to be

involved. She nearly lost her life

because she was with me."

Xavier immediately understood Stephen's reasoning. Not only had Seline been kidnapped during their engagement party, but Stephen had also been gravely injured. There had been no other option but to call off the engagement party. Xavier had found out later that everything had been a part of Jacqueline's scheme with James supporting her behind the scenes.

From that moment on, James had been hell-bent on taking revenge on the Jacobsons.

"James tried to do something to her?" Xavier asked.

Stephen's gaze turned cold. He told Xavier everything-how James had hired people to assassinate him and Tessa, and also how Samuel had been pushed down the stairs.

Xavier wore a look of disbelief. "I can't believe he would use heavy weapons in Orkford. He must be completely out of his mind!"

"He's good at covering up his tracks. The police haven't managed to get any leads on him."

"You have to be very careful then. It sounds like James is willing to do anything if you force him into a corner."

"I know."

Sighing, Xavier reached out to pat Stephen's shoulder. "Breaking up with her was the right call. It's just a shame that the two of you can't be together even though you love each other."

Stephen lowered his eyes as his heart was plunged into turmoil. It was a tragedy that they couldn't be together despite being in love with each other.