Tangled in His Obsession

Chapter 462

After listening to Seraphina’s spiel, Simon chuckled softly before eventually responding with a nonchalant, “Having faith is a good thing.”

“Do you have faith, Mr. Martin?” Seraphina inquired.

“None,” Simon answered bluntly. “I’m more of a believer in making my own destiny.”

Raising an eyebrow, Seraphina retorted, “A man without faith is a man without fear. Perhaps Mr. Martin, you feel that lacking faith frees you from all restraints?”

“Life’s but a fleeting moment, why live it in constant fear and hesitation? That’s no way to live at all,” Simon remarked. “I thought you youngsters would see through that.”

Leandro, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up, “That just shows that we walk different paths, Mr. Martin.”

Seraphina glanced at Leandro, whose gaze was cool and steady on Simon.

Simon let out another dry laugh and said, “You’re right. It would be quite dull if everyone were the same. You and your wife are quite the interesting couple. I’m sure you’ll lead a very interesting life.”

“Thank you,” Leandro replied coolly.

Simon’s eyes once again settled on Seraphina, and after a moment of silent observation, he remarked, “I once thought you reminded me of someone I knew.”

“Did I?” Seraphina lifted her chin slightly. “And now?”

“Not anymore,” came Simon’s reply.

“Is it because I’m sharp-tongued and maybe a bit too forthright? Did I scare Mr. Martin?” Seraphina teased.

Simon smiled, “How could you?”

“Right, I forgot. Mr. Martin fears nothing,” said Seraphina with a hint of sarcasm.

Simon laughed again but did not pursue the conversation further.

During the quiet interlude, the door to the hospital room was gently knocked upon, and Seraphina looked up to see Herman entering.

“Leandro,” Herman greeted Leandro before noticing Simon seated on the couch, which caused him to pause briefly.

Simon nodded at him with a smile, and Herman, recovering from his moment of surprise, greeted him rather coldly, “Mr. Martin.”

Simon then asked, “It’s been a while. Have you fully recovered?”

“You mean from the injury?” Herman replied. “It was nothing serious, and I’m hard to kill.”

Simon smiled faintly, “Good. In your line of work, you should have such resilience.”

༡ ཧ ◌ོ ༠ ༢ འཛ

As Herman was about to speak, the door swung open again.

Andrea entered, not expecting Herman to be there, and after a moment of silence said, “Valerio mentioned he left his sketchbook here. I came to fetch it for him.”

Seraphina handed her the sketchbook from beside the couch.

At this juncture, Simon stood up, “Since you’re doing well, Leandro, I won’t impose any longer. Andrea, will you be coming back. with me?”

Before Andrea could reply, Seraphina pulled her aside and said, “She’s got dinner plans with me tonight, so sorry Mr. Martin, I’ll be borrowing your daughter.”

“That’s fine,” Simon said. “You young folks enjoy yourselves. I’ll be on my way.”

“Take care, Mr. Martin.”

Seraphina escorted Simon to the door, and after one last look and a nod, he departed without looking back.

Returning to the room, Seraphina overheard Herman asking Leandro, “What brought him here?”

“Just passing through,” Leandro replied.

“Passing through?” Herman snorted. “Since when does he have idle time to just ‘pass through”?”

At that, Seraphina kicked Herman playfully on the ankle.

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09:14

“Ow! What was that for?” Herman yelped, clutching his ankle.

“You talk too much,” Seraphina scolded.

Realizing his mistake, Herman glanced at Andrea.

Andrea stood nearby, quietly flipping through Valerio’s sketchbook as if she hadn’t heard anything. But regardless of how composed she appeared, her identity as Simon’s daughter was inescapable.

Herman’s expression darkened, and the atmosphere grew heavy.

Seeing this, Seraphina poured Leandro a glass of water before turning to Herman, “Are you off work now? Would you like to join us for dinner?”

Indeed, Herman had finished work. Worried about Leandro after his unscheduled outing and prolonged absence, Herman had come to check on him.

Under normal circumstances, joining them for dinner would be the expected thing to do. However, having just seen Simon, Herman really wasn’t in the mood.

“No, thanks,” Herman answered after a brief glance at Andrea. “I’ve got a couple of cases to work on, need to put in some overtime.”

After hearing this, Seraphina also gave him a knowing look.

Pretending not to notice, Herman addressed Leandro, “I’m relieved that you’re alright, Leandro. I’ll be going now.”

Leandro glanced at him and then at Andrea before simply acknowledging, “Hmm.”

“Off you go,” Seraphina urged. “The further, the better. Hopefully, you won’t show your face again anytime soon.”

Herman glared at her, gave Andrea a fleeting look, and left.

“Don’t mind him,” Seraphina nudged Andrea gently. “Tonight, we’ll go somewhere nice to eat.”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Andrea finally turned to her and asked, “Are you treating?”

Seraphina playfully pointed over her shoulder at Leandro, “This guy sneaked out of the hospital today, so a little payback is only fair! He’ll cover the bill!”

She raised her voice on purpose as she turned to head towards Leandro.

Leandro, without waiting for her to get close, had already handed over his wallet. Seraphina grabbed it and turned back to wink at

Andrea.

Andrea couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

As the man who had made a mistake today, and still supposed to be a patient confined to bed rest, Leandro naturally had no chance to join the ladies for a lavish meal out. But no sooner had Seraphina and Andrea left the hospital with Valerio, than Leandro called for Abbot.

Abbot had been Seraphina’s close protection before being reassigned. Now, he spent most of his time with Leandro.

“You’re going back to your duties protecting my wife,” Leandro instructed, “and I need you to be on your A-game. No slip-ups, understood?”

Abbot had thought he was reassigned due to a mistake and was relieved to be entrusted with this responsibility once more. He quickly responded, “Understood, Mr. Reynolds.”,

Leandro nodded, though his face remained tense.

Simon, the man was all politeness on the surface, smooth as silk, but underneath he was ruthless and reckless.

After the earful Seraphina gave him today…it was a situation that needed to be watched closely.