CHAPTER 4: CHAPTER 4: THOUSAND JADE FOUNTAIN PEN

Aethel Law Firm?

Sebastian Prescott?

Sienna Monroe was utterly bewildered. She had never paid much attention to the legal profession, and her heart was filled with confusion and curiosity. She decided to search for the name "Sebastian Prescott".

Upon clicking into his personal profile, the first thing she saw was an extraordinarily handsome two-inch identification photo.

Below was an introduction: Sebastian Prescott, 29 years old, a native of Imperial City, a top-ranked lawyer in Imperial City, graduated from the Imperial City School of Law, obtained a doctorate from Crestwood University School of Law, founded Aethel Law Firm upon returning to the country, serving as the principal lawyer, specializing in civil and criminal litigation and international financial trade.

Young and successful, his reputation in the legal world was illustrious, with no defeats to date.

His style was sharp and steady, cold and taciturn, but often able to hit the mark, piercing straight into one’s heart and soul.

Nicknamed "The Flayer."

The insinuation being, if you go up against him, you’ll lose a layer of skin no matter what.

Below were numerous case experiences he had handled.

Among them was a divorce case strikingly similar to hers: the husband was unfaithful, secretly gifting over fifty million worth of conjugal property in houses, cars, bags, and jewelry to the mistress during the marriage.

The outcome was the husband leaving empty-handed, the mistress returning all sixty million, and paying an additional sum for emotional distress.

Sienna Monroe finished reading and fell into silence.

The words on the screen became increasingly blurred and hazy; she let out a scoff, tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Her heart and lungs felt heavily compressed, pained to the point she could hardly breathe.

She raised her hand to clutch her chest.

With a self-deprecating thought, she realized it was time to make plans.

She certainly couldn’t pretend to be oblivious and continue living with him, could she?

No way!

She just couldn’t do it.

The past six years felt utterly ridiculous.

Now, every time she recalled the scene she had just witnessed at the entrance of Rippling Crest Estates, it felt like having a dirty rag shoved in her mouth, making her nauseous and repulsed.

Not only did she want a divorce, but she also wanted Vivian Nash to cough up every single penny she had swallowed belonging to the houses!

Those things should never have belonged to her.

However, if a divorce happened, it would definitely affect the Sterling Family’s reputation and interests. Whether they would intervene was uncertain, but Caleb Sinclair’s mother, June Ewing, would certainly get involved.

Without thorough preparation, achieving her desires would be difficult.

After all, the Sterling Family was highly prestigious in Imperial City, spanning construction, real estate, and technology sectors.

However, Caleb Sinclair’s status was somewhat awkward. He was the Sterling Family’s illegitimate son and was only brought back with his mother during middle school.

He’s always been suppressed by the Sterling Family’s first wife and her two sons.

However, June Ewing was a resilient and resourceful woman with beauty and strategy.

Two years ago, with her assistance, Caleb was appointed as an executive of a construction company under The Sinclair Group, officially stepping into the family business.

After a while, Sienna Monroe wiped away her tears, suppressing the pain in her heart. She took a deep breath, reapplied some makeup to lessen the puffiness of her eyes.

She opened the navigation and headed towards Aethel Law Firm.

But as expected, she met with disappointment. The receptionist apologized, "I’m sorry, without an appointment, I can’t let you up."

"When is he available?" Sienna pursed her lips and asked again.

"I’m really sorry, but our lawyer Prescott’s schedule is fully booked. At least for this year, he won’t be accepting any more case commissions. If needed, I can introduce you to other lawyers in our firm, would that be alright?"

Sienna was speechless. Given someone like Sebastian Prescott’s caliber as a lawyer, it was only natural he dealt with a lot.

It wasn’t that she must have Sebastian as her lawyer, but the SMS had specifically named him.

She gave a faint smile, "Thank you, I’ll think about it."

As she left the firm, wondering what to do next, a message popped up: [Go to Prosperity Pawn and buy back the Thousand Jade Fountain Pen. It is a critical piece of evidence in a criminal lawsuit Sebastian Prescott is handling now.]

Sienna was taken aback.

She did know about the Thousand Jade Fountain Pen—it was a pen made from jade launched by the international company Starrism on this year’s Valentine’s Day.

On Valentine’s Day, Caleb Sinclair had asked if she liked it. Naturally, she did, but the pen was a limited edition, and they hadn’t managed to reserve one at the time.

Now, her curiosity was piqued. She immediately typed a message: [Who exactly are you? How do you know so much?]

Upon sending, a prompt immediately appeared: [Your message failed to send.]

Sienna frowned, her heart inexplicably racing a little.

What kind of person couldn’t be traced, yet could receive messages but not send them?

She was utterly baffled.

Prosperity Pawn was opposite the Antique Street in Northgate. The storefront wasn’t large, but Sienna found it with little effort.

Upon entering, the owner promptly came up to serve her, inquiring about her needs, and then enthusiastically introduced the store’s products to her. She didn’t really pay attention and walked directly to the counter, immediately spotting the Thousand Jade Fountain Pen on the second shelf.

With her slender finger pointing lightly, "Let me take a look at that pen."

The owner immediately donned gloves and took out the fountain pen to show her.

This fountain pen was quite unique; there was an invisible line of numbers on the cap, allowing verification of its authenticity on Starrism’s official website, and one could also view or change the pen’s owner’s basic information.

Sienna took a simple glance, then looked up and asked, "What’s the price?"

The owner was a businessman and could tell she was dressed in designer brands. His face broke into wrinkles with a smile, and his eyes gleamed with a shrewd light.

"I see you’re someone with good taste. This is a limited edition, no longer available. The provenance is absolutely legitimate..."

"Just tell me how much."

The owner was speechless, then straightforwardly quoted a price, "A hundred thousand."

"How much?"

Sienna looked at the owner, her gaze direct and straightforward.

The owner inexplicably felt uneasy under her stare, cleared his throat awkwardly, "If you’re sincere about wanting it, I’ll discount it a bit... Alright, I see you’re straightforward, how about eighty thousand?"

After waiting for about half a minute and seeing she still remained silent, the owner assuredly patted his chest, "Miss, this is definitely a fair price, especially considering I didn’t acquire it cheaply. I can’t sell it at a loss, right?"

Sienna said, "Let me see the pen’s original box."

The owner scratched his forehead, confidently saying, "The person who pawned it didn’t include the box... But the pen is definitely genuine, you can verify it now. If there’s a fake, I’ll pay you tenfold. Our Prosperity Pawn has been in business for over ten years, and we value integrity above all!"

Sienna didn’t suspect the pen was fake, she just said, "Since there’s no box, the price..."

Is too high.

The owner could clearly understand what she meant, he gritted his teeth, "Sixty-eight thousand. It can’t go lower..."

"Fifty thousand, let’s meet in the middle," Sienna said. "If that works, draft a sales contract."

The owner wanted to try for a little more, "Fifty-six thousand, it sounds like a lucky number."

Sienna didn’t fuss about a few thousand yuan, she nodded, promptly transferred the money, and watched the owner draft the contract, signing it swiftly before leaving the pawnshop.