CHapter 214


    The first time they met?


    Palmer shed a grin, lifting his gaze to meet Noe’s cool eyes. “Shall we chat on the way?”


    His look was intense and Noe turned her head away slightly, feeling a tad ufortable


    “If you don’t care about your health, that’s not my problem.”


    That was her way of agreeing to let him tog along!


    Fresh from his vacation, Mizar parked at the entrance of Serene Haven, her eyes nearly popping


    out as she watched her boss and Vocalist hop into the car together!


    Wasn’t Vocalist at the border just a couple of days ago? And now he’s back? And he’s been holding


    onto their boss’s hand the whole


    And time, the most shocking part being that she hasn’t shaken him off or chopped off his hand! Had


    she missed some crucial plot twist while she was away from Imperial City?


    “Let’s roll, time to pick up our guest”


    The grand master of the zither, Rainer, was arriving in Imperial City today, his itinerary hush–hush.


    With Rainer’s stature, if word got out about his travels, it would stir up a storm in the social circles!


    “Roger that, boss. Heard there’s been a run on nephrite around Imperial Citytely, fetching a


    pretty penny.”


    “That stuff isn’t worth much”


    Though it was nephrite, sourced from the mountain peaks, its greatest value was medicinal. The


    Schnabel family had snagged arge. plece, spending a small fortune to ce it in Marcel’s


    bedroom.


    To the outside world, it was a coveted treasure, but to the folks of Pris Star, merely a decorative


    trinket with little practical use, considering Pns Star was the world’srgest distributor of


    nephrite!


    Mizar shrugged. “Yeah, some nutjob imed it could cure cancer, and suddenly it’s hot again, with


    fakes flooding the market?


    All the nephrite production was tightly controlled by Pris Star. Noe was clueless as to how so


    much had been sold off in Imperial City. Most likely forgeries, or inferior goods passed off as


    premium.


    There were too many suckers in Imperial City with more money than sense.


    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Noe nced at the financial report on her phone; business at the music store had spiked


    recently. Clearly, the nephrite craze had even reached the parts used for zither essories.


    It seemed she’d n


    need to carve out time for a visit after picking up her guest; otherwise, things might spiral out of


    control.


    On the way to the airport, Palmer held Noe’s hand, a smile ying at theer of his mouth.


    Nephrite held little interest for her, as it seemed Pris Star’s dealings were far grander than he’d


    imagined. If he didn’t step up his game, he might soon be outssed by this youngdy!


    “Our first encounter was in Northstone,” he reminisced. “I wonder if you remember the gang war


    between the drug lords I got caught up


    His voice, perhaps still affected by his illness, sounded more maic than usual, reverberating


    through the car’s cabin


    “I was investigating my mother’s case in Northstone, and some of the Pock family’s dealings were


    there. They set a trap to kill me, and my men were wiped out. You saved me.”


    That was probably the lowest point in Palmer’s life!


    Trapped in the shadows of watching his mother pass away without being able to do anything, he


    wanted to uncover the truth and avenge her on his own


    When he thought his time hade, she appeared out of nowhere to save him!


    Clutching Noe’s hand, Palmer was lost in the past. “Noe, you might not be able to imagine what


    it was like. I watched my mother being murdered. I couldn’t make a sound, and she didn’t dare


    nce at me before she left. I dreamed of that scene every night, her copsing in a pool of


    blood.”


    He chuckled softly. “Then, you saved me.”


    From the moment she fired that shot, from the moment she reached out to him, he never had that n