Lately, Tessa had been busy with location scouting and recruitment.


    After checking out several options, she finally settled on a building in the heart of Rivertown''s bustling downtown. She leased an entire floor to set up herw firm and named it Everbright Law Group.


    ording to the country''s legition, aw firm partner had to have at least three years of practicing experience.


    Tessa had already built up three years of experience at Haverford. After moving back to Rivertown, she spent another six months practicing at Shelton Law Firm.


    But even then, recruiting a few more partners wasn''t easy for her.


    Back then, Uriah had introduced her to several well-knownwyers in Rivertown. Yet, the majority had gone independent, started their own firms, and be partners themselves.


    Per the statute, awyer couldn''t practice at two firms at the same time. They also couldn''t be a partner at more than one firm.


    As a result, Tessa struggled to find a suitable partner for her firm.


    That day, Tessa was having afternoon tea with Sienna and Naomi at Bravura Patisserie.


    Sienna had heard that Tessa was starting her ownw firm, so she had a rmendation for her.


    Sienna asked, "Have you heard of Lester Cooper? He was in our year, but he studied at the neighboring University of Political Science and Law."


    Rivertown University was the top university in the country, and all three of them had graduated from there.


    When it came tow and political science, Rivertown''s University of Political Science and Law ranked second. It was just behind the one in Jordanville.


    Tessa replied, "Lester Cooper? I don''t really remember, but the name sounds familiar."


    Naomi smacked the table. "How could you not know him? He was the heartthrob of their university! Back then, people from our school and theirs were alwaysparing him to Stephen. You seriously don''t remember him?"


    Tessa tried to recall the memory but eventually shrugged. "I really don''t remember. Don''t you know me well enough? I never cared about that kind of stuff and wasn''t into socializing. The campus heartthrob had nothing to do with me."


    Naomi shook her head. "Yeah, that checks out. Back then, your entire world revolved around studying. While everyone else was out dating on weekends, you were buried in books at the library.


    "You turned down every guy who confessed to you. In the end, you made it to graduation without ever dating anyone.


    "Your family has got enough money tost you multiple lifetimes. I just don''t get why you had to work that hard on your studies."


    Sienna smiled and said, "Tessa was not interested in business. Her goal was to be a topwyer."


    Naomi sighed. "Anyway, Lester was seriously hot. I had a crush on him for a while, but he had zero interest in me. When he rejected me, I was heartbroken for three days!"


    Tessa nced at her with a grin. "Really? When was this? Howe I''m only just hearing about this?"


    Naomi muttered, "I was just too embarrassed. How could I possibly tell you guys that I got rejected? But honestly, Lester had so many admirers. Thinking about it now, his rejection wasn''t even that big of a deal."


    Tessa chuckled and teased, "Oh, so now it''s not a big deal? A second ago, you


    said it was embarrassing!"


    Naomi gave Tessa a yful pat. "You''re so annoying! Don''t take everything so seriously! Let me show you a picture of Lester. He''s really handsome, so of course I had a crush on him.


    "It was no wonder people alwayspared him to Stephen. After all these years,


    Lester is the only guy I know who can actually match Stephen in looks!"


    Sienna shot Tessa a quick nce and cleared her throat. "Naomi."


    She was hinting at Naomi to keep Stephen''s name out of the conversation.


    But Naomi wasn''t bothered by that. She waved it off and said, "It''s nothing! Tessa broke up with him ages ago. She''s been over it a while now."


    Then, she turned to Tessa and asked, "Am I right?"


    Tessa shed a helpless smile. "Yeah, I moved on from him ages ago. But honestly, I''m not even interested in any other men right now. I just want to focus on building my career."


    Naomi said, "That''s fine! Just let me show you a picture of Lester. Maybe he''ll change your mind."


    Sienna looked shocked. "Wait, you still have his picture on your phone?"


    Naomi scrotted through her phone and said, "Not exactly. I saved it back in university, and it got auto-uploaded to my cloud. I never bothered cleaning it up, so it''s still there."


    Tessa chuckled. "I never knew things could work like this!"