A weekter, Victor found himself once again at the mercy of a group of so-called world-ss psychologists, all of whom greeted him with forced warmth.


    He was bored out of his mind.


    Every time, these old fossils said exactly the same things.


    Slipping away from his bodyguards, Victor decided to take a walk on his own— and ran into her again.


    He saw the nurse, her face twisted with anger, kick the little dog hard with her foot.


    "You think you''re some kind of princess? Look at your situation! You can barely feed yourself, and you''re secretly keeping a dog?"


    Victor figured the nurse must be her mother.


    He had to admit, it was foolish to take care of a dog when she could hardly take care of herself.


    And Victor had no patience for fools.


    The little girl clung to her puppy, shielding it as best she could, but her mother''s next kicknded squarely on her.


    "Mom, he''s still sick! Once he gets better, I''ll find someone who can take care of him and give him away, I promise. Please don''t be angry."


    Her mother just scoffed. "You can go hungry for another week. Let''s see if I bother with you then!"


    Once she''d finished venting, the woman stormed off in disgust.


    Victor watched as the girl knelt, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gently stroked the trembling dog.


    "I''m sorry, little guy," she whispered. "I don''t think I can take care of you anymore." "Hey!" Victor called out.


    The girl turned, ncing at him warily.


    Apparently, she still hadn''t forgiven him for tossing that sausage her wayst time. She ignored him.


    "What''s your name?" he asked.


    Still no answer.


    He couldn''t help but smile at her stubbornness.


    Victor called outzily, "Hey, Sausage."


    That finally got a reaction. She frowned and snapped, "I''m not called Sausage. My name is Isadora Lowry."


    "What?" Victor pressed, his tone neutral.


    "Isadora, I-S-A-D-O-R-A" she said, a little softer now.


    Victor''s cool expression didn''t change, but his voice was steady. "I''ll take care of your puppy."


    At his words, Isadora''s dark eyes sparkled like polished ss, bright with surprise and hope. Then she broke into a smile.


    Victor had seen her plenty of times before, but this was the first time he''d ever seen her smile.


    Her clothes were simple, nothing remarkable.


    But the sunlight that day was dazzling, pouring down like it was made for summer.


    Her face was warm and fair, and something in the gentleness of her eyes stirred something deep within him—a feeling like a summer breeze, soft and unexpected. For the next month, Isadora found her way to him every day-though really, she just wanted to check on the puppy.


    Over time, Victor began having his staff prepare all kinds of treats when she was due to visit.


    Her favorite was the little puddings.


    Every time she came, Victor sat back in his chair, expression unchanged, feigning sleep while the girl and her puppy filled the air with cheerful chatter.


    But then, one day, she simply stoppeding.


    During the first week of Isadora''s absence, Victor sent someone to look for the nurse.


    The only news was that the nurse had quit.


    Victor searched for her himself after that, but it was as if she''d vanished into thin


    air.


    It wasn''t until a chance encounter at a charity g that he saw her again.


    Only then did Victor learn that she wasn''t really Isadora Lowry.


    She''d been found by the Vaughan family and taken back, her name changed to Isadora.


    Victor often wondered-


    If he''d found her before Magnus did,


    Would things have turned out differently?


    ...


    Meanwhile, Finley waved a hand in front of Victor''s face.


    "Hey, what are you daydreaming about? Don''t tell me I was right."


    "I always said our so-called prince with a spotless record and impossible standards of all the women in the world, you only care about Isadora."


    Victor shot him a nce, unimpressed. "Get lost."


    Finley just shrugged.


    Chasing women-what could be easier? Yet somehow, for this young master, it always turnedplicated.


    If you asked him, dealing with a woman was simple: shower her with money, spoil


    her with gifts, sweet-talk her if needed, or if all else failed-let Victor''s unfairly good looks do the work.


    With Victor''s charm, how could Isadora possibly resist?


    Just then, Victor''s phone rang.


    He pulled it out and nced at the screen. An unknown number.