?Chapter 1253:


    She continued writing, mentioning the Cooper Group’s charity g, her anticipation for Radiant Jewels’unch and the auction, and how she had even met her idol the day before—the incredible designer Anti, whose work shone across the fashion world. She still couldn’t believe she had seen him in person.


    Her thumb hovered over the send icon, hesitation flickering across her face. After a brief pause, she deleted everything except the opening line, leaving only the simplest words. Atst, she pressed send.


    The screen lit up softly with the confirmation: sent.


    A quiet tension settled in Rosanna’s chest as she tightened her grip on the phone, her pulse quickening with each passing second. Hope and doubt twisted together as she waited for Austen’s reply.


    Beside her, Ss’s attention shifted when a faint vibration buzzed from his pocket, drawing his gaze down to his own phone.


    Ss shifted slightly, slipping an old backup phone from the inner pocket of his tailored suit.


    The device was a relic, its edges scuffed and the brushed metal dulled by time, yet it still held one crucial thing—Austen’s SIM card.


    He pressed the power button. The screen flickered to life, a pale glow reflecting in his eyes. One unread message waited. It was from Enchantress.


    “Austen, when will youe back? I’m here at the Cooper Group’s charity g…”


    Ss raised a brow. So Austen’s mistress was at the event. Interesting.


    Then again, any woman capable of holding the attention of Faceless, a top figure within The Mask, was unlikely to be ordinary.


    A crooked smile tugged at Ss’s lips. He had always been curious about the woman known as Enchantress.


    His gaze drifted toward Maia, sharpening with calction. How amusing it would be to stir a little chaos here.


    He quickly typed a reply, casual and teasing, and pressed send. Before he could slide the phone back into his pocket, the woman seated beside him flinched slightly—her screen lighting up at the exact same moment.


    Ss froze. His smirk deepened. What were the odds?


    Without turning his head too obviously, he studied her from the corner of his eye. So this was Enchantress. She looked… ordinary. Not unattractive, but nowhere near Maia’s striking beauty or poised allure.


    A trace of disappointment settled in. He had imagined someone more dangerous, more intoxicating. Austen’s taste, it seemed, was not as refined as he had once assumed.


    Perhaps this woman possessed other talents, ones better suited for darker paths. Even so, she was no match for Maia. No one was, at least in Ss’s eyes.


    Composing himself, he switched the phone to silent and casually nced toward her screen.


    Rosanna remained oblivious. Her heart raced as she read the reply that had just arrived. A small, hopeful smile trembled across her lips, only to fade secondster.


    “Austen” replied, “Depends on the situation. Can’t decide right now.”


    That was all. After everything she had written—after her soft plea for him to return—he had replied with a single, detached line.


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