London. The Hales family investment office.

"Two hundred thirty million dollars?"

Isabella checked the number on her monitor again.

She hadn't misread it. A twenty-four-story mixed-use building in Lower Manhattan, New York.

The buyer was an H.R corporation still being set up.

The terms of sale had been agreed, and he wanted the Hales to handle the legal work on the contract review and the transfer of ownership.

At the bottom of the email were photos of the building and even the contact details of someone named Charlotte Bennett, who was handling the deal.

"He goes to America and the first thing he does is buy a house."

Isabella shook her head in disbelief.

And not an ordinary house, either. It was a building with retail, offices, and a duplex penthouse on the top floors.

How long had it been since she'd heard he'd gone to America?

She'd assumed he'd just be having dinner with Emilia, and instead he'd been getting ready to put his name up in the middle of New York.

When she clicked a photo, the building's exterior filled the screen.

The lower floors finished in pale stone. Straight-lined windows, and a terrace at the very top.

The next photo showed a spacious living room looking out over the East River.

"He's got such a picky eye."

Isabella smacked her lips. It was a good property.

The layout let him secure an office and a home for his own use and still earn rental income.

Of course, you couldn't judge everything from photos.

She'd have to check how many floors were empty, how much the repairs would cost, and whether the title was clean.

That was probably why he'd emailed her. More precisely, he'd chosen the Hales name.

Isabella's gaze rested on the sentence asking for help with the legal work.

The Lorenz side could have done it too. For Emilia, with her base in New York, introducing a few lawyers wouldn't have been hard at all.

And yet Bear had contacted her.

Isabella leaned back in her chair. Emilia's name, which had been nagging at her…