Talia has been quite busy lately. Busy checking out venues and hiring people. After much consideration, she finally rented an entire floor in an office building in the busiest area of downtown Oakhaven as the business premises for her law firm. Talia named her law firm Apex Law Firm. According to legal regulations, law firm partners must have more than three years of practicing experience. Talia had already practiced for three years in Mirehaven before returning to Oakhaven, where she worked at Senco for another six months. However, finding other partners wasn’t that easy. Her cousin Oscar previously introduced her to many well-known lawyers in Oakhaven, but most of them had gone independent and had their own law firms. They were partners themselves, and the law states that a lawyer cannot practice or be a partner at two law firms simultaneously. Thus, finding partners during this time was the number one challenge. On this day, Talia was having afternoon tea at Bvlgari with her two girlfriends. Winter Donovan heard that Talia was preparing to open a law firm and introduced someone to her. "Do you remember Samuel Langdon?" Winter Donovan said, "He was in the same cohort as us, from the neighboring Veridian University of Law." Talia Rhodes, Yvonne Coleman, and Winter Donovan all attended Oakhaven University, a top 985 institution in the country. Oakhaven University’s neighbor, the Oakhaven University of Politics and Law, is a 211 university, ranked second among domestic law schools, second only to Kenton University of Politics and Law. Talia Rhodes said, "Samuel Langdon? That name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite remember." Yvonne Coleman slapped the table, "You don’t know Samuel Langdon? He was the heartthrob next door, back then students from Veridian University and our university used to always compare him to Adrian Jennings. You don’t recognize him?" Talia searched her mind for a moment, then shrugged, "I really can’t recall. You know I don’t care about stuff like that and I don’t like socializing. What does a heartthrob have to do with me?" "Exactly, you were like a bookworm back then, focused only on studying. While others were dating over the weekend, you were hitting the library. You rejected all the boys who confessed to you, and you didn’t have a single relationship throughout university." Yvonne shook her head helplessly, "I mean, why work so hard? Your family wealth will last for several generations." Winter lightly smiled and said, "Talia has her own aspirations. She’s not interested in business; she just wants to become a top lawyer." "But speaking of that, Samuel Langdon is indeed quite good-looking. I even had a crush on him for a while, but unfortunately, he wasn’t interested in me at all." Yvonne sighed, "I was down for three days after he rejected my confession." Talia chuckled and glanced at her, "Oh? When did this happen? How come I didn’t know?" "That’s so embarrassing." Yvonne muttered, "Of course, I wouldn’t let you know about being rejected after confessing. But every girl who confessed to Samuel could line up from the school gate to France, so it’s not really embarrassing to be rejected by him." Talia teased with a smile, "Why are you contradicting yourself? One moment you say it’s embarrassing, the next you say it isn’t." "Oh, come on!" Yvonne laughed, patting Talia, "Don’t be so serious." "Let me show you his photo; he really is handsome! It’s no wonder I liked him. Comparing him to Adrian Jennings wasn’t unfounded, among the people I know over the years, only Samuel Langdon could compare with Adrian’s looks." "Ahem, Yvonne." Winter coughed and subtly hinted for her not to mention certain people. Yvonne waved her hand nonchalantly, "Oh, it’s okay, it’s been so long since they broke up. Our Talia no longer cares, right Talia?" Talia smiled somewhat helplessly, "I’ve moved on, but now I just want to focus on my career and have no interest in men." "No worries, let me show you his photo; maybe you’ll be interested then?" "You still have his photo?" Winter asked, surprised. Yvonne tapped away at her phone, answering, "Not really, but back in university, my phone automatically synced to Baidu Cloud, so I haven’t cleared it out. I can still find it now." Talia laughed, "I didn’t know you could do that." A few minutes later, Yvonne found Samuel Langdon’s photo and passed her phone to Talia Rhodes, "Here, this is Samuel Langdon, isn’t he handsome?" Talia lowered her eyelashes and looked at the photo. The background seems to be in a library. The boy is sitting by the window reading, with bookshelves filled with books behind him. The orange sunlight outlines his deep and chiseled features, with sharp brows, starry eyes, and a high nose bridge—his good looks were definitely undeniable. Talia stared at the photo, slightly dazed; she felt she had seen this person somewhere. A sense of inexplicable familiarity. Winter also leaned over, "How do you have this photo? Isn’t this at the Veridian University Library? Have you been there?" The source of thɪs content is NoveI[F]ire.net Yvonne replied, "No, it was saved on the confession wall at the neighboring school. Some other girl took the photo and posted it on the wall to attract attention." "So, Talia—did the photo pique your interest? He’s too handsome to be a lawyer; he should be a celebrity. That face is Hollywood material." Talia smiled, "I already said, I’m not interested in men right now." Just then, a pleasant male voice sounded, "That’s truly unfortunate." Talia turned toward the voice and was slightly surprised. Winter and Yvonne also turned to look. "Holy... Speak of the devil," Yvonne exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. Winter smiled politely, "What a coincidence!" The man wore gold-frame glasses and a sharp, deep gray suit. As he approached, he smiled slightly, "I had an appointment with a client over here; once the meeting was over, I saw you guys and thought to come over and say hello." "Fate!" Yvonne winked at Talia. Talia offered a polite smile and extended her hand to Samuel Langdon, "Hello, I’m Talia Rhodes." Samuel Langdon shook hands with Talia, "Hello, I’m Samuel Langdon." Winter laughed, "I was about to introduce you two, and you just appeared." Samuel Langdon, smiling slightly, asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?" Yvonne replied, "Sit wherever you want." Yvonne sat in the middle, with Talia on one side and Winter on the other. Samuel Langdon pulled out a chair and sat next to Talia, asking, "What were you guys talking about?" "We were talking about you," Yvonne said. Winter added, "Talia’s preparing to open a law firm. I thought to introduce you to her. If I remember correctly, you’ve been practicing for over three years, right? Are you interested in becoming a partner?" Samuel Langdon looked at Talia upon hearing this, his eyes bending with warmth, "Can I join?" Talia looked at his face, that sense of familiarity growing stronger.