"Mr. Barnes, you want to see me?" the young man asked respectfully, though his eyes kept drifting toward Maria.

He couldn't help but sneak peeks at Maria. Even he, a man used to the company of stunning women, was taken aback by Maria's beauty and grace.

A blind date? Interesting. He smirked to himself.

He wasn't one to be tied down easily, but for someone like Maria, he could change his mind.

"Mrs. Jenkins, meet Roy Barnes. He was the third son of my brother Fred," Mr. Barnes introduced.

"Oh, the son of Barbara's new teacher? He's truly remarkable."

Mrs. Jenkins seemed calm on the outside, but inside, she felt a twinge of annoyance.

Even though they were plotting against Maria by setting a blind date for her, this man seemed almost too good for Maria.

Barbara knew a bit about Fred's family after Fred became her new tutor.

Barbara leaned in close to Mrs. Jenkins and whispered, “Well, Mr. Fred Barnes has two more sons, Timothy and Theo, and a daughter, Tanya."

At this, Mrs. Jenkins was stunned. She sensed something was amiss.

Fred's other children all had names starting with 'T', but the man before her didn't.

This made her wonder. What did that mean? Mrs. Jenkins, familiar with high society's hidden rules, had an instant revelation. This man, Roy, could be Fred's illegitimate son.

However, being an illegitimate child in a prominent family had its share of difficulties.

Illegitimate children often found themselves in a tricky spot, unable to inherit wealth or power, and weren't given much attention or training.

Mrs. Jenkins wondered whether Roy was a nobody.

Mrs. Jenkins hesitated a bit, then asked, "Well... Could you tell me where this young man works?"

Mr. Barnes answered with a smile, “Oh, he's working as a customer manager at Archie Commercial Bank over in Broome."

This confirmed her suspicions. Mrs. Jenkins felt sure now. Roy was not up to much.

Roy came from the well-known Barnes family but was kicked out of the martial arts world and ended up just an ordinary worker.

Being a customer manager at a bank was a decent job for most people.

However, if Roy had received the normal training of a martial arts family descendant, he could have maybe even started his own bank, not just worked at one.

“It's really important to be with someone of equal standing," Mrs. Jenkins remarked, still smiling.

Roy was not some big potato. Though leading a comfortable life, Roy was long ignored by his family. He even had no idea what he had missed out on compared to his siblings.