Jorge proceeded to tell Caleb about what he saw today. The latter replied to his text, saying, "Celeste and her grandma left a good impression on my dad and my grandpa. Perhaps that has something to do with it."The way Jorge saw it, Harold paid close attention to Celeste and treated her rather specially. It didn't matter how good of an impression she left, they had merely met each other once. It was too far-fetched. With that said, Jorge didn't think too much of it after he heard what Caleb said. The weather forecast predicted rain or even snow in the afternoon. Before Celeste finished eating, she noticed that it was pouring outside. After the meal, Harold and the other politicians needed to have a deeper discussion with Celeste and the other company representatives. This time, it was about last year's production and operation as well as this year's development plan. Later, Harold and the other politicians thanked the various companies for their contribution to the city's e
Celeste's expression shifted slightly. She pushed him away and said, "Let me…"Trevor interrupted her and said, "Hold the umbrella."At the next moment, he swooped her up and carried her down the steps before she could say anything. She was still in his arms when he turned around and said to the others, "I'll be taking my leave now. Let's hang out again when we have the chance."The businessmen who were considerably close to him were actually a little stunned. After all, everybody knew about Celeste's relationship with Matthias. If Matthias let her represent YodaVision Co. for the forum hosted by the government, it also meant that things were still fine between them. Trevor had his own girlfriend. Even if he did have feelings for Celeste, he really should have exercised some restraint. Instead, he openly did something so intimate to someone else's girlfriend. In all honesty, he demonstrated a massive show of disrespect for Matthias. After all, Matthias had some fearsome pulls
Trevor heard the sound of a car door opening, and he turned around to check. Celeste stepped out of the car and closed the door. She stepped forward quietly and took the umbrella from his hand. He lowered his head and looked at her ankle. "Are you okay?" It actually hurt a little, but Celeste could still walk. However, she didn't say anything to him. She couldn't be bothered to think about the reason he swooped her up and carried her in his arms. She said nonchalantly, "Give me a call once the divorce procedures are done."What she meant was that there was no need for them to keep in touch with each other if it wasn't about their divorce. At the next moment, Celeste held the umbrella, walked past him, and left. Trevor watched her retreating figure, but he didn't stop her. Instead, he did nothing as she walked away. Their cars weren't parked too far away from each other. He didn't turn around and leave until she had safely gotten into her car. A while later, his car drove
Beck had a business meetup that night. So, he intended to leave as soon as he was done talking about work with Celeste. She noticed that he was staring at her, and she raised her head. "What is it?"Valentine's Day was tomorrow, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he shook his head and responded, "It's nothing."Celeste was completely focused on work now. She had all but forgotten about Valentine's Day. It wasn't until her company staff told her about it the next day that she suddenly realized what day it was. She was about to return to her office when she heard a voice at the entrance. "Excuse me, but which one of you is Ms. Rodriguez? Someone bought you some flowers. Please come over and take it."Celeste turned around when she heard it. She found herself looking at a delivery guy holding a big bouquet of roses and standing outside. His words and the roses captivated the attention of everyone around him. The public might've been spreading suggestive rumors about
Celeste received a call from Martha on her way to InnovaTech. She answered it and said, "Hi, Grandma.""Hey." Martha's smile was warm and benevolent. "A couple of days ago, Jo told me that you were particularly busy with your work and that you even burned the midnight oil sometimes. "I'd received some supplements. So, I've asked someone to send them to you. Remember to take them."Celeste was aware that Martha wouldn't take them even if she turned down the latter's offer. So, she said, "I will. Thanks, Grandma."Martha chuckled. Then, something seemingly popped into her mind, and she said, "That reminds me, I talked to Trevor about getting along well with you, and he promised me he'll do it. "After all, you two are Jo's parents. If your relationship is too strained, it's going to have a bad effect on her physical and mental growth."So, that was it. This was why he acted out of character and expressed concern for her during the forum. Celeste responded nonchalantly, "Okay. I
Wynn officially owned InnovaTech's shares now. She wasn't here earlier because she was in a meeting with Trevor. "Hi, Wynn." Linda walked over with a smile. She gave Celeste a sidelong glance and snickered. Then, she whispered, "She received flowers and was gloating about it, but I told her that a lot of men sent you bouquets and that Trevor transferred the company shares to you. She couldn't think of anything to say after that."Wynn glanced at Celeste when she heard it, but she remained quiet. Linda added, "Wynn, you told me that Matthias doted on her. However, all he did was send her a bouquet on Valentine's Day."Wynn raised an eyebrow. Was that all Matthias did? If that was really the case, then it was truly a half-baked attempt on his side. After all, Celeste had major authority in YodaVision Co. Now that Wynn could compare herself with Celeste, she realized that things might not have been what she imagined. If Matthias really cared about the latter that much, he woul
With that said, Jorge no longer felt that surprised to see Celeste at a place like this when he noticed that Matthias and Zachary were there. Theodore didn't expect to run into his own son here, either. He asked, "Are you here for a business meetup as well?"Jorge responded, "Yeah."Kael chuckled and asked, "Theodore, is he your son?"Theodore grinned and responded, "Yeah.""He looks outstanding and is exceptionally talented. He's a fine man."Needless to say, Jorge also knew just who Kael and Rowan were. They were extremely busy most of the time. Although Theodore was quite close to them, he had never seen them in person. Jorge noticed how Kael took the initiative to greet him, and he politely shook the latter's hand. "You're too kind."Then, he saw Wynn and Harvey getting out of the car, and he was stunned. Wynn and Harvey were rooted to the spot when they noticed Jorge, Zachary, Rowan, and the others. Aside from Jorge, it was extremely difficult to see the rest of them i
So, faced with Zachary's indifference, Wynn didn't take it to heart.After greeting Zachary, she politely took the initiative to greet Rowan and the others, saying, "Good evening, gentlemen."She addressed them collectively rather than individually, which was the more appropriate approach. After all, Rowan and the others hadn't made any effort to get to know her. If she had greeted them one by one, it would have felt more like an intrusion to them.Kael and Rowan's attention was entirely on Celeste.Like Caleb, they had also noticed Celeste's apparent dislike for Harvey and Wynn.Kael even had detailed information about Celeste. He had recognized Harvey and Wynn the moment they showed up.When he heard Wynn greet them, Kael simply gave a small nod before turning to Zachary and Celeste. "Let's not just stand around here. We should head in," he said.Zachary nodded, and the group turned and entered the restaurant.Theodore turned to Jorge and reminded him, "Don't drink too much
Bryson, unaware of the grudge between Celeste and Wynn, followed up on Rodney's words and said, "Yes, we were just discussing some new developments in the industry."Ms. Locket also studied AI—more minds mean more ideas. It would be great if Ms. Locket joined the discussion."Wynn responded, "Oh, I see..."As she spoke, she glanced over at Celeste.After finishing the serious work discussions, Celeste had planned to leave. But unable to resist Rodney and Bryson's enthusiasm, she stayed and chatted with them for a while longer.Now with Wynn's arrival, she finally had an excuse to excuse herself.She stood up and said, "It's getting late, and I have something I need to attend to. Mr. Fleming, Professor Leonard, Professor Milford, let's chat again next time."Besides Celeste's recently published paper, a few other companies in the AI field had also made significant technical breakthroughs lately.When they were chatting earlier, Celeste had quickly grasped the core of those break
Celeste nodded and sat down on the sofa by the coffee table.Trevor then instructed, "Have someone bring us some coffee."Zeke replied, "Already taken care of."Just as he finished speaking, Naomi came in carrying coffee.When she saw Celeste, she froze for a moment. "Ms. Rodriguez?"Naomi had been the one to take over Celeste's job after she left Fleming Group. Since then, they had basically had no contact.Celeste nodded with a smile, "Long time no see.""Long time no see." Naomi smiled too. But given the situation, it wasn't really appropriate for her to chat too much.She placed the coffee carefully in front of both Celeste and Trevor, and was about to leave when she seemed to remember something and turned back to report on some work matters.After listening, Trevor said, "Got it. I'll have time this afternoon. Tell him to come by before three.""Okay." Naomi answered, then smiled and nodded politely at Celeste before hurrying out.Celeste watched her leave, slowly stirr
After they finished playing golf, Celeste and the others still had other plans.Trevor and Wynn had joined midway, and perhaps guessing that Celeste and the others had other arrangements that they might not be suited to join, Trevor took the initiative to say, "We have some other plans later, so we won't keep interrupting everyone's fun."Hearing this, Rowan and Theodore didn't insist on keeping them and said, "Is that so? That's fine. Let's meet up again next time when we're free."Trevor smiled and nodded before leaving with Wynn.Matthias had actually been a bit worried that Trevor and Wynn might tag along for their meal afterwards.Seeing Trevor leave on his own initiative, he felt a little relieved and whispered to Celeste, "At least he knows when to back off."Celeste smiled and hummed a response.…After they had walked a distance, Trevor finally asked, "Upset?"Having stumbled twice today, Wynn was indeed feeling down. Especially seeing how much Rowan and the others li
The group chatted while playing golf.However, it was obvious that Theodore and Rowan were far more interested in the topic they were discussing than in the game itself.At first, they talked about international affairs. As the conversation went on, Theodore and Rowan ended up simulating a battle arrangement right there on the spot.As they got more and more into it, Celeste and Matthias simply stood by and listened, along with Trevor and Wynn.Maybe not wanting the younger ones to just stand around, Rowan said, "Why don't you join in and share your thoughts?"After a moment, Celeste spoke up, "With strong enemies on all sides, it's not suitable to charge in alone. So for now, staying put would be a good choice."Hearing this, Wynn paused.She had to admit, it was a good idea. If Celeste hadn't said it first, she honestly wouldn't have thought of it herself.Just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw Rowan smiling and nodding in agreement.Matthias reacted quickly too. He
Rowan said to Trevor, "Since you're here, why don't you stay and join us for a while?"Trevor replied, "Sure."After exchanging a few pleasantries with Trevor, Rowan turned back to Harold, Matthias, and the others and asked, "Where were we just now?"Matthias answered, "We were discussing how we should appropriately handle the situation if we discover a foreign probe entering our controlled area."Hearing this, Wynn couldn't help but start thinking about it too.Rowan smiled and asked, "What do you think? Cel, do you have any thoughts?"Earlier, Matthias and Celeste hadn't had time to really think about it before Trevor and Wynn showed up.Now that Rowan asked again, Celeste and Matthias both paused briefly.When Wynn heard Rowan call Celeste by her nickname, she suddenly got distracted.Cel? Rowan was addressing Celeste so intimately.Moreover, she noticed that whenever Rowan looked at Celeste, his demeanor was very warm and kind—he genuinely seemed to admire her.She frown
After dinner, Jordyn followed Celeste back to the Rodriguez residence.That night, she received a call from Rowan, inviting her and Matthias to play golf the next morning.Celeste agreed. However, when she saw the address Rowan sent, she hesitated for a moment.The golf course happened to be a property owned by the Fleming family. She had been there before.Still, since she had already agreed, it wouldn't be appropriate to back out now.…Early Saturday morning, she drove out as planned.When she and Matthias arrived at the golf course, Rowan, Theodore, and Harold were already there.Seeing them, Rowan and the others greeted them with a smile, "You're here."Celeste nodded.Rowan asked, "Do you know how to play golf?"Celeste nodded again. "I've learned a bit."After some polite small talk, they began playing golf while chatting casually.Not long after, just as Celeste was putting away her club, she saw two people walking toward them from a distance.It was Trevor and Wy
Although Celeste and Matthias had already asked Candice to politely decline Cayden's request for a meeting, he still showed up uninvited two days later.Since he had come in person, Celeste and Matthias couldn't completely refuse to see him.They gave him a brief, symbolic reception, but after chatting for just over ten minutes, they politely sent him off.After that, whenever Cayden tried to arrange another meeting, they simply ignored him.With Celeste and Matthias maintaining a firm stance, and unable to meet with them, Cayden invited Wynn out for a meal the next day instead.During the meal, Cayden chatted with her about the developments in the industry for a while before saying, "If you had joined YodaVision last year, you would've grown so much by now. What a shame."At their last meeting, Cayden had asked about her current situation. After hearing she hadn't gotten into YodaVision, he didn't comment much.But now, recalling the matter, he couldn't help expressing his regr
Celeste didn't care how Trevor thought of her or looked at her, nor was she interested.After leaving the restaurant, Celeste and Matthias' group headed back to Fleming Tech for a meeting.This time, Lilian and Linda didn't follow. But Wynn did.Seeing Wynn come along again, Matthias secretly rolled his eyes and said, "Mr. Fleming, about Ms. Locket—"Trevor seemed to know what he wanted to say.Before Matthias could finish, Trevor spoke up, "If you're concerned about confidentiality, you don't have to worry. If anything does happen, I'll take full responsibility."Matthias had expected him to say that. After all, when they first started working with InnovaTech, Trevor had said exactly the same thing.Even so, Matthias still needed clear assurance.Hearing Trevor's words, Matthias put on a half-hearted smile and said, "I feel better with your assurance."During the meeting in the morning, the seat at the center of the table was occupied by Trevor alone. Now that Wynn was here,
Before Trevor could respond, his phone rang.He stepped outside to take the call, and by the time he returned, the food was being served.Miles' question was left hanging—brushed aside just like that.Right now, the author of the paper that engineers in the country and abroad were scrambling to read was sitting right in front of them.As the meal progressed, Rodney and his students couldn't help but ask Celeste questions as they skimmed through the paper's core content and experimental data.Whether they asked about specific parts of the paper or about broader problems that had puzzled them in their own research, Celeste responded to everything fluently and confidently.Wynn watched in silence. Her heart was calm.Watching Celeste speak so assuredly with Rodney and the others actually seemed like she did know what she was talking about.But was that really possible?Given Matthias' capabilities, if he was willing to credit Celeste as first author, then he must have ensured she