Chapter 38

The girls looked at Ingrid’s grim face and

quieted down.

The second floor of the banquet hall was

relatively quiet. when Grant brought

Nicole upstairs, an unruly-looking young

man in an expensive black shirt stood up

The two men shook hands briefly Grant

smiled and said, “Mr Lichman, it’s been a

while.”

Gerard Lichman laughed. The corners of

his lips hooked up charmingly “Hello, Mr.

Stanton ‘

Without waiting for Grant’s introduction,

Gerard had -already moved his gaze onto

Nicole. It was an appreciative glance with a decent sense of proportion that was

not offensive.

‘Ms. Nicole, you’re not only beautiful but

also capable. I hope that you won’t mind

that I put off our dinner and invited you to

this banquet instead.”

Nicole smiled. ‘Of course not

Congratulations on J8-L’s 5th anniversary.

I hope we’ll be able to work together

happily in the years to come.”

She made a double entendre.

Gerard smiled. “Mr. Stanton, may I talk to

Ms. Nicole privately? After all, if there’s a

chance for cooperation, the person we’ll b

e liaising with is Ms. Nicole.“

‘Sure.’ Grant was not surprised by this

request and gave Nicole a reassuring

glance. He then turned around and went

downstairs to network with others.

Gerard and Nicole stood facing each other in front of the railing on the second floor under the ambient

light. The handsome man and beautiful woman talked eloquently and calmly. ‘Ms. Nicole, I’d like to

know why you’re so confident about this cooperation‘

Gerard held a glass of wine and casually shook the burgundy liquid in the glass Nicole raised her

eyebrows. A strand of wavy hair fell across her forehead and around her ear The look in her eyes was

very alluring. “Mr. Lichman, the conditions I gave are very sincere. I believe that you’re also aware of it.

Compared to so many investors, there’s no one else more suitable than Stanton Corporation. To put lt

bluntly. you have the technology. and l

ave the money. Stanton Corporation won’t expect J&L to be profitable in five years. Instead, we’re

looking at long-term cooperation. I believe that in the next ten

years, we will be the ones to determine

the level of Al development in this world.‘

Those that could pay more than Stanton

Corporation could not provide more

benefits than Nicole, while those that

could provide more benefits did not have

the capital.

Gerard was not just a businessman. He was also an engineer, so he wanted to find the most suitable

business partner for his brainchild. Nicole’s bold words made Gerard re- examine the woman in front of

him with less playfulness and more solemnity. Gerard bowed his head and pondered. ” Vice President

Nicole, do you mind

articipating in a three-way partnership with another company?” ‘Who else?” Nicole dud not believe that

there was a better ftl than Stanton Corporattonl Gerard ralsed hrs glass to indicate behlnd

Nicole Hearmg the soft footsteps that

gradually approached them, Nlcole’s

heart suddenly lumped and mlssed a

beat

Nicole felt a sudden stlence tn the arr She

turned around wlth her glass of wtne and

her smtle was frozen on her face wtth ]US(

one glance

Sure enough, the only one who could

compete wrth Stanton Corporatton m the

same project was none other than Eric

Ferguson.

Eric was wearing a black sult with

expensive cufflinks that looked familiar?

o Nicole. It made him seem so cold.

indifferent, and unapproachable.

His gaze lingered on Nicole for a few

seconds before he greeted Gerard frankly.

Gerard’s eyes bounced between the two o

f them. “I guess I don’t need to introduce

you both since you should be familiar

with each other.

Ms. Nicole, my apologies

for not telling you in advance that

regardless of who our final partner is,

Ferguson Corporation will be involved in

the project.‘

Looking at Nicole’s puzzled gaze, Gerard

chuckled and continued, “That’s because

Mr. Ferguson has been funding all of my

projects as an angel investor since the

inception of my company.‘