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.‘


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