So, it turns out the person on the other line was Vesta.

Jasmine lied in front of Charlene, feeling a bit uneasy: “Mom, maybe you can drop me off at school next time.”

Charlene responded, “Sure.”

Charlene and Terence were heading the same way. They left in the same car.

Terence missed his morning study session, but he started reciting his notes in the car.

Listening to his stumbling recitation, Charlene corrected a word or two for him.

Terence gave Charlene a thumbs up, “Charlene, you’ve got a great memory.”

They reached Terence’s school first.

Charlene also graduated from this high school. Seeing the familiar campus brought back a flood of memories for Charlene.

But she didn’t have time to dwell on them, as Terence was getting out of the car, saying, “See ya, Charlene!”

“Yeah, see you.”

The car merged back into traffic.

Back at PrimeStar, Stewart pinched her cheek, “You look pale. Are you sick?”

“Yeah, had a fever last night.”

“You came to work with a fever?”

“It’s gone now,” Charlene shrugged it off.

“Got to head to Neural Nexus Tech later, coming?”

As Charlene reviewed the latest test datą, she replied, “Yeah, sure.”

“Cool, I’ll call you when it’s time.”

“Okay.”

Charlene noticed issues with two data sets and went to find Patton for corrections.

Right as she was about to go over some documents on her desk, Stewart came to get her for their trip.

At Neural Nexus Tech, they got straight to work with Quincy, sparing the small talk.

An hour and a half later, with most of the work handled and time to spare, Quincy offered them each a cup of

coffee.

Stewart tasted his, “This coffee’s pretty good, even better than the last batch. Your company’s perks are getting better.”

That prompted Quincy to switch to gossip mode, “Oh, that’s all thanks to Ms. Hawkins’ influence.”

Stewart rolled his eyes.

Vesta’s name popped up again.

He put his coffee cup down and glanced at Charlene.

Charlene declared, “I’m thirsty.” And she kept on drinking.

Stewart was speechless.

Quincy, fueled by his love for gossip, mentioned, “Didn’t Mr. Henderson hand off a project to Ms. Hawkins to run entirely?”

! Stewart replied, “… Yeah.”

Quincy: “Ms. Hawkins must be feeling the pressure, being her first time leading such a big project. I heard her team worked through the weekend. Just last night, they stayed till after 10 PM.” Stewart replied with a cool tone, “Oh.”

“Honestly, Ms. Hawkins is quite dedicated and responsible. She didn’t take it lightly, even being Mr. Henderson’s girlfriend. She’s not treating the project like a joke.”

Stewart couldn’t help but laugh, “Or maybe it’s because she’s not competent enough, hence the need for so many to work overtime with her?”

Quincy got his drift.

“Everyone needs to grow.”

“Perhaps.” He spoke nonchalantly, glancing at Charlene, “But, you know, Charlene handled her first major company project smoothly from start to finish.”

From his recent interactions, Quincy realized that Charlene was even more capable than Stewart. Therefore, he took Stewart’s words seriously.

He commented, “At least she’s got a good attitude. With that, plus Mr. Henderson’s willingness to invest in her, her future achievements will surely be significant.” Map