Sylvie quickly regained her composure, not revealing so much as a flicker of emotion.

It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Jarrod glanced at Elodie, his gaze lingering for a split second before he spoke coolly, “Let’s discuss the details after this is over.”

Alexander smiled, squinting slightly. “Sure.”

If they won the bid, everyone needed to know exactly what was expected and how things would be divided.

Jarrod nodded, then turned with Sylvie and walked away.

Alexander watched them go, then turned to Elodie. “You know, Jarrod really seems to have his head on straight. We asked for a lot-VistaLink Technologies gets absolute control, we take the lead and Neural Intelligence plays second fiddle-and he agreed to all of it.”

He shook his head in amusement.

Neural Intelligence clearly hoped to use this opportunity to make a name for themselves.

When it came to profit sharing, Jarrod had barely asked for the minimum.

Elodie thought for a moment. “He might have other motives.”

Jarrod wasn’t an easy man to read. Things looked like they were going VistaLink’s way for now, but it was best to keep their guard up.

Just then, another group approached from the other end of the hall.

Alexander clearly recognized them. He took Elodie by the arm and led her forward.

“Mr. Sterling, it’s been ages,” said the man at the front-Mr. Hilliard, one of the judges sent by the board.

Alexander greeted him with a friendly smile.

Hilliard’s gaze fell on Elodie. “And who is this?”

Elodie smiled politely. “Hello, I’m Elodie, an engineer at VistaLink Technologies.”

Hilliard’s eyebrows shot up as he gave her a quick once-over.

So young?

He knew, of course, that only the top talent from each company would be here today.

Glancing at the other supervisors nearby, and with Alexander present, Hilliard decided to bring up some technical topics, curious to hear what VistaLink’s people had to say.

Alexander’s smile widened. He turned to Elodie. “What do you think?”

Elodie caught his meaning and responded in a gentle, steady tone.

She spoke about sensor fusion technology and then went on to flight control systems.

Her pace was calm and deliberate, her voice easy to listen to. As she spoke, her refined features seemed to glow with quiet confidence, drawing more than a few curious glances.

Hilliard’s expression shifted from polite interest to surprise as their discussion went on.

He couldn’t help but study Elodie more closely.

He’d assumed Elodie was simply an outstanding young engineer, but her insights cut straight to the heart of technical challenges. Her ideas were not only advanced, but at times so incisive and original that even he had to pause and reflect.

Not far away, Jarrod, who was mingling with another group, noticed the commotion.

He glanced up, his eyes drawn to Elodie.

Sylvie caught snippets of technical jargon drifting over and looked puzzled.

Elodie was discussing these kinds of topics?

She frowned.

It seemed Alexander had come prepared-bringing Elodie along for precisely this moment.

He was clearly determined to put her in the spotlight.

Sylvie hadn’t caught the full conversation, just a few familiar technical terms. She wondered if Alexander had written a script for Elodie, and she was simply reciting

it to make a splash at the bidding event.

The thought made Sylvie furrow her brow in disbelief.

They were really going all out.

She let out a silent, incredulous laugh and turned to look at Jarrod.

She was surprised to find him watching Elodie as well.

He looked perfectly relaxed, simply observing. For an instant, it seemed as if he might’ve smiled.

Sylvie thought she must have imagined it.

She called softly, “Jarrod?”

He looked down at her, his expression unchanged. “What is it?”

Sylvie realized she’d been mistaken and shook her head. “Nothing. Let’s go take

our seats. It’s getting noisy over here.”

As for what exactly was so noisy-

She didn’t elaborate.

She wasn’t one for drawing attention to herself at events crowded with industry veterans and bigwigs.

No matter how talented she was, she was still young. There were areas of research she still hadn’t mastered, and she preferred to move forward one steady step at a time.

She had no interest in-

Putting on a show.

Meanwhile―

The more Hilliard listened, the more impressed he became. Finally, he couldn’t help asking, “Ms. Thorne, how old are you? Where did you do your graduate work?”

Elodie smiled lightly. “I’m just past twenty-five. I didn’t attend grad school, and I don’t have a mentor.”

If she hadn’t gotten married years ago, she might’ve been able to proudly say that Mr. Charlie Sterling had been her teacher.

Hilliard was taken aback.

He’d assumed only someone with a master’s or doctorate could delve this deeply into such complex topics. The technical challenges she discussed were profound -even beyond the expected fundamentals, she offered insights that made even him stop and think.

Alexander, standing by her side, didn’t miss a single shift in Hilliard’s expression.