Jasmine ended up staying at the Ross estate that night. The next evening, however, Thorne sent someone to pick her up.


    The following morning, Charlene headed to The Henderson Group bright and early, as their coboration was on the verge of a new breakthrough. Around noon, as she was heading out to lunch with Mr. Abner, Mr. Windsor, and others, they ran right into Vesta in the lobby.


    As usual, Mr. Windsor and his colleagues greeted her politely. "Ms. Hawkins."


    Vesta nodded. "Going to lunch?"


    "Yes, we are," Mr. Windsor replied with a smile. Considering Vesta was practically the hostess of The Henderson Group, he fell silent, expecting her to offer a polite greeting to Charlene. To his surprise, Vesta acted as if Charlene was invisible, addressing only the Henderson Group employees. "Well, don''t let me keep you. We should all have lunch together sometime."


    It wasn''t just Mr. Windsor; the others from The Henderson Group were also taken aback. For a moment, they wondered if Vesta simply didn''t recognize Charlene, or perhaps had never met her. But they were fairly certain the two had met before— Neural Nexus Tech and PrimeStar had even coborated in the past. How could Vesta not-


    Then they noticed that Charlene hadn''t made any move to greet Vesta either, as if she werepletely unaware that Vesta was Thorne''s girlfriend or the current head of Neural Nexus Tech. Vesta pointedly ignored Charlene, gave a nod to the others, and walked away without another word.


    Charlene hadn''t wanted to see Vesta, but with her standing right there, it was impossible to avoid. Even though Vesta treated her like thin air, Charlene could still read the disdain and contempt in her expression, as if Charlene was no longer worthy of her attention.


    Once Vesta was gone, Mr. Windsor finally sensed that something was off. If Vesta and Charlene truly didn''t know each other, Vesta surely would have inquired who Charlene was, especially knowing how highty and his colleagues regarded her. But she hadn''t. Suddenly, they recalled how Thorne, out of his great admiration for Charlene, had made a point of sitting in on their meetings several times. Could Vesta have gotten the wrong idea about Charlene because of it?


    Mr. Windsor shot a questioning nce at Charlene. She seemed oblivious to his stare, remaining silent. From this, the Henderson Group employees concluded that there must be some misunderstanding between Vesta and Charlene, likely involving Thorne. Wisely, none of them brought it up.


    That day, Charlene stayed at The Henderson Group until after seven in the evening: Mr. Windsor politely


    previous


    saw her downstairs. In the Thorne


    Visits, She had rarely run


    and Vesta. But this time, as she and Mr. Windsor''s group entered the elevator, they found Thorne and


    Vesta already inside.


    Thorne looked slightly surprised to see them. Vesta, however, wore the same cold expression as before, ncing at Charlene once before looking away.


    Mr. Windsor was the first to speak. "Mr. Henderson, Ms. Hawkins."


    Thorne and Vesta both nodded in acknowledgment. Thorne''s gaze settled on Charlene, but she lowered her eyes, neither looking at him nor speaking. He watched her for a moment before breaking the silence. "Will you be at The Henderson Group for the next few days?"


    Charlene felt his eyes on her and knew he was speaking to her. She finally responded in a quiet tone. "Yes."