Thorne noticed Gaylord, who assumed it was because he knew Vesta.


    When Thorne nced over, Gaylord didn''t even bother to look up. Thorne quickly averted his gaze.


    Seeing that Thorne himself hade to sign the contract, Stewart initially wanted to ask Charlene to leave so he could handle the negotiation. But Charlene had been managing most of the coboration with The Henderson Group, so she was better suited to discuss the finer details.


    Charlene, however, seemed unfazed. She remained professional and calmly began discussing some points in the contract with Thorne.


    The coboration between their twopanies wasn''t something Thorne was personally managing, but as they talked, Charlene, Stewart, and Gaylord all realized that Thorne was surprisingly well-versed in the project''s content and details. He responded to everything Charlene said with a cooperative attitude, demonstrating both his sincerity and his satisfaction with the PrimeStar Technologies partnership. Stewart was speechless. "Great," he thought, "now I''m even more pissed off."


    After they finalized the details and while Thorne was reviewing the contract, Stewart couldn''t help but lean close to Charlene''s ear and whisper, "I''m seriously tempted to punch someone right now."


    Charlene knew he was annoyed with Thorne. She gave a silent, knowing smile and patted his shoulder reassuringly.


    As she did, she nced up and saw Coy, who was sitting next to Thorne, looking at her. Noticing her gaze, his own expression became guarded. He quickly averted his eyes, looking down and taking a sip of tea.


    As Thorne''s secretary, Coy knew that Thorne wasn''t originally scheduled to be the one signing the contract at PrimeStar. He had been quite surprised when Thorne suddenly instructed him to inform Mr. Windsor and the others that he would be handling the meeting personally. Was Thorne doing this because he truly valued the partnership? Considering the long-term benefits, perhaps. But he knew Thorne Even for the most critical projects, Thorne usually entrusted them to his subordinates, only stepping in when absolutely necessary. This was a rare


    urrence. So... he nced at Charlene again.


    He knew Thorne''s attitude toward Charlene had changed drastically. But Charlene, ever since leaving The Henderson Group, seemed to be thriving. She no longer cared about Thorne the way she once did on the contrary, her rtionship with Stewart appeared genuinely strong. He could tell that Stewart had always disliked Thorne, but he also knew Stewart trusted Charlene immensely to have given her full authority over such an important project.


    Charlene was oblivious to Coy''s thoughts.


    Thorne quickly skimmed the contract and signed it without hesitation. After pushing


    the document over to Charlene, he capped his pen and looked at both her and


    Stewart. "How about we grab lunch together?"


    Before Charlene could answer,


    Stewart picked up another file, a strained smile on his face. "Thank you for the kind offer, Mr.


    Henderson, but Charlene and have other matters to attend to this


    afternoon. We don''t have time.


    Perhaps another time."


    Thorne chuckled. "Is that so? Because I heard from Mr. Coy that you two had


    already arranged to have lunch with him after the signing."