Chapter 2762


    Nicole, expecting some sort of news from him, was surprised when Jared maintained his silence. Did


    you really juste over to have a meal with me?”


    She thought something significant had happened, but upon noticing that he had not said a word along


    the way, she concluded that she had simply misunderstood.


    The smile from Jared proved exactly that. “Just a meal, yeah.”


    “Oh, I thought something urred, and you came over to tell me about it.”


    Nicole took a sip of water.


    This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org.


    Teasing her, Jared said, “You seem quite disappointed.”


    Annoyed, she rolled her eyes and ced her ss down. “Of course I’m not.”


    As Jared’s sudden appearances usually indicated that there was something he needed her to know, it


    was natural for her to assume that he had brought some kind of word with him. Still, she was happy


    that he had simply brought her out for a regr meal.


    With a gentle smile on his face, he exined, “I just signed a project, and I thought I’de to see you


    after I’m done with it.”


    In addition, it was already lunchtime by the time he had concluded the meeting, so he thought it would


    be a good idea to take her out for a bite along the way.


    “Speaking of projects, I don’t know how it’s going in BayCorp. There should be news about the bidding


    soon,” Nicole said.


    “Probably.” Jared agreed, as the bidding should be around the corner soon.


    “That kid hasn’t told me anything. I don’t know how he’s doing,” Nicoleined.


    Amused, Jared replied, “When you handed it to him, it’s possible that he already knew you wanted him


    to work on it himself. So, until there’s a result to show for it, he probably won’t trouble you.”


    Nicole nodded in agreement. “Makes sense. He has indeed matured.”


    “He has admired you since his days in school, and he has always viewed you as a role model. So it’s


    expected that he’ll do his best.” Jared replied with a look of seriousness etched on his face.


    Nicole was exactly that – calm, cool, tenacious, and capable. Because of this, Jared would not need to


    worry too much about her, but that was until that fateful incident five years ago. He knew there and then


    that she was not invulnerable.


    Even now, he wished he could be there to protect her all the time. However, he knew that she would


    not want that, so he had to let her do as she pleased. All he could do was assign a security detail to


    watch over and protect her from a distance.


    Nicole nodded in agreement, unaware of what Jared was thinking about.


    “Indeed, I can feel it. I believe Er will soon be able to handle things on his own entirely.”


    This way, BayCorp could operate as apletely independent entity which no longer relied on the


    headquarters for support.


    “Nicole! Jared!” an excited male voice called out.


    After looking up, Nicole saw Er walking up to them with a grin.


    “Er? Why are you here?” Nicole’s eyes widened in surprise.


    “I’m having lunch with a business partner. I didn’t expect to run into you guys.”


    Er beamed.


    “We were just talking about you. Speaking of which, I was wondering how your previous bid went,”


    Nicole asked Er.


    “It went smoothly. The results should be out within three days,” Er boasted, having bagged the deal


    all on his own.


    “That’s good.” Nicole smiled, encouraging Er.


    Er then nodded and promised, “Once the results are out, I’ll inform you and treat you to a big meal as


    a token of appreciation.”


    “Okay, I’ll be waiting for it!” Nicole readily agreed.


    Looking around, Er grinned and asked Nicole somewhat awkwardly, “Nicole, are you two the only


    ones here?”


    Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Nicole responded with the question. “Who else do you think


    should be here?”


    After all, why would it be strange for her and Jared to have a meal together?


    “Well…Isn’t Patricia supposed to be here too?” he asked, thinking that Patricia had been following


    Nicole around to protect her.


    It was then that a hunch came to Nicole, and she shot him a meaningful nce.


    “Why do you care so much about Patricia?”


    Thest time Patricia got injured, Er had gone to visit her, and it was said that he had even taken


    Patricia back to her apartment personally. Now, To add to that, he was now asking about her as soon


    as he bumped into Nicole