The man seemed to have just woken up, his shirt half-open, exuding a sense of laziness and nonchalance.
He lifted his eyelids and spoke loudly to the woman gently holding a child, “Miss Marsh, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
The driver in front broke into a sweat again. Today was truly unlucky; not only had he almost hit someone, but it also seemed that the person was someone the boss knew.
Callie thought she had misheard and looked up in confusion, only to see Jaquan. She was very surprised.
The grandmother hurried forward, took the crying child, and repeatedly thanked him. Callie said it was nothing and reminded her to watch the child more carefully in the future before approaching the vehicle.
“Mr. Scott, what are you doing here?”
Jaquan pushed open the car door from inside, an invitation. “Shall we talk?”
Callie reluctantly explained that she had some things to take care of.
After putting away her sketchbooks, for a moment, she wanted to escape. She didn’t know why, but she always felt that Jaquan’s eyes were too sharp.
Moreover, he was Nelson’s competitor!
After much consideration, she ultimately didn’t run away.
“Mr. Scott, are you here on business today?” Callie asked proactively after getting into the car.
Jaquan raised the car window, holding a cup with intricately patterned red wine. “I’m here on personal business, meeting an old acquaintance.”
That wasn’t something she could ask more about.
He placed the cup of wine in front of Callie. “I remember you can drink quite well.”
Callie didn’t move. “Mr. Scott, it’s daytime now, and besides, we just happened to meet by chance. Can I skip this drink?”
Jaquan smiled at her. “You could have skipped those two drinks last time too, but you still drank them.”
It was all thanks to him. Callie shivered at the thought of Nelson saying that if she hadn’t been brought in, Jaquan would have taken care of her.
“That was business; this doesn’t seem to be.”
“You do distinguish between business and personal matters.” Jaquan didn’t insist and asked casually, “But both business and personal matters are for Nelson, right?”
Touched upon Nelson, Callie didn’t know how to respond. A corner of her sketchbook was exposed and got pulled out by him. He flipped through it page by page.
She tried to stop him but failed.
Jaquan spoke as he looked through it. “Over the years, I haven’t seen any women around him. You’re the first.”
Callie pretended not to understand. “Doesn’t Cora count?”
“Of course not. She doesn’t have the ability to make Nelson risk offending his partners just to take action.” Jaquan said this and looked up. “But you do.”
Callie’s palms were sweaty. “Mr. Oconnor is considerate of his employees.”
Jaquan sneered and waved the sketchbook. “You know, initially, Oconnor Group wasn’t determined to win the Splendor Estate project. Projects involving public cooperation are only needed by companies like Scott Group that need reputation, while Oconnor Group already has a good reputation and doesn’t need it at all.”
He was being mysterious; Callie didn’t understand and only knew that Nelson had snatched another project from him. “So what?”
“I couldn’t figure out why Oconnor Group suddenly raised their bid at the last minute, but just now, when I saw you here, I suddenly understood.”
Jaquan’s eyes carried a mocking look that was intimidating.
Callie’s back straightened. She was smart and understood quickly. She also smiled. “Mr. Scott, I didn’t even realize I had such value. You’re overthinking it. Mr. Oconnor is a good person but not to the extent of changing the company’s trajectory for a small employee.”
“Just a small employee?”
In their exchange of words, Callie almost couldn’t withstand his probing gaze.
“… Of course.”