Chapter 759

Granger Harden and Dalton Ramirez naturally made their appearance at the tech conference as well.

However, they arrived a bit later than Charlene's group.

Unlike Leonard, the very first people Granger spotted upon entering the venue were Charlene and Stewart.

It had been quite a while since he last saw her.

Without hesitation, he walked over to say hello.

Though surrounded by a crowd, Charlene and Stewart politely returned his greeting.

Granger wanted to linger and talk, but seeing how deep they were in business discussions, he tactfully excused himself. Only after making the rounds with a few other acquaintances did he finally seek out Thorne Henderson.

Thorne was in the middle of discussing a potential collaboration when Granger walked up. "You made it," Thorne smiled.

"Yeah," Granger replied.

Beside them, Vesta Hawkins stood quietly, her expression strained.

Thorne might not have noticed it while distracted by his conversation, but she hadn't missed the fact that Granger's first priority upon entering the room had been Charlene.

It was glaringly obvious-in Granger's eyes, Charlene was the only one who mattered.

Dalton Ramirez had also spotted Charlene and Stewart, but he didn't even bother going over to say hello. Instead, his eyes scanned the crowd for Vesta, and the moment he found her, he headed straight in her direction.

Unfortunately, he was intercepted by eager entrepreneurs looking to network before he could say much to her.

The conference hall was buzzing. Charlene and Stewart were swamped, as were Thorne and Dalton.

By comparison, Vesta looked entirely out of place.

She couldn't comfortably interrupt Thorne's business talks. While ske technically owned her own company, its current state left her with zero leverage for real partnerships.

As for discussing actual technology... in this setting, she wasn't a recognized name.

Most attendees didn't even know she had a background in the field.

Consequently, she was left standing on the sidelines with nothing to do.

Then, Professor Mack walked by.

Vesta's eyes lit up. She quickly put on a polite smile and approached him. "Professor Mack, it's been a while."

The professor recognized her and offered a friendly nod and a handshake. "Ah, Ms. Hawkins. It has indeed."

"I was hoping we could discuss the multimodal architecture of the Genesis Model—"

Vesta began smoothly. Her company's next strategic move relied heavily on this, and she desperately wanted to secure a partnership with him.

But before she could even finish her sentence, the professor's assistant leaned in. "Professor, Ms. Ross and Mr. Ferguson are over there."

Professor Mack's eyes went wide with immediate excitement. Cutting Vesta off completely, he said, "My apologies, Ms. Hawkins There's an urgent matter I need to discuss with Ms Ross. If you'll excuse me."

Vesta froze, her polite smile turning rigid. She forced herself to recover instantly,

nodding graciously. "Of course. We can connect another time."

"Absolutely, absolutely," he replied, though it was entirely dismissive. He was already practically sprinting away before the words fully left his mouth.

Vesta's hands slowly curled into tight fists. She pressed her lips together, her gaze drawn involuntarily toward Charlene.

Unlike her own isolated corner,

Charlene was the gravitational center of the room. When Professor Mack reached the group, he

completely bypassed Stewart and went straight to Charlene, eagerly greeting her first.

The second the pleasantries were out of the way, he launched into an animated discussion with her, looking absolutely thrilled just to have her attention.