No one had ever connected Ariel with drones before, but now, even an engineer of Colin’s caliber was praising her openly.

What was going on?

Ariel had only joined Faye Technologies for a few months.

Perry knew she was smart, but aerospace engineering wasn’t an ordinary field one could master easily. Did Chad teach Ariel theoretical knowledge?

Or…

“Perry?”

Nancy came up and tapped him on the shoulder. “Jayson and Matt are waiting over there. Let’s go get in that car.”

Perry was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts. He glanced toward where Nancy indicated.

Jayson was on a call nearby. When he sensed Perry’s gaze, he turned to look over.

Meeting Jayson’s eyes, Perry suddenly felt a heaviness in his chest. An odd and unsettling feeling crept in.

Should he ask Jayson about Ariel?

Perry pressed his lips together, his mind racing as he started walking toward them.

Yet, the fleeting idea to ask Jayson for information faded. It was replaced by another thought.

Before getting in the car, Perry pulled out his phone and sent a message to Freya.

“Do you want to meet Ms. Walker? Didn’t you say she’s great with drones? You have your college entrance exams this year. Why not ask her out and get her advice?”

Meanwhile, Ariel rode in a car with Chad and Carlos.

When Ariel and Chad got in, Carlos was reading a doctoral thesis from the research institute.

Ariel stayed quiet, not wanting to disturb him.

She hadn’t seen Evelyn again. The latter was probably busy with hotel affairs.

Ariel wasn’t sure whether Jayson had told Evelyn about their divorce. He had only mentioned keeping it from Betty, so she had no idea what Evelyn knew.

When they got secretly married, no one besides the Larkins and those close to Jayson knew he was actually married.

It was normal for Evelyn to act as if she didn’t know Ariel in public.

But Evelyn hadn’t even greeted Nancy either, which was somewhat strange.

In the front seat, Carlos was halfway through the thesis when Gary called.

The Department of Defense and the research institute were connected, often holding meetings about military science projects.

Carlos answered.

Gary asked, “Carlos, is your work in Sorenta finished today?”

Carlos replied calmly, “You’re quite well informed, huh? What’s up?”

Gary laughed heartily. “You should’ve received the orders. Our focus for the second half of the year is to crack the sixth–generation fighter jet. I was hoping you could assign a few people to the project.”

Carlos thought for a moment. “No problem. We’ll have time once this project is over.”

“Um… What about that lady who developed U.N2?” Gary got to the point.

Carlos‘ expression shifted subtly as he looked back at Ariel, who was chatting with Chad about Faye Technologies‘ next steps. He smiled and said, “Since you have someone in mind, why beat around the bush?”

“You know how powerful U.N2 is in actual combat. We can waste such talent.” Gary was straightforward.

Military research and defense industries needed geniuses like that.

Carlos snorted. “We’ll see. I can ask for you,”

Gary hurriedly said, “Hey, you better take it seriously. Wouldn’t you be proud if your student worked on military projects? Also, I’m sending you some pictures of my son. Maybe you can show her.”

Carlos was rendered speechless.

How audacious of Gary to try to claim both Ariel’s talent and her hand!

Chad hadn’t even gotten in line yet. There was no way Carlos would let the Quintons cut.