Chapter 268 - 266: People from the Lane Group Showed Up at the Door

"She’s a housekeeper from a friend’s place. I paid her extra to come over," Cecilia Sterling said.

The housekeeper was Estelle’s. She was an excellent cook, and Veridia Cuisine was no problem for her at all.

She had originally planned to hire a housekeeper, but she dropped the idea when she remembered their mother would be arriving in a couple of days. After all, her mother would never entrust the cooking to someone else. The kitchen had always been her domain.

The brother and sister washed their hands and sat down. Even though it was just the two of them, tonight’s dinner was by no means a simple affair.

Cecilia personally poured her brother a glass of cola. "A toast to your first day of school."

"Thanks, sis!"

"Go on, try it. This dining table has a warming function, but it’s probably not as good as when the food was fresh out of the pan."

Ethan Sterling casually picked up a piece of pork rib. After tasting it, he couldn’t help but nod. "This is delicious. Oh, by the way, sis, do I have an accent when I speak?"

Seemingly caught off guard by her brother’s sudden question, Cecilia paused. "No, why? Did a classmate say you have a Veridia accent?"

"No, not really. I think my Mandarin is pretty standard, but I’ve noticed my classmates here all have accents to some degree."

Cecilia smiled at his words. "That’s perfectly normal. The Lorcain accent is practically carved into their DNA. Anyone born and raised here has a bit of it. Even I’ve picked up a hint of a Lorcain accent from being here so long."

Accents really do vary from place to place and person to person. Some regional accents have a kind of magic to them, capable of subtly assimilating outsiders.

Especially in the north.

Ethan’s eyes flickered as he nodded. "Yeah, I feel like all my classmates have a bit of a Lorcain accent, especially my class president, Renee Reid. Her Lorcain accent sounds really nice."

The accent Ethan was emphasizing was actually the way Lorcain natives add a distinct ’er’ sound to their words, which he found novel.

"By the way, sis, our class president got early admission to Lorcain University today!"

"That impressive?" Cecilia said in surprise. "Doesn’t that mean she gets to skip the college entrance exams?"

"Yep. I heard she’s won several national Olympiad competitions. She’s a bona fide academic superstar."

Hearing this, Cecilia said half-jokingly, "Maybe you’ll be classmates in the future, then."

"You know, that’s actually possible!"

The next day, Cecilia was jolted awake by the urgent ringing of her phone.

"Hello, Rowe?"

Groggy, Cecilia glanced at the caller ID before answering. She immediately heard Timothy Rowe’s rapid-fire voice on the other end. "Cecilia, the people from the Lane Group showed up."

"Showed up? What do you mean?" Cecilia slowly sat up and leaned against the headboard. "They found where you’re living?"

"Yeah. Someone knocked on the door early this morning. We weren’t on guard, so by the time we opened the door and saw who it was, it was too late."

Cecilia speechlessly glanced at the time on her phone. It was only 6:30 a.m.

’Has the Lane Group lost its mind? Showing up at someone’s place at 6:30 in the morning to discuss a project?’

Timothy Rowe sounded helpless. "They’ve contacted us several times before, and we rejected them every time. I don’t know how they found our place this time. They came so early, likely because they know we aren’t here during the day lately, so they must have deliberately chosen to come before we all leave."

"It felt wrong to just shut the door in their face, so now they’re sitting in the living room. Cecilia, what do you want to do?"

All traces of sleepiness had vanished from Cecilia. Her voice was cold as she replied, "My stance hasn’t changed. The project I invested in will never work with the Lane Group. Rowe, that was the one and only condition I gave you, and I trust you won’t go back on your word."

"Of course not. I only called to reconfirm your stance on the Lane Group. Since it’s the same as before, I know how to handle this."

"Do you need me to come over?"

"No need. Leave it to me!"

After hanging up, Timothy Rowe took a deep breath and walked out of his room.

In the living room, two department heads from the Lane Group were sitting on the sofa, drinking tea. A few other team members who were already awake were gathered nearby, some sitting and some standing.

When Maverick saw Timothy Rowe come out, he took the initiative to make the introduction. "This is our team leader, Timothy Rowe."

Before the visitors could react, Timothy had already stopped in front of the sofa. He looked at them and said bluntly, "I’m sorry, but we’re sticking to our previous position. We will not be collaborating with the Lane Group."

"M-Mr. Rowe, please don’t say that!"

The man panicked. They had finally managed to meet the team’s leader today. This was their best chance to secure the deal, and they absolutely could not leave empty-handed again.

"Look, we’re terribly sorry for disturbing you all so early in the morning, but this just shows our sincerity in wanting to work with you. You’re selling this program to so many other companies, why not to us?"

"We are not at liberty to disclose the specific reason. There’s no need for the two of you to waste any more of your energy on us. Please, show yourselves out." Timothy didn’t waste a single word, stating his position before showing them the door.

"We’re willing to pay more!"

Seeing that Timothy was completely unyielding, the man played the trump card he had intended to save for last: a higher offer.

Hearing this, the expressions of the other team members, aside from Timothy, all shifted to varying degrees. It wasn’t that their resolve was shaken; they were just curious how much more a rich and powerful corporation like the Lane Group was willing to offer.

Before Timothy could react, the man held up one finger. "One thousand. We’re willing to pay one thousand dollars a year for the usage rights to your program!"

One thousand. Compared to the 600 dollars a year other companies were paying, this was nearly double the price.

Everyone simultaneously raised their eyebrows. ’As expected of the Lane Group,’ they thought. ’When they make an offer, they don’t mess around.’

The other representative, a woman, also chimed in at the right moment. "This price is more than enough to prove our sincerity. Mr. Rowe, there’s no need to have something against money, is there?"

However, Timothy didn’t even bother to lift his gaze, only saying coldly, "Show yourselves out."

"This..."

The two of them were dumbfounded. The one-thousand-dollar offer was the final bottom line their chairman had given them, and it was definitely a price that would tempt anyone.

But to their surprise, the other party simply didn’t care. They didn’t even seem interested in haggling, clearly dead set on not working with the Lane Group.

Maverick followed Timothy into the room, closing the door behind them. He couldn’t help but ask, "Timothy, one thousand dollars a year... are we really not going to consider it?"

Timothy turned his head, his gaze sharp as he looked at him. "This is the one and only condition Cecilia gave us for this project. Are you thinking of going back on our word?"

Maverick was intimidated by Timothy’s sharp gaze and quickly shook his head. "No, no, of course not. Her request is what’s most important. I was just wondering why she’s so against working with the Lane Group. Is it just because the Lane Group’s young master is her ex-boyfriend? But she doesn’t seem like that kind of person to me."

"The specific reason is not for us to speculate about. Since we gave her our word, we have to keep it!"