Chapter 756 Deception

"So..." Vera Coleman hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you guys planning to stick with her forever?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I’ve noticed your studio has more and more people now. It’s basically the size of a small company. Haven’t you ever thought about striking out on your own?"

Vera asked casually, as if she were just discussing it with him.

Evan Lawson didn’t think much of it. "No," he said. "Cecilia has been great to us—exceptionally good from the very beginning. She’s done so much for us."

"Besides, the AI field is a real cash-burner. We’ve made some money, but if something goes wrong down the line, we could be back to square one overnight."

"So having an investor who supports and understands us is crucial. Even if we did part ways with Cecilia, we’d still need other investors. Given the choice, we’d definitely rather stick with her."

Vera listened and nodded silently.

Evan Lawson thought the topic was closed, but after a moment of silence, Vera suddenly looked at him and said, "Evan, I have a meeting with someone this afternoon. Will you come with me?"

"A meeting? With who?"

"It’s sort of an interview."

"Already? That was fast."

Evan was a bit surprised, but on second thought, it made sense. Vera was in the second semester of her junior year, and plenty of capable students started interviewing for internships around this time.

You had to get a head start to seize opportunities. After all, many companies preferred to hire recent graduates, but there weren’t many good positions available. With such fierce competition, the early bird gets the worm.

"Alright, I’ll go with you this afternoon."

Back in the dorm, Cecilia Sterling finished putting her things away. She sat down, drank a glass of water, and glanced at Estelle’s bed, then at the time.

’This little princess is so late,’ she thought.

’Did she forget today is the first day of school?’

She was just about to call and ask when the grand dame herself finally arrived.

The door pushed open, and in walked Estelle, dressed in a beautiful outfit and carrying a Hermes Small House bag. She directed the person next to her, "Just put it here."

Seeing this, Cecilia and Blair instinctively moved closer for a look.

They immediately recognized the person who had brought Estelle to school and helped carry her luggage: Peregrine Jones, the young karting coach from the club.

"Miss... Miss Sterling."

Peregrine Jones jumped when he saw Cecilia. Since she was now the owner of the club, he instantly adopted the posture of an employee meeting their boss.

Cecilia said nothing, only glancing at Estelle.

"You can head back now. I’ll message you on WhatsApp," Estelle said with a wave of her hand.

Peregrine Jones nodded, then said to Cecilia, "Miss Sterling, I’ll be leaving now."

Cecilia frowned as she watched his retreating back.

"So you’ve completely changed the person who carries your bags upstairs now?"

Even though she had been deliberately keeping her distance from Charles Jennings, he was still the one who had helped her with her luggage at the start of last semester.

"He found out today was the first day of school and insisted on picking me up and bringing me here," Estelle said sweetly, clearly pleased by Peregrine Jones’s gesture.

Cecilia and Blair exchanged a look. No wonder she was so late.

"You two have been together for more than half a year, right? Is it purely platonic? Have you even kissed?" Blair asked bluntly.

At first, Estelle found such questions hard to talk about, but she had come around a bit. Hearing this, she said, "I guess in a relationship, I’m more focused on the emotional value. I’m just really happy when I’m with him."

"Does he feel the same way?" Blair pressed.

Estelle nodded. "I think so."

Cecilia wanted to scoff but held it back. She didn’t believe it for a second.

’There isn’t a man alive who doesn’t care about that stuff.’

’Unless he really can’t perform.’

’Some guys who can’t perform still force themselves to go through with it, or they try other tricks. The point is, they have to end up in bed.’

"So how do you two provide that ’emotional value’ for each other, usually?" Cecilia asked.

Estelle recalled, "We just hang out together—go for walks, eat, drink, that kind of thing. He even asked me to go to a bar with him tonight. Said he wants to introduce me to his friends."

"And you agreed?"

Estelle nodded. "He’s mentioned it before, but I have a bit of social anxiety. But today, I thought about it and realized we’ve been together for quite a while, so meeting his friends shouldn’t be a big deal."

That made sense, but Blair still offered, "I happen to be free tonight. I’ll go with you."

"Okay!" Estelle brightened up instantly. "We haven’t been to a bar in ages! Cecilia, you wanna come?"

Cecilia knew Blair was worried about Estelle, so she nodded as well. "Sure, why not? Let’s all go together. We can ask Jane and Julian Summers, too."

They all agreed in an instant. Estelle’s social anxiety vanished; with her friends there, it was her home turf.

At noon, after lunch, Evan Lawson followed Vera Coleman to a coffee shop.

At the entrance, Evan couldn’t help but ask in surprise, "The interview is here? What company is it?"

"You’ll know once you’re inside."

Before Evan could react, Vera had already pulled him into the coffee shop.

"Vera!"

"Shawn!"

Inside the coffee shop, someone stood up from a distance and waved at Vera. It was none other than Shawn Lane.

It was only when they got closer that Evan recognized him. His eyes went wide. Before he could speak, Shawn extended a hand. "Hello, senior. I’m Shawn Lane."

Evan glanced at Shawn’s outstretched hand but didn’t take it. Instead, a flash of anger appeared in his eyes as he turned to Vera. "You tricked me?"

Vera was nervous herself but forced a calm expression. "Tricked you how? This really is an interview!"

"An interview? You’re going to join the Lane Group?" He looked at Shawn, then back at Vera. "How do you two know each other?"

Vera was a math major, while Shawn had been an astronomy major back at Lorcain Tech. They weren’t classmates.

Vera answered truthfully, "We met during the group military training in our freshman year. Evan, Shawn made a very good offer. The salary, the benefits, the career prospects—they’re all excellent. Let’s just hear him out!"

The truth was, Vera had noticed Shawn during that freshman training because he was handsome, and she had intentionally created an opportunity to become friends with him.

They hadn’t talked much since then, but a few days ago, Shawn had suddenly reached out to her.

"If you want to listen, you listen. I have nothing to discuss with anyone from the Lane Group."

Evan shot Shawn an angry glare and turned to leave, but Vera grabbed his arm.

Vera looked conflicted, her tone pleading. "Evan, please, just listen. If you still don’t agree after hearing him out, I won’t say another word, okay?"

"I only came with you because you said you had an interview. If you’d told me you were bringing me to meet someone from the Lane Group, I never would have come. Vera, how could you trick me like this?"

"I really didn’t trick you! I’m here for an interview today, too."

Shawn chose that moment to interject, "Vera is here to interview for the supervisor position in the Lane Group’s AI product department."

"Supervisor?" Evan’s eyes went wide with shock. Then, he suddenly laughed and looked at Vera. "And you believe that? You haven’t even graduated yet! They’re going to make you a supervisor?"