Chapter 305
Smiling, Samson looked at Ariel, then turned toward Chad offer a polite greeting.
Chad shook his hand, looking clearly surprised. “What are the odds? Looks like we’re seatmates.”
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Samson nodded and tapped casually on his nameplate on the table. “Yeah, we do seem to have some kind of fate.”
In truth, he had arranged for the nameplates to be switched Neither Ariel nor Chad had noticed.
Ariel, not one for unnecessary small talk, promptly turned back to her own thoughts after greeting Samson. She was mentally mapping out Faye Technologies‘ potential development trajectory.
He watched her silently as she drifted into thought. She occasionally frowned and touched her temple. Seeing that, Samson quietly smiled.
He didn’t disturb her..
Not many people around recognized him, so he enjoyed a rare moment of peace.
Across the room, the other side was buzzing with activity. Samson glanced over and quickly spotted Jayson and Nancy.
He knew Jayson. Nancy, though, took him a moment longer And then, it finally clicked. He had seen her at Lucas‘ engagement party.
That was likely the only link between them.
Just then, Nancy also looked over and spotted Samson. Her gaze lingered for two seconds before she nodded politely.
Since she had taken the initiative, Samson returned the gesture. Then his eyes flicked back to Ariel beside him.
Nancy slowly withdrew her gaze, then glanced at the nameplate in front of Samson.
In fact, she had noticed when the staff came by to switch out the nameplate.
The seat directly across from her hadn’t originally been Samson’s. It had been switched at the last minute.
At an event like this, changing seats was uncommon.
It was unlikely to be the idea of the conference center’s staff member. The only possibility was that Samson himself had requested the change.
As it happened, the seat directly across from Nancy had been unoccupied at the time, making the switch easy enough.
Nancy calmly looked away, then turned toward the CEO of the advanced materials company, who had taken the seat beside her not long ago.
She twirled her pen thoughtfully.
Now that someone was sitting there, switching seats wasn’t an option anymore.
With everyone settled, the conference began.
To Ariel’s surprise, Gary was also present. He was sitting in the front row next to Carlos.
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That alone spoke volumes about how high–level this event truly was.
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The conference centered around emerging technologies, covering key policy directions and the growing needs of both the public and private sectors.
It also highlighted various areas of development with strong potential for entry into the defense industry.
Ariel jotted down a rough summary of the conference in her notebook, gaining a clear understanding of the current major areas of demand.
Samson happened to catch a glance at her notes. They were sharp, insightful, and impressively thorough.
He was surprised. He hadn’t expected Ariel to be this insightful. She was truly an expert.
Without a solid technical background, there was no way she could have written something like that.
A pleasant surprise, indeed.
Back at Lucas‘ engagement party, when he had asked around about Ariel, all he learned was her connection to Lucas and that she worked at Faye Technologies.
But today, he was finally starting to get a clearer picture of just how capable she really was.
The conference lasted for nearly two hours.
Once it wrapped up, Nancy finally caught sight of Gary and Carlos seated at the front. A flicker of delight crossed her face.
She turned to Jayson and said, “Should we go say hello to them?”
After all, Veyo Solutions was eyeing expansion into military tech. Getting face time with influential figures like those two could be a game changer.
Jayson didn’t object, but his phone buzzed in his hand. He said coolly, “You go ahead.”
Nancy didn’t hesitate. With a graceful smile, she nodded. “Okay, join me when you’re done.”
“Nice to meet you, Commander Quinton.”
Gary had just stood up, ready to leave, when he heard Nancy’s voice. When he turned and caught sight of her, a subtle gleam passed through his gaze.
Nancy offered a poised smile. “Not sure if you remember me. We’ve met before.”
Of course Gary remembered her, whether it was because of her connection to Jayson or because she had been the one who wrecked Ariel’s marriage.
He glanced toward Carlos, who was already walking off with his hands clasped behind his back. He was clearly uninterested in engaging.
Gary gave Nancy a polite nod. His expression revealed nothing. “Ms. Stanton, I’ve got something urgent to deal with. Perhaps we can talk another time.”
He didn’t give Nancy a chance to talk. Without another word, he turned and strode off.
Nancy froze in surprise, her brows slowly drawing together.
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As her gaze followed the direction he was heading, her expression shifted slightly.
Gary was actually walking over to Ariel?
