She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew) novel Chapter 276

Chapter 276
It was likely that the Randolph family’s complaint worked.
Brandon had received a notice from that private hospital that he could not demonstrate and recommend his company’s AI products to patients in the future. They could only recommend the products to the relevant departments of the hospital through official channels. The hospital would then decide whether to try the products out or purchase them.
Brandon knew that Athena had connections with this hospital. If he asked Athena for help, it would not be a problem for him to secure the hospital’s cooperation.
But he didn’t do that.
No matter how many connections and skills Athena had, they were all earned by her. He had no contribution to that.
He felt that he could not squander Athena’s resources as he pleased just because he and Athena were family. So, he didn’t push it and continued demonstrating at other hospitals.
However, he wasn’t sure if it was the Randolph family working behind the scenes. He went to more than ten hospitals in one go, but all of them rejected him. There wasn’t even a chance to negotiate.
He had lived to the age of twenty-eight and endured his fair share of hardships and suffering, so this setback was nothing to him.
As long as he kept his composure and kept fighting despite repeated failures, that was all that mattered.
Perhaps the universe rewarded diligence. After a few more days of approaching hospitals, a large company reached out to him. “Our CEO’s father saw the AI products developed by your company at a trade fair and bought two of them. He found them very useful and strongly recommended this kind of AI product to our CEO. Our CEO is passionate about charity and intends to order a batch of AI products with different functions to donate to nursing homes and some hospitals. When are you available to discuss?”
Brandon was thrilled. “I’m available anytime. Just set the time and place. I’ll go over immediately.”
He brought along the technical director and marketing director to meet them.
The negotiation between both parties went very smoothly.
They decided to order ten thousand AI products with different functions and prices, totaling over 4 million dollars.
The news spread back to the company, and everyone was overjoyed.
This was significant not only because this was the first major order Donovan High-tech received, but also because the client was a rather influential large company. They gained recognition from such a large company, enabling them to have concrete achievements and confidence when they talked about it.
Brandon was happy. Louis, who secretly set up this business deal behind the scenes, was also thrilled.
He walked into a roadside restaurant and had dinner in a leisurely manner while scrolling through his Facebook feed.
Then, he saw a photo that Maria posted in the evening, which was taken at Dichester airport. The caption read, “The month- long study has ended. I’m preparing to go home. I miss my mom’s cooking a lot.”
“Dichester?” he said to himself. Mr. Graham was supposed to go to Dichester tonight, but the weather forecast said there would be heavy rain in Dichester, so he canceled the trip. I wonder if Maria’s flight from Dichester will be canceled too.
After thinking for a moment, he called Maria, but her phone was off.
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Chapter 276
He opened the weather forecast app again and checked the weather in Dichester.
+5
It was over nine o’clock in the evening. Dichester had experienced strong winds and heavy rain in the early evening, which had only stopped an hour ago.
The only flight to Kitmore City tonight was delayed for more than two hours. It only took off over ten minutes ago.
“With Maria’s personality, unless there’s a special situation, she definitely won’t trouble her family to pick her up,” Louis said. “By the time she arrives at Kitmore City Airport, it’ll definitely be past midnight. The subway will be closed, the airport shuttle doesn’t go near her place, and taxis are hard to find. Even if she finds one, it’s not safe for a girl like her to take a taxi home alone. I’d better inform the Donovan family and ask them to pick her up.”
Just as he was about to make the call, he felt conflicted again..
“Who should I inform? Wesley and his wife are getting on in years. I can’t ask them to go to the airport to pick up Maria after they’re done dealing with things at the restaurant. Jaden is in Oxhorn Village. Brandon is hosting a dinner for a major client tonight. Zayn is filming. Alaric has gone to take part in a tennis match. Arthur is free, but he usually stays until the restaurant closes, and the airport is so far from there… Should I contact Miss Donovan? If Mr. Graham finds out, I won’t be the most popular person in the CEO’s office anymore. Forget it. I’ll go pick her up myself.”
So, Louis drove to the airport after finishing his meal.
As soon as Maria got off the plane at midnight, she saw the messages from her family on iMessage and from Louis.
[Where are you now? Do you need us to pick you up?] This was the message from her family.
Miss Donovan, I happen to be at the airport. Let me know your location after you disembark.] This was the text from Louis. Maria felt a sense of warmth, and she replied to her family first. [I’m having late-night snacks near Mid-Level Mountain Garden. I’m heading back now. You don’t have to pick me up.]
Then, she sent a location to Louis with a smiley face. [Thank you, Louis. I’m heading out of the airport now.]
She wheeled her suitcase out of the airport, walked to the designated waiting spot, placed her suitcase flat on the ground, and sat on it. While waiting for Louis, she watched a romance drama on her phone.
At this moment, a stylishly dressed young couple walked out of the airport, embracing each other, and stood next to her.
The young man looked around and said impatiently to his entourage, “It’s so late. Why isn’t the car here yet? Call them now and find out where they are.”
Then, he noticed Maria sitting on her suitcase and said with a sense of exaggeration, “Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen someone sitting on a suitcase. Can a suitcase actually seat people? Could it be that she is posing for a video?”
Maria heard this person’s voice and looked up.
Both of them were somewhat taken aback when they saw each other.
‘Andrew and Zoe? Maria thought.
‘Maria?’ Andrew thought.
They thought, ‘People with beef are just destined to run into each other again!
Andrew’s face immediately darkened. He took out his sunglasses and put them on. Then, he pointed at Maria and said in an unfriendly tone, “What’s with that look? Are you waiting here for me and sneakily taking pictures of me?”
Maria hurriedly closed the show she was watching and stood up “I didn’t sneakily take photos of you. I just got off the plane and am waiting for a ride here”
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Chapter 276
Andrew pointed at her aggressively and said, “There’s no taxi at this hour. You were just watching the drama I starred in. You must be a fan of mine. You know that I fly back to Kitmore City tonight, so you deliberately wait here, right?”
“I’m not your fan.” Maria hid her phone behind her back, her face flushing. “Don’t imagine things without a real basis. If you hadn’t spoken so loudly, I wouldn’t have known you were here-
“You’re lying!” Andrew interrupted her. “You were smiling like a love-struck fool while watching my drama, and you still dare to say you’re not one of my stalker fans? I hate stalker fans the most.”
With that said, he ordered his entourage, “Check her phone now. There might be photos of me and Zoe on her phone. Those photos must be completely deleted.”
He thought, ‘As a star who has just shot to fame, I absolutely can’t let anyone take photos of me hugging a woman. What’s more, I just walked out of the airport with Zoe in the middle of the night. If those photos get out, I won’t be able to explain myself.
Two members of the entourage immediately walked over and blocked Maria on the left and right, saying fiercely, “Hand over your phone. We want to check if you secretly took photos.”
“I didn’t secretly take photos!” Maria said angrily. “You don’t have the right to search my phone. If you people dare to snatch my phone. I’ll call the police-”
Before she finished talking, two staff members had already made a move. One grabbed her arm, and the other reached for her phone.
Just as she was about to scream, one of them covered her mouth.
Her phone was snatched away by the other person.