Victoria walked away without so much as a backward glance. Curtis kept his eyes fixed on her retreating figure until she finally disappeared from view. When he turned back around, he found himself locking eyes with McNeil. Feeling a bit awkward, Curtis took a sip of water to cover his discomfort.
"Do you like her?" McNeil's voice was low, his expression clouded.
Curtis hadn't noticed the edge in McNeil's tone. He set his glass down lightly on the table. "I guess you could say so. Women like her don't come around often—actually, she's one of a kind. Besides, I hear she and her husband are getting divorced, working through all the paperwork. I'll wait until she's free before I do anything about it."
It was the first time Curtis had admitted his feelings, even to himself. McNeil snorted, and the two men fell into a heavy silence.
"Oh, by the way," Curtis added, "I've been meaning to ask—do you have some sort of issue with Ms. Ailie from our Investment Department?"
He'd wanted to bring it up for a while. Judging by how Victoria had just treated McNeil, she didn't seem to like him much either.
Curtis couldn't figure it out. McNeil wasn't the sort to fool around or rub people the wrong way, so why did it seem like two of the company's best employees didn't care for him?
"Who?" McNeil frowned. "Ms. Ailie… Which Ms. Ailie?"
Apart from Victoria, McNeil hardly paid attention to anyone else at Quantum Core Technologies. He honestly had no idea who Curtis was talking about.
Curtis studied him for a moment but saw nothing unusual. He chuckled. "Forget it, just curious."
Really, he couldn't imagine McNeil offending Ailie—let alone Victoria.
Victoria had just signed contracts with three companies, which put Curtis's mind at ease. It felt like a small way to make up for his earlier mistakes, and it finally eased the guilt he'd been carrying.
After leaving Vertex Dynamics, Victoria invited Ailie out for dinner.
When Ailie heard that Victoria had negotiated a five percent royalty, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"McNeil actually agreed to that? No way—he's never that generous."
Victoria's lips curled into a faint smile. "They've already seen what my last game could do. They'd be crazy to walk away from that kind of money. Even with me taking five percent, Quantum Core Technologies, The Langford Group, and Golden Era Enterprises will all make a killing. It's free cash, why wouldn't they take it?"
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