The Scent of 248

Chapter 248

Technically, she was still married.

And with where things stood between them, saying something like that would be inappropriate.

After seeing Beck off, Celeste quickly headed back upstairs,

He watched her go, lingering for a moment before turning to James Ford, one of his company’s core engineers, and said, “I need your help with something.”

“Of course,” James replied.

“A friend of mine is looking to study natural language processing in depth but needs an elite mentor…”

James listened and, given their rapport, agreed without question.

However, he paused for a moment before continuing, “I may have some expertise in this field, but to be honest, I don’t think I measure up to Mr. Yoder from YodaVision or Ms. Rodriguez, who has been handling our collaboration discussions. So, if you’re looking for the best guidance, Ms. Rodriguez or Mr. Yoder might be better choices.”

Beck was a little surprised when he heard what James had said.

His background was in finance, and AI wasn’t his domain.

Yet James was an expert.

When it came to NLP–natural language processing, James was one of the most respected names in the country— if not the absolute best, then certainly among the top.

If not, Trevor wouldn’t have chosen to bypass InnovaTech and Fleming Tech’s own specialists to ask for his help.

James had praised Celeste plenty of times before, but even Beck hadn’t realized just how capable she truly was.

Matthias had never held back in praising Celeste, constantly speaking of her talents in front of the others. He had assumed that, while Celeste was indeed skilled, Matthias‘ admiration was tinted with personal motives and some exaggeration.

But now…

“Mr. Harper?”

Beck snapped back to his senses. “Both Mr. Yoder and Ms. Rodriguez have had past conflicts with that friend of mine. It’s not the best option.”

“I see.”

James ended the conversation at that.

When Beck and James arrived at the private lounge that night, Wynn was already there.

Wynn was all politeness when she saw James.

After exchanging pleasantries, she quickly steered the conversation toward technical topics.

Meanwhile, Beck remained mostly silent, appearing distracted as he listened.

Having chatted with James for a while, Wynn turned to Beck. “It’s a bit boring, right?”

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Chapter 248

Beck pulled himself out of his distraction and answered, “I’m fine. You two carry on; don’t mind me.”

Wynn smiled and took him at his word, continuing her discussion with James.

She was genuinely eager to improve, so she took it seriously.

Her enthusiasm, combined with her humble attitude, made James more than happy to help.

After evaluating her level of understanding, he guided her on how to structure her studies and gave her an overview of the field’s current advancements.

The discussion carried on pleasantly over dinner.

Well, of course, they only scratched the surface today.

Wynn was looking for a much deeper dive.

Tomorrow was New Year’s Day, and she sincerely asked James to mentor her.

Out of respect for Beck, James agreed to clear half a day from his schedule to meet with her.

Hence, Wynn thanked him profusely.

After dinner, they sent James off. Then, Wynn cast an eye on Beck, who had been mostly silent all along. “Thank you for today, Beck,” she said.

He answered flatly, “Trevor and I grew up together–this is nothing.”

Before she could reply, he added, “It’s getting late. Head home and get some rest.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow.”

At this, Beck muttered, “I’ve got plans tomorrow, so count me out.”

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