“Did something good happen, Ms. Yarrow?” Yvonne asked curiously, as she could tell that Sophia was in a good mood.
“Huh?” Sophia raised a brow upon hearing that.
“It seems like you’re in a good mood today.”
“Oh, really?” Gosh! Is it that obvious?
Yvonne merely nodded in response. She dared not probe further, worrying if she appeared too nosy.
“Well, I guess you can say so.” Feeling embarrassed, Sophia gave Yvonne a once-over as she spoke.
After a brief pause, she quickly changed the topic of conversation. “Oh, right. Please keep an eye on Expedite, and inform me when they are planning for their shareholders’ meeting.”
I must attend the meeting to give Tobias a “surprise.”
“All right, Ms. Yarrow,” Yvonne responded and sensibly left the room.
Sophia instinctively reached for her cheek when she was alone in the office. Indeed, it was slightly warm.
When it was almost noon, Sophia prepared to attend her lunch appointment. She was keen to invest in a company raising financing for the fourth time.
Of course, she would not be able to earn as much as the early-stage investors by then. However, since the company had been on the rise, she had high hopes for their revenues.
After all, there wasn’t any overnight success in life.
When Sophia and Yvonne arrived at the hotel, the business owner was already waiting for them in the private room.
“I’m sorry for the wait, Mr. Landon.”
“What’s with the courtesy, Ms. Yarrow? We arrived too early, honestly!”
Sophia smiled in response and took her seat. This guy is more composed than I expected.
Once they were done eating, they started discussing the main business.
“Eighty million for fifteen percent shares. This is the highest price we can offer, Mr. Landon.”
During the first three rounds of capital funding activities, Jaron Landon had raised three million, fifteen million, and thirty-five million, respectively. As of then, he wanted to secure one hundred forty million by selling twenty-five percent of his shares.
To Sophia, such a price was a little too high.
Even though she started investing many years ago, she had never invested any amount of more than one hundred million.
As a conservative investor, she preferred earning her money slowly. That was also the reason why she would always choose low-risk investments.
Even though she was rich, she was still careful with her money and cared about the eighty million she might lose.
This is already the fourth round of funding. It’s still uncertain if they can secure three hundred million later during the fifth round of funding. Hmm. If they couldn’t make it by then, I might also lose my eighty million.
In truth, the amount Sophia had offered was already pushing the limits of Jaron’s bottom line. At this point, one of Sunshine Group or Jaron would have to take a loss if they could not come to an agreement on what Sophia offered.
Anyhow, Jaron was wholly impressed by Sophia’s negotiating skills. “I see what you mean, Ms. Yarrow. But I’m afraid I can’t provide you with an answer now.”
“I’ll wait for your reply. Can you please get back to me within three days?” Sophia responded with a smile.
“Sure!”
Since they were both people of great wisdom, they knew some words were better left unsaid.
“I’ll walk you out, Ms. Yarrow.”
Sophia arched an eyebrow upon hearing that. Nonetheless, she did not decline his offer.
Coincidentally, Alexander had also come to the hotel for a project meeting.
As soon as Sophia exited the private room, she immediately caught sight of Alexander. A group of people was crowding around him at the moment.
There were so many people, but Sophia spotted Alexander at first glance. Perhaps the man with an imposing aura was easily recognizable with his perfectly sculpted side profile and exquisite facial features.
Sure enough, Alexander had also noticed Sophia’s presence.
As he turned around and walked past the crowd surrounding him, he looked over and caught sight of the man standing beside Sophia.
He could not help furrowing his brows at that.
As for Sophia, she retracted her gaze after flashing Alexander a smile. “You don’t have to see me out, Mr. Landon.”
“All right.”
Jaron was quite an impressive individual though he was only thirty-three years old. Three years ago, he returned to the country as a professor. As of then, he had already kick-started his own business.
After bidding Jaron goodbye, Sophia cast Yvonne a glance. “You can take your leave now, Ms. Leighton. I’ll drive myself back.”
Since Sophia had already planned to head back to the mansion right after the meal, she drove to the hotel herself earlier.
“All right, Ms. Yarrow.” Yvonne nodded in response.
Unexpectedly, Alexander was still there. “Eh? I thought you’d left.”
“Nope. I didn’t drive here,” Alexander replied after giving her a look.
“Should I call a cab for you, Mr. Xenos?” queried Sophia with an eyebrow arched.
As she spoke, a sweet, bright smile blossomed on her face.
Feeling a fluttering pulse, Alexander narrowed his eyes and swallowed hard. As he directed his gaze elsewhere to contain himself, he uttered, “Don’t smile like that in public.”
“Okay…” Sophia felt a warm blush rise to her cheeks at that.
After she took out the car key to unlock her car, Alexander casually got into the passenger seat.
Before starting the engine, Sophia swept her gaze over him. “You don’t have things to attend to in the afternoon?”
“There’s nothing urgent.”
Alexander leaned against the back of the seat and looked at her. “Are we heading home?”
“Yes.”
Sophia raised her eyebrow and averted her gaze from him.
As she drove toward their destination, she could sense that the man was still gazing at her passionately. After stopping the car at a red light, she looked at him with an arched brow. “Don’t your eyes get tired?”
He has been looking at me all this while…
“No. I’m not tired. Hmm. Are you shy?”
Sophia glanced at the traffic light ahead of her and uttered, “Well, I’m not.”
Since Sophia thought she looked just fine, Alexander naturally wasn’t going to expose her.
“The light has turned green.”
Along the way, nobody uttered another word. It was not until the car was pulled into the garage that Sophia unbuckled her safety belt and voiced, “We’re here.”
Getting no response, she looked toward the man and realized that he seemed to have fallen asleep. His eyes were tightly shut as he sat in the passenger seat.
“Alexander?” Sophia called out with an eyebrow raised.
The man did not even move a muscle. After giving it some thought, she leaned forward and undid his seat belt.
Once it was undone, she noticed the man had already placed a hand on her waist.
It was also then that Alexander slowly opened his eyes. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace the next instant.
It’s hot.
Sophia lifted her hand and rested it on his shoulder, putting some distance between them. Looking straight at the man, she questioned, “You tricked me?”
“No.”
After a brief pause, he added, “I would never trick you.”
Sophia merely grunted at that.
Unknowingly, a hint of coyness was laced in her voice as she grumbled, “I thought you’d already fallen asleep.”
How she dragged her last word made Alexander feel an inexplicable heat rising from his body. As he gazed at her bright eyes, he could clearly see his reflection.
What is up with what I’m feeling now? Alexander felt an unfathomable emotion at that moment. Even his nose began to tingle.
He reached out and held the back of her head. Hugging her tightly, he explained, “I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m a little tired.”
Smiling, Sophia leaned on his shoulder. “Lack of sleep? What were you thinking about last night, Mr. Xenos?” she questioned despite knowing the answer.
“Thinking about you.”
As she lowered her head and caught sight of his cufflink, she was instantly reminded of the piece of cufflink that he had thrown away.
“Can you give me one of these cufflinks?”
“Anything you want. You can even take all of them.”
“Hahaha! I don’t need so many.”
After removing the cufflink from his left shirt sleeve, she pushed open the car door. “Let’s get out of the car.”
Alexander let go of her, and she then exited the vehicle. Before heading upstairs, she glanced at the cufflink in the palm of her hand and beamed with satisfaction.
Unbeknownst to her, every gesture of hers melted Alexander’s heart.
My Sophia is indeed adorable.
