Irritated, I was about to turn off my phone when another call came in. I frowned as I answered the call, “Are you still not satisfied with how miserable I am now, Ashton? Do you want to see me die?”
“You know what I actually want, Scarlett. If I could stay by your side…” His voice was hoarse, and I could vaguely hear the sound of rain over the speaker.
Feeling more irked, I had a strong urge to hang up immediately, but he added, “I’m downstairs.”
I was stunned. The next thing I knew, I was walking to the balcony. The moment I looked down, I saw Ashton standing in the rain by the lamppost downstairs.
Instantly, I was infuriated. “Are you crazy, Ashton?” Is he trying to torture himself by standing in the rain in the middle of the night?
But he chuckled. “You’re angry. Does that mean you’re worried about me?”
What the…
He’s crazy!
“You need to see a doctor, Ashton.” I hung up after saying that, a wave of frustration rising in me.
It was still pouring outside, and it wasn’t warm like the rain during summer. I was worried as he would definitely get sick if he stayed out there any longer.
After thinking about it, I gave Jared a call, but it went unanswered, so I called Joe. After some time, he finally picked up.
“What’s wrong, Scarlett?”
I pursed my lips. “Ashton is harming himself at the residence near Central Park. You’d better come and get him if you don’t want him to die. And please tell him that if he wants to die, he should do it far away from here. I don’t want to watch him die. Thanks.”
“What the hell! I knew you weren’t a good person! You—” I turned off my phone before he could finish his sentence. Joe was known for having a sharp tongue, and I didn’t want to hear him insult me.
There was no sign of the rain stopping anytime soon, but Ashton remained rooted to his spot nonetheless. Joe finally arrived to pick him up after half an hour.
I was too high up in the building to hear what they were talking about, but I watched as they fought for a little before they left.
After that, I drew the curtains shut and sat on the bed, knowing well that I wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore.
The next day at dawn, I got out of bed and went straight to the company after washing up.
Marcus came early in the morning. When he saw that I wasn’t in good spirits, he frowned and asked, “Didn’t you sleep last night?”
I nodded. “Ashton was downstairs. It was so annoying.”
His brows knitted together but said nothing else about it. He then changed the topic, “Did you read through the document I gave you yesterday?”
I froze immediately. It was all because of Ashton’s sudden appearance that I forgot about my work. Without a choice, I replied truthfully, “I forgot.”
Rendered speechless, he gave me a helpless smile. “There’s a meeting that you have to attend later. You’ll have to think on your feet since you didn’t read the document.”
Me?
Alright then!
I nodded and glanced at him. “What is it about?”
He got up and poured me a glass of water before telling his secretary to hand me my breakfast. “I’ll talk you through it as you eat.”
I was beginning to suspect that he was worried that I would starve to death. That was why he was always trying to feed me something.
I started to eat after taking a seat on the sofa. “Go on.”
“It’s about the research and development of new technology. White Corporation made a fortune by selling automotive and electrical appliances. A few years ago, when the market for new technology blew up, many companies were trying to benefit from it. White Corporation managed to get a slice of the pie, mainly focusing on phones and computers. Currently, the company intends to dabble in the AI field. However, the IT Department of the company has been stumped. That’s why we need to discuss whether or not we should continue pursuing AI technology. And if we do, how should we promote it? Besides, we would also need to hire a group of skilled technicians to work on the project.”
I nodded before stuffing a few mouthfuls of bread into my mouth. “Are all the current technicians in the IT Department the same ones as before?”
He shook his head and said, “No. We spend a fortune to hire the best technicians to work for us every year. But we haven’t managed to get any results so far.”
“The meeting starts in an hour, right? Can I meet these people first?”
Marcus was stunned by my question, but he nodded nonetheless. Seeing that I was almost done eating, he got up and said, “Of course.”
I followed him out of the office. White Corporation valued AI a lot and had reserved two floors just to do research in this field.
Since it was a research laboratory, the protocols for the entry and exit of staff were stringent. Marcus and I had to put on protective gear before going in.
I glanced around at the equipment around me but didn’t really understand their usage, so I immediately went to meet the technicians.
Since there wasn’t much time, we only talked for a little before Marcus and I had to return to the office.
“How was it? Do you have any afterthoughts?” he asked with a slight smile as he plopped down into his seat.
I only answered after giving it some thought, “Why are all the people you hired foreigners? And why do they have so much authority?”
He raised a brow. “So far, there aren’t many great technicians in our country. Since they have the skills and qualifications, of course I have to give them more benefits.”
“But have you ever thought about the fact that AI is being researched and studied by every country? What if the foreigners return to their own countries with these research results?” Although I knew that I might be wrong, I still couldn’t help but worry about it. After all, we weren’t the only ones who loved our own country.
