After finally shaking off Frank, Nick ran straight into a massive wall of people crowding forward to strike up a conversation or force their business cards into his hands. There were certainly a few seasoned veterans in the investment community who genuinely wanted to get to know him, but the crowd was mostly packed with white-collar wolves trying to test his depth to see if they could make a predatory move. Worse still were the self-proclaimed young disruptors who shamelessly cornered him to pitch their half-baked startup slides.
Fortunately, Vivian maintained a tight formation by his side the entire time, cutting through the social tension with sharp, well-timed banter that single-handedly relieved a massive amount of his anxiety.
"I seriously appreciate the backup tonight," Nick said, offering a look of genuine gratitude to Vivian after they finally managed to slip past the security guards at the edge of the main ballroom.
"Don't sweat it. What are friends for if they can't run a little interference? Besides, it's not like I walked away empty-handed after you dropped a fortune on this," Vivian countered, playfully tapping the premium jewelry box clutched in her hand.
"Hey, as long as you're happy with it." Nick smiled. To his practical brain, it was just a nice piece of jade. Since he was fundamentally locked into spending a chunk of capital tonight to show he was playing nice with the local Chamber of Commerce, the specific nature of the lot didn't matter. Rather than burning cash on a generic, overpriced oil painting contributed by some legacy real estate chairman, it made infinitely more sense to buy a physical asset that retained actual value.
"Wait, you're calling a ride already?" Vivian asked, tracking Ryan as he smoothly pulled the sleek corporate van up to the resort's valet line, with Calloway following closely behind carrying their administrative bags.
Nick gave a decisive nod, his lips curving into a relaxed smile. "I showed my face on the red carpet, I gave them their charity money, and my mandatory social quota is fulfilled. It's time to get out of here."
"It hasn't even hit nine o'clock yet, Nick. Realistically, there are still dozens of elite investors and venture capital partners networking inside. Hanging out with that crowd for another hour could inject some serious velocity into your next funding round," Vivian advised, her tone shifting into a more serious, practical frequency.
Nick shook his head, completely unswayed by the pitch. "I finally managed to extract myself from that fake echo chamber; there is zero chance I'm diving back into the meat grinder. Do me a favor and say goodnight to your dad for me."
Recognizing the finality in Nick's posture, a brief flash of disappointment crossed Vivian's features. "Alright, completely fair. Stay safe on the highway. I explicitly stated I owed you a real dinner to balance the books for saving you tonight, so I guess we're pushing that meeting to another day."
"Well, you already forced me to give you my number, so our lines are wide open for future scheduling," Nick replied with an amused smirk. Vivian had literally snatched his phone straight out of his palm to log her contact info manually, saving him the trouble of doing it himself.
"Very true." Vivian nodded, a brilliant smile breaking across her face as she offered a gentle, casual wave.
Nick mirrored the gesture, stepping into the back of the van. The engine purred instantly as Ryan shifted into drive, smoothly accelerating away from the luxury resort's perimeter.
Vivian tracked the vehicle's taillights for a long moment as it melted into the midnight traffic, before looking down at the heavy jewelry box resting in her palm, an incredibly radiant, victorious smile gracing her lips.
"Vivian."
"Dad!" Catching the sound of Yuzuki' voice approaching from the pavilion, Vivian instantly tucked the jewelry box behind her back in a swift, defensive maneuver.
"Oh, please, stop hiding it—I saw the whole thing from the balcony."
Yuzuki let out a deeply irritated, paternal sigh, walking over to his daughter. "You met the guy less than two hours ago, and you're already accepting an incredibly expensive luxury gift from him? What kind of behavior is that? I can't wait to see what your mother says when we get back home."
"Who says we just met? Didn't we see each other on the plane a few weeks ago? Besides, Dad, he gave it to me because he didn't want it," Vivian said, bringing the box back out and holding it protectively. "He doesn't have a girlfriend, so it would be a total waste for him to just let a gorgeous piece of lavender jade sit in a drawer. It's much better for him to give it to me to keep safe."
She gently stroked the polished surface of the box, her eyes drifting back toward the empty stretch of highway where Nick's van had vanished, a soft sigh echoing in her chest.
If I didn't have the excuse of this pendant, she thought, how would I ever muster up the courage to take the initiative and ask him out on a real date next month?
Reading the completely distant, starry-eyed look taking over his daughter's face, Yuzuki couldn't help but let out a massive, defeated sigh, grumbling under his breath. "Unbelievable. The old saying is completely true—once a daughter grows up, you can't keep her focus on her own family. I've raised you for twenty-three years, protected you, supported you, and yet a few dry words from some young tech rascal completely overrides my authority."
"Dad..." Vivian instantly wrapped her arms around Yuzuki's sleeve, leaning into his shoulder and acting like a spoiled child to completely melt his irritation.
"Alright, alright, cut the act," Yuzuki muttered, though his tone softened significantly as he looked down at her. "But I am warning you right now, Vivian: that kid is absolutely no pushover. To build a massive company like that at such a young age, do you honestly think he's a simple, straightforward character?"
He sighed, his voice full of genuine worry. "You saw the room today. For a brilliant, successful guy like him, even if he doesn't do a single thing, a literal army of gorgeous models and high-society girls are going to desperately crowd around him just to get a glance. If you choose to chase after him, it is going to be an exceptionally exhausting uphill battle, and it might not have a happy ending."
"Of course he isn't simple, Dad. A man capable of aggressively tearing a massive piece of business straight out of your venture fund's hands during negotiations could never be a basic person," Vivian said, looking up at her father with fierce pride. "That raw intelligence and the absolute confidence he showed at his global press conference is exactly why I like him. Compared to the boring, empty-headed guys that my aunts and uncles continuously try to introduce to me, he is countless times better."
She stood up straighter, her posture radiating pure, unyielding confidence. "My own happiness is something I intend to fight for myself. No matter how difficult it gets, I don't back off until the very last moment. Besides, with my eye for people, I don't think Nick has any interest in shallow, superficial girls anyway."
Yuzuki stared at the graceful, independent young woman standing before him, temporarily finding himself completely out of arguments. After letting out a long, quiet sigh, he reached out and gently patted her shoulder.
"When you were little, your mother and I were completely consumed with building our business, so we left you back in our hometown to be raised with your cousins like a rough-and-tumble boy. Because of that, you grew up with a free-spirited, fiercely independent personality, and you rarely gave your mother or me a single thing to worry about."
He looked at her softly, his eyes filled with warmth. "But you're grown up now, a beautiful young woman. You can't always just charge ahead like a bull."
"It's good for a girl to be confident, sweetheart, but you shouldn't be too stubborn. Women who are too proud and try to carry the whole world on their shoulders often end up hurting themselves. Sometimes it's okay to let someone else take care of things, to be a bit more graceful and let a man step up."
"Dad, if I changed who I am, would he even like me? And I truly believe the man I've set my sights on wouldn't want a fragile, weak woman who only knows how to whine and crumble the second things get tough," Vivian said, her eyes absolutely firm.
Sigh... Yuzuki let out another deep breath, throwing his hands up in mock, exasperated paternal annoyance. "Whatever! At the end of the day, I don't care how much money his company makes or what his tech specs are. If that kid wants to marry my daughter, he is going to have to show me a level of respect and sincerity that completely satisfies me. Otherwise, he can permanently forget about ever stepping foot inside my house!"
Giggle... Catching the hilarious, over-protective desperation taking over her father's face, Vivian elegantly covered her mouth and let out a light, happy laugh, pulling him back toward the ballroom.
Meanwhile, inside the back of the accelerating van, Nick leaned his head heavily against the leather headrest, bringing his hands up to vigorously massage the back of his neck. This entire holiday mixer had been a grueling exercise in social performance, leaving his brain feeling significantly more drained than if he had pulled a brutal 72-hour coding sprint inside the laboratory.
While he didn't suffer from any major social anxiety, the sheer mental exhaustion of pretending to navigate a room packed with artificial personalities was something his practical mind would never fully enjoy. Constantly wearing a flawless smile while trading pleasantries with other executives who were also wearing fake masks just to run business plays was an incredibly stressful environment for a young engineer.
"Vivian," Nick muttered to himself. As the girl's sharp, unfiltered smile flashed through his mind, a genuine, relaxed look naturally took over the corners of his mouth. At the bare minimum, crossing paths with an genuinely interesting, fun girl inside that incredibly tedious banquet had been an entertaining variable; the entire evening wasn't a total loss.
Granted, during their first conversation, he had experienced a lot of friction trying to adapt to her hyper-carefree, completely overfamiliar boundaries. But after thinking about it, he determined her presence was remarkably refreshing; conversing with her was a smooth, easy experience that required zero underlying strategy or defensive posturing.
Or perhaps, when contrasted against the massive ocean of fake sycophants packing the resort, she was just that unique.
"Ryan," Nick said, his eyes snapping open as he addressed the security detail commanding the wheel.
"Right here, Nick. What's the plan?" Ryan replied, catching his gaze in the rearview mirror while maintaining a steady speed down the highway corridor.
"Run a comprehensive internal background check on Yuzuki's family setup and private holdings, with a hyper-focused look into his daughter, Vivian," Nick instructed after calculating the parameters for a brief moment.
"Understood. I'll start gathering the data," Ryan replied with a crisp nod, his eyes returning to the road.
Sitting in the front passenger seat, Calloway smoothly pivoted her tablet around to offer an immediate update. "Nick, during our prior acquisition negotiations with Kawazaki Industries last quarter, our intelligence team successfully indexed a comprehensive baseline dossier on Yuzuki's fund and his immediate family."
"No, that data pool is strictly limited to their public-facing corporate disclosures and audited PR files; I want the raw, unredacted private side of the equation," Nick corrected, shaking his head firmly. "A massive percentage of these high-society families construct a flawless public image while their private lives and internal finances are a complete, chaotic disaster. When you are dealing with a target that commands this much regional power, you have to keep your guard up."
Nick settled back into the leather seat, closing his eyes again. Some things he could only feel safe about once he verified the underlying data himself. After all, you can only truly let your guard down and enjoy a casual conversation with someone when you thoroughly know their background—ensuring you know exactly which personal mines to avoid stepping on.