Chapter 230:

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Corinne POV

The celebration dinner with Synapse Data’s executive leadership at the Midtown steakhouse was a pleasant, triumphant affair. Mr. Grant and Mr. Stone were effusive in their praise, repeatedly emphasizing how Nexus Analytics had rescued their enterprise platform from catastrophic failure.

Over dinner, Casey spoke warmly about our quantitative team’s upcoming expansion, sharing insights into our institutional growth. Grant and Stone listened with genuine admiration and confirmed that Synapse intended to retain Nexus for all future quantitative infrastructure updates.

By nine o’clock, the dinner had come to an end, and Casey drove me back to the Sargent estate in Manhattan, waiting until I was safely inside the stone gates before pulling away.

I stepped into the quiet brownstone, kicked off my heels in the foyer, and settled onto the velvet sofa in the private library, a welcome wave of peaceful fatigue washing over me.

Just as I picked up a cup of herbal tea, my phone chimed on the coffee table. The screen showed an unfamiliar Manhattan number.

I tapped to answer. “Hello?”

“Good evening, Ms. Sargent. This is Cyrus Shepherd.” The low, smooth baritone was unmistakable.

I sat up straight, pleasantly surprised by the late call. “Mr. Shepherd, good evening. Is everything all right?”

“Please, call me Cyrus,” he said smoothly, a subtle warmth in his voice. “Your Uncle Richard told me this afternoon that his firm has finalized the alternative logistics infrastructure contract with Shepherd Capital’s commercial team.”

Joі𝗻 t𝗵𝗼𝗎ѕan𝖽𝘀 о𝖿 𝘧𝗮𝗻𝗌 𝗼n 𝗀𝗮𝗹𝘯𝗈ve𝗅𝘴.сo𝗆

“Yes. Thank you so much for your institutional backing, Cyrus,” I said sincerely. “My uncle was immensely relieved, and my family truly appreciates the fairness you showed in cutting through the Nixon group’s corporate interference.”

“It was a sound commercial investment for our syndicate,” Cyrus replied evenly. “But I’m actually calling about a personal invitation for this weekend.”

I raised an eyebrow slightly. “An invitation?”

“I’m taking my five-year-old niece, Daisy, to a private mountain resort in the Catskills this weekend,” Cyrus explained. “She’s been asking about you ever since you helped her fly a kite at the park last month. I’d be honored if you would join us as my guest. Think of it as a celebration of our firms’ successful partnership, and a well-deserved break from data modeling.”

The invitation was unexpected, yet Cyrus’s tone was entirely respectful, free of any forced flirtation or hidden corporate calculation.

“I’d be happy to join you and Daisy, Cyrus,” I said after a thoughtful pause. “A quiet weekend in the mountains sounds like a wonderful escape.”

“Wonderful, Corinne.” I could hear the warm smile in his voice. “My driver will coordinate the travel arrangements for Saturday morning.”

After hanging up, I leaned back against the cushions, filled with a quiet, pleasant sense of anticipation. Escaping the city for a mountain retreat with a genuine friend and little Daisy was exactly what I needed.

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