Leanna By Miu

I ignored them and turned towards my food, wanting to finish it so I could leave.

I was confident that they wouldn"t agree to my ridiculous demand. After all, all said and done, I"m still just a sixteen years old teenage girl with no backing and no company of my own.

"....."

Cain smirked. "Alright, I"ll send the contract to you later."

I was shocked and almost vomited all my food. I gaped at his handsome face with bulging eyes. My mouth opened and closed, wanting to say something.

"If you have any more demands, best if you send it to me within the day." He added, his face somewhat becoming warm, but quickly turned cold again, "with that, can you tell us what you think of VIOS. Is it worth investing."

His question was not like a question at all. He stated it as clear as day that even without my opinion, the project would continue, come fire and snow. The confidence in his voice was truly overpowering that if you were just a little weak hearted, you would find yourself curled under the table, shaking and crying, disparately hiding away from him.

Instantly, I felt pity towards his subordinates.

I sighed. I should have just said "no" from the start.

I just have to dig a hole for myself.

Realizing it was too late to back out now, I took a deep breath, feeling dejected.

I underestimated this man.

"I think you already know that it will be a difficult investment. The development and testing alone takes time. The first two years, you won"t have any monetary gains. I don"t study statistics, so I can"t give you exact numbers. What I will offer to you are my experiences and intuition. I"m confident that after four years at most, you"ll double, even quadruple your investment, depending on the software you wish to develop." I didn"t blink and said it all in one breathe.

Fin leaned on the sofa and crossed his arms, "pardon my saying but, you talked like the project will succeed without backing it up with facts." He said while raising an eyebrow.

Clyde leaned forward. The teasing sly smile was replaced by a solid hard stone, impa.s.sive face. "You don"t have to worry about the funding. With Cain here, money is not an issue. This is a big investment worth billions of money, and you said it will succeed based on intuition? Can you give us some more… concrete evidence?"

"You guys--" Zhane was about to protest, but I raised my hand to shut him up.

I stared at the men in front of me, realizing that this was their real faces – cold, calculating, hard, and vacant.

I leaned on the sofa and crossed my arms and legs comfortably.

"My intuition hasn"t been off the mark. I think that"s concrete evidence enough. If you want other explanation, it"s this generation. I know all of you can sensed it too. In the future, according to information, almost ninety percent of the world"s population will rely heavily on computers and phones. Any development of software and applications now is a genius idea."

Fin and Clyde remained impa.s.sive, but I could see in their eyes that I was right.

"Then, we"ll start with the project," Cain said while playing with his teacup. His intense gaze remained lock on mine that I wondered if he was intentionally doing it on purpose to rattle me up – "cause it"s working!

Everyone was stunned. All eyes turned to Cain, many emotions written on their faces.

What?! That"s it?! This man is so decisive! Isn"t he at least bit skeptical that I"m just spouting nonsense?

"Clyde, contact Steve and tell him to finalize the papers. I want it ready within the week. Fin, contact everyone to ready their proposals, presentations will be next week. Zhane, contact ARAB and tell them to proceed with the plans for the building."

Cain put down his teacup and stared at me, a flash of tenderness in his eyes. His icy face gave out a smile for the first time, like a flower blooming on a glacier.

"And you... you can finish your food. We won"t disturb you anymore."

It was a good thing that I crossed my arms. It prevented me to caressed that lovely ice sculptured face.

I quickly stared down at my food and began to eat, afraid of what might happen if I stared moments longer.

They began to discuss some things, and sensing that I was no longer needed, I quickly finished my meals and said my goodbyes.

I was about to leave when I suddenly thought of something. I turned to look at Zhane, "why are you in New York by the way?"

Zhane gave out a grin, showing his canine white teeth. "I"ll be a student next week at Zephyr University. It"s near Artem. Let"s see each other more often, Princess."

I was shocked for a moment. "I thought you are just all about developing software. I guess you wanted a life too."

I could still hear their laughter halfway to the exit. The valet brought my car and I drove off towards my condo.