Chapter 61: I say go for it. (Updated)

"So, you fixed the meeting?"

Liam asked with his phone pressed to his ear while eating a plate of grilled ribeye steak with garlic mashed potatoes, one of the more expensive dishes from the special menu.

Seated across from him, Megan was eating a slice of pizza with a can of Dr Pepper beside her, while Diane had only taken something covered by her meal plan, a plate of grilled chicken, rice, and vegetables.

"Yes, sir. Dr. Lisa Su will be coming to Princeton to meet with you personally. I briefed our regional president about the size of the deal, and he became very interested in it. He contacted her directly to help arrange the meeting and has decided to attend on your behalf as well. Dr. Su will be bringing her legal team, so he felt it would be better for someone with more experience handling deals of this size to represent you. He’s much better than me in situations like this, and I think having him there will be a great advantage for you."

Daniel Scott sounded excited, much more excited than Liam himself about the deal. As the vice president of the Princeton branch, getting involved in something this large was clearly a big opportunity for him as well.

Liam smiled while listening. When he first arrived in New Jersey, he had planned to invest around fifty million dollars into AMD, but now he was already thinking about increasing that amount. He knew the company would explode in value over the next decade, and if he invested enough now, even his future children might have an easier life because of it.

Wait, I’m eighteen. By the time AMD really blows up, I’ll barely be thirty. Why the hell am I already thinking about my kids?

"Yes, I understand, Daniel. Text me the date once it’s confirmed, and call me a day before so I can clear my schedule. If you’re busy, you can have someone under you remind me instead."

Liam said this before taking a bite of the ribeye he had already prepared on his fork. The meat was still warm, with a lightly charred surface and a soft, juicy center that almost melted as he chewed. The buttery seasoning mixed with the smoky flavor from the grill, making him slow down for a moment and actually enjoy it. For something being served inside a university cafeteria, the special menu was surprisingly good.

"I’ll call you personally. Don’t worry."

Daniel ended the call, and Liam lowered the phone from his ear. Just as he was about to put it down, he noticed a new message from Clara waiting on the screen. [I want to buy this apartment.] Liam blinked and read it again, immediately recognizing the apartment she had shown him earlier.

That surprised him quite a bit. When Clara first sent the pictures, he had assumed she was simply looking around because she was bored and had happened to find an expensive apartment she liked. He hadn’t expected her to seriously consider buying it, especially not this quickly.

Wait... buy it outright? Not rent?

Liam blinked several times. Even he hadn’t seriously thought about buying a home yet, but Clara apparently had. He had given her twenty million dollars and left the money for her to use however she wanted, so seeing that her first major decision was to put some of it into property actually made him smile. He was strangely satisfied with the way she wanted to spend it.

Maybe I should buy a house too. It’s a pretty good investment.

Thinking about 2045, when the housing crisis had reached an absurd level and even land itself had become increasingly precious, Liam felt the idea made even more sense. He still remembered how bad things had become in that future, to the point where even billionaires were pushing extreme population-control ideas through the government. Compared to that future, land and property in 2015 felt almost ridiculously valuable.

I’ll buy a huge ranch...

Liam put another piece of the juicy steak into his mouth and smiled at the thought of owning a massive ranch someday, with wide stretches of land and his own herd of cattle.

In his mind, there was something strangely peaceful about spending time there, away from everything, taking care of the animals and simply relaxing. To him, it felt like the kind of simple dream almost any man could understand.

...

"Yeah, I’m going back to the hotel for dinner. I’ll come back before it gets too late."

Liam smiled at Megan. She had already told him she was going straight back to her room after classes. She planned to have dinner at her residential college dining hall, study for a few hours, and then sleep early.

Between dancing this morning and spending the rest of the day going from one class to another, she was already exhausted and wanted nothing more than a quiet evening.

"I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I picked the same subjects as you, so... see you in classes."

Megan smiled and turned toward the dorm building while Liam headed for the parking lot where his car was waiting. The sun was already beginning to sink toward the horizon, casting a warm orange light across the campus and stretching long shadows over the walkways.

Students were still moving between buildings in small groups, some carrying backpacks while others lingered outside talking before dinner. Liam walked at an easy pace, the evening air noticeably cooler than it had been earlier in the day, with the last sunlight reflecting off the windows of the nearby buildings as he made his way toward the parking lot.

The white Bentayga gleamed under the orange evening sun. When Liam pressed the key, the lights blinked once and the mirrors unfolded with a soft mechanical hum. With one smooth turn of the steering wheel, he pulled the SUV out of its parking space.

The car moved gently through the campus, its clean white body and imposing shape drawing glances from students and even a few teachers along the way. A moment later, Liam reached the exit and merged onto the street.

Soon, Liam saw the familiar Peacock Inn ahead. Clara’s Mercedes was parked outside near the entrance, making him guess that she had probably returned only recently. Otherwise, the hotel staff would have already taken the car around to the proper parking area.

Liam parked the Bentayga beside her car and headed inside. The receptionist immediately smiled when she noticed him, clearly remembering the generous tip he had given her the other day, when she helped arrange his parking.

"Clara."

"Liam... hello."

When he reached her room, Liam simply turned the knob, only to discover that the door was already unlocked. Clara was sitting on the couch as if she had been waiting for someone, and judging by how little she reacted when he walked in, she wasn’t surprised to see him at all.

"I told you to lock the door. Don’t be this careless."

Liam smiled as he lectured her for being so nonchalant about her own safety. Clara only smiled back, stood up from the couch, walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug.

"I was waiting for room service."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because they called a few minutes ago and said they were bringing our dinner up. I thought they’d be here any second, so I left it unlocked."

"Our dinner? What did you order?"

Liam smiled as Clara kept both arms loosely around his neck, refusing to let him go even after the hug should have ended. She stayed close enough that he could feel her warmth against him, her body relaxed as if this was exactly where she wanted to be. Liam rested his hands lightly around her waist and looked down at her, amused by how naturally she had turned waiting for room service into an excuse to cling to him.

"I ordered the ricotta gnocchi for myself and the suckling pig for you."

"Oh... okay."

Liam smiled and leaned down to kiss her gently, but the kiss stopped being gentle almost immediately. Clara tightened her arms around his neck and pressed closer, catching his lower lip between hers before slowly sucking on it. Liam let out a quiet breath through his nose, one hand settling more firmly around her waist as the simple kiss stretched on far longer than he had intended.

A little while later, room service arrived, and they finally sat down to eat. Clara talked more than she ate at first, telling Liam about where she had driven, what she had seen, and returning more than once to the apartment she had found, while Liam listened and finished most of his food without rushing her.

After dinner, they stayed together in the room for the rest of the evening, talking, teasing each other, and enjoying the quiet without anywhere else they needed to be. By the time the night grew late, the long day had finally caught up with both of them, and they ended it together in the comfort of the hotel room.

...

"So you really want to buy that apartment? I see... I say go for it."

Liam smiled while putting on his clothes. Clara, meanwhile, was moving around the room like a little wife, helping him find his socks and handing them over while still talking about the apartment.

She had already explained what she liked about it, but from the way she kept glancing at him, it was obvious that his approval mattered more to her than she wanted to admit.

"Really?"

The moment Liam nodded, Clara’s whole expression changed. Her eyes lit up, and the smile that spread across her face was so immediate that it almost looked like a scene from a movie. She forgot about the socks in her hand, stepped closer, and looked up at him as if he had just given her permission to buy something she had already fallen in love with.