Chapter 13

Grace Li's first real encounter with Daniel Chou was at the thank-you party for SunRay's IPO. That's when Grace found out that Daniel had become a partner at BM Capital in the U.S.

It was impressive how quickly he had risen to become a partner at a European venture capital firm. Most people in the finance world couldn't even dream of doing that in such a short time.

Daniel Chou didn't seem to realize he was being a jerk—or maybe he was just pretending to be clueless. When he saw Grace, he greeted her with a smile, "Grace Li, long time no see."

Grace had expected to run into him at the event, but she hadn't planned on catching up with him. When he approached, she didn't freeze him out, though. She wasn't about to let Daniel know she had spent days feeling miserable after hearing about his wedding.

She forced a smile, trying to play it cool, "It's been a while—over a year."

"You come by yourself?"

Grace replied, "I'm with Mr. Harris. He's catching up with some old friends, I'm just here to look around."

Daniel Chou's tone was as friendly as if they were old pals, "I'll be staying in the U.S. for work. If you come across any good projects, let me know, we can invest together."

Grace shrugged it off, "I'm mostly dealing with smaller projects these days. I doubt you'd be interested."

Daniel chuckled, still sounding like his old self, "How could I not be? SunRay was a small company back then, and look—just three and a half years later, it went public."

Grace forced a smile and replied, "True, hope I can work on a project like SunRay in the future."

"I'll be watching," Daniel said, taking a sip of his drink before asking, "By the way, Grace, are you married?"

Seriously?

Grace's thoughts shot out a curse. Daniel Chou knew very well she had spent the last three years waiting for him, and he still asked her that? There had to be a limit to how clueless he could pretend to be.

But she didn't show it. Instead, she said, "Not yet."

He smiled, "Not yet, huh? That means it's coming soon."

"Maybe."

Then Daniel went on, "Next month, I'm hosting a thank-you dinner in New York. I hope you can make it."

Grace could barely hold her smile together. "I'll see. If I'm free, I'll definitely come."

She didn't want to keep pretending to be nice. Grace quickly made an excuse and walked off to another part of the event.

SunRay's IPO attracted plenty of business people, which was a great opportunity for her to expand her network.

"Grace, long time no see."

She turned at the sound of the voice and saw a man in a gray suit, with slicked-back hair, walking toward her.

She smiled, "Henry."

The man was Henry Taylor, a fellow alum who was two years ahead of her. Back in their freshman year, Henry had been a teaching assistant, and Grace, as class president, had gotten to know him pretty well.

Henry Taylor also worked at BM Capital, so he and Daniel Chou were colleagues.

Henry asked, "Did you see Daniel?"

"Yeah, just talked to him."

Henry laughed a little, "Honestly, I'm kind of shocked by how much he's changed since coming back to the U.S."

Grace raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"He's got a stronger presence now, more capable. He's really grown into his role." Henry gave a small grin, "He's my boss now."

There was a hint of something unspoken in Henry's words. He was the Vice President at BM Capital, which was similar in title to an investment director, but Daniel was already a partner.

Henry continued, "I always thought you and him made a great pair. I could tell he had feelings for you too."

If Henry had said this a couple of weeks ago, Grace might've blushed, but now, it just felt awkward. "Henry, don't say stuff like that. He's married now."

"I know," Henry said, then added, "But Grace, do you have any hard feelings about it?"

When SunRay was being developed, it was a joint project between two companies, and Henry had been involved. He knew all about Grace and Daniel's past.

But Grace was smart enough to know Henry wasn't someone she could confide in.

"Why would I? Daniel and I have always been friends."

Henry gave her a knowing look, clearly not buying it, "Do you know who his wife is?"

"No, never met her."

"She's the daughter of the executive director of GrowThrive Fund. And GrowThrive is BM's biggest LP in the U.S. Thanks to GrowThrive's involvement, BM's fund size in the U.S. went from $3.3 billion to $4 billion almost overnight."

No wonder Daniel was able to become a partner at BM Capital so quickly.

Just then, Grace's phone rang. She gave Henry a polite nod, "I need to take this call."

Henry nodded, "I'm going to go catch up with some old friends. See you later."

Grace stepped outside into the garden before answering the phone. It was Aiden Thompson.

The noise inside the banquet hall was loud, so Grace stepped out for some peace and quiet.

"Aiden, what's up?" she said, pressing the call button.

Aiden's calm voice came through, "Did you round off the equity percentage in the N Perspective subscription agreement?"

"No, we usually use the exact numbers. What's going on?"

"There's one place that needs to be corrected."

Grace frowned, "Where?"

"Vanguard Capital invested $5 million, which should give them a 6.4701% stake. But in the agreement, it says 6.47%."

Grace's heart skipped a beat. Though it was a tiny difference, in the finance world, that small decimal point could be a huge mistake.

She had already prepared these documents today, planning to send them to her superior tomorrow for review and then pass them on to Evelyn Garcia. If everything checked out, they'd sign the deal with the project party.

If Evelyn noticed the error, she'd probably chew Grace out big time.

Grace's mind was racing. She had no time to stay at the party anymore. She quickly got in her car and rushed back to the office to fix the issue.

"Aiden Thompson, I heard footsteps and looked up, and a few seconds later, Grace Li appeared at the door, out of breath."

She rushed to Aiden's seat, still catching her breath. "Let me see the file."

Aiden handed her the agreement, and Grace Li returned to her seat, pressing a few keys on her computer. Sure enough, she had overlooked a decimal point. It was a small mistake—some companies might round it to two decimal places, but to be more precise and protect the investors' interests, it should be carried out more accurately. If there's an endless decimal, it should be rounded to six places.

But this one was a clean four-decimal figure, so it should've been fully retained.

Grace Li put her hands on her head, feeling deep regret. "Oh my God, how could I mess up the data like this?"

This was absolutely unacceptable.

Aiden Thompson said, "You don't need to beat yourself up. Nobody's perfect."

Grace Li couldn't forgive herself. "No, Aiden, in our line of work, accuracy is everything. This was a huge mistake, and it's such a rookie mistake."

Aiden Thompson could feel her guilt. She had always been meticulous, always finding mistakes in her subordinates' work and patiently teaching them how to correct them, but she almost never allowed herself to make mistakes.

Leaning back in his chair with his long legs casually spread out, Aiden looked at Grace Li. "I think you might have a bit of a perfectionist streak."

Grace Li opened her computer. "You know, if Evelyn Garcia sees this file, she's gonna chew me out for sure."

Aiden Thompson chuckled. "But didn't you give it to me for the final proofread? If I didn't catch the mistake, the blame should be on me."

"I'm not about shifting the blame. I messed up. It's my fault."

No wonder her team trusted and supported her so much. She never blamed others for her mistakes.

Grace Li carefully reviewed the agreement for tomorrow once again. "Aiden, did you find any other mistakes?"

"No, everything else looks perfect."

"I'll go over it again. Evelyn Garcia is terrifying. If I make a mistake, she'll really tear me apart."

Grace Li was starting to feel anxious about it.

Aiden Thompson said, "If she's nitpicking, just blame me."

"Why?"

"I just don't think she'll yell at me."

Grace Li gave him a strange look, thinking, "Is he showing off his special relationship with Evelyn Garcia?"

But no matter what, it was Aiden Thompson who had pointed out the mistake, so she should thank him. "Aiden, seriously, thank you."

Aiden Thompson crossed his legs, resting his elbows on the armrests of his chair, chin propped up. "So, how do you want to thank me?"

Grace Li glanced at him and felt like he looked like a CEO straight out of a novel.

She thought for a moment. "How about a late-night snack? My treat."

"Sounds good."

Grace Li took Aiden Thompson to a dessert shop near Columbia University. The shop had a cozy and inviting atmosphere, with warm yellow lighting creating a comfortable vibe. The wooden tables and chairs were neatly arranged, and there were artistic dessert paintings on the walls. The shop was filled with young college students, some chatting quietly, others focused on their books, radiating youthful energy.

"The desserts and snacks here are amazing. I used to come here all the time," Grace Li said enthusiastically, pointing to the QR code on the table. "You can scan this to check out the menu and see what you want."

Aiden didn't scan the code but smiled and said, "Since you're so familiar with this place, you pick what you think is good. I trust your taste."

"Alright, I'll order." Grace Li agreed easily, took out her phone, and scanned the QR code. Considering Aiden's taste, she thought Americans generally liked sweet food, so she ordered a classic American caramel pudding for him, a chocolate truffle cake for herself, and some signature cheesy fries, along with mini burgers that were popular at campus parties.

While waiting for the food, Grace Li couldn't stop thinking about the file and pulled it out again to check it thoroughly, not missing any potential mistakes.

Aiden, sitting across from her, quietly observed her and couldn't help but say, "You're looking a bit anxious. Are you okay?"

Grace Li looked up, surprised. "Is it that obvious? Can you tell?"

"Yeah, but in our line of work, it's not a bad thing. Perfectionists tend to be like this," Aiden replied seriously.

Grace Li smiled lightly, thinking, "It's kind of funny hearing this from someone five years younger than me, but it actually makes sense." "What about you? Have you ever felt this way?"

"I haven't," Aiden shook his head.

"Do you think I'm overreacting?"

"Maybe a little, but it's not too serious."

Grace Li raised an eyebrow, curious. "Did you study psychology or something?"

"No, I just read a few books and picked up a little here and there," Aiden explained modestly.

Perhaps the topic sparked Grace Li's interest, so she closed the file and decided to chat with Aiden. "You know why I'm so anxious?"

Aiden, following her lead, asked with concern, "Why?"

"It goes back to a lesson I learned in school. I used to be really careless, and I'd lose points on exams just because of small mistakes. I always felt confident, but when the test papers came back, the results were disappointing. A lot of the mistakes weren't because I didn't know the answers, but because I missed the small details. The worst time was during the SATs, when I made a mistake filling out the answer sheet. I missed a few answers, and even though I knew the material, it affected my score. My original goal was Stanford, but I ended up at Arizona State University. That hit me hard," Grace Li recalled, then continued, "After that, I developed the habit of double-checking everything. Once I started working, I couldn't afford to make mistakes, so I'm super cautious, and I double-check everything before submitting it."

Aiden comforted her, "Looking at it from another angle, it's not all bad."

"Yeah, I get it," Grace Li nodded.

Their food arrived, and Grace Li excitedly recommended, "Try these cheesy fries with the special cheese sauce. They're amazing. And these mini burgers are one of the house specialties."

"Sounds good." Aiden smiled, picking up a cheesy fry, dipping it in the sauce, and enjoying the taste.

"By the way, did you go to high school in the U.S.?"

"Yeah."

"You must've been a straight-A student, right?"

"Not really," Aiden answered humbly.

"But you must've done well. After all, getting into Oxford isn't easy," Grace Li said, looking at Aiden across the table. In the soft lighting, his features stood out even more. She noticed that since they'd entered the shop, several girls had glanced at him from time to time. Aiden was exceptional in looks, education, height, and aura, like someone the universe had really favored.

But such an outstanding person... why would he choose to get close to Evelyn Garcia? Grace Li couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

"Aiden, you're really impressive," Grace Li said sincerely.

This sudden compliment caught Aiden off guard. He blinked, then smiled charmingly, asking, "And what about it?"

Grace Li said seriously, "I believe you'll achieve financial freedom through your own efforts soon."

Aiden raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How do you think I'll do that?"

Grace Li hadn't expected him to ask that, but after a moment of thought, she answered, "By working hard, of course."

"If you're only relying on hard work, achieving financial freedom might take a while," Aiden said thoughtfully.

Grace Li sighed inwardly. She realized that Aiden thought relying solely on hard work would take too long, which is why he chose to take shortcuts through his relationship with Evelyn Garcia. Young people today are really talented, but they're so impatient.

But everyone has their own choices. Grace Li felt that she'd said what she needed to say, and that was enough.