Veronica deliberately avoided Cullen's gaze, maintaining her cold demeanor. Sensing her reluctance to engage, Cullen chose not to press further.

Just then, Lester emerged from the opposite end of the parking lot. Spotting Veronica, he altered his course and approached her.

"Morning," he said with a casual nod.

Veronica acknowledged him with a brief nod of her own. "Morning."

After a moment's hesitation, Lester turned toward Cullen and offered a noticeably cooler greeting. "Morning."

Cullen's lips curved into an easy smile. "Morning."

Today's agenda at DataPulse involved discussing a potential business partnership with Cullen. By all professional standards, Veronica, as a key executive, should have been extending a warm welcome to such an important potential collaborator.

Yet Lester couldn't help but notice how Veronica walked straight ahead without even a glance back at Cullen. She made no attempt to fulfill her hostess duties or engage in even the most basic pleasantries.

Lester wondered if her frosty attitude stemmed from Cullen's complicated history with Niall.

He cast a curious glance toward Cullen, expecting to see signs of irritation or discomfort at being so blatantly snubbed. Surprisingly, Cullen appeared completely unbothered by Veronica's cold treatment, his expression remaining pleasant and unruffled.

Lester decided it wasn't his place to comment and remained silent.

The four of them entered the elevator in a tense silence that seemed to stretch indefinitely.

Inside the confined space, Lester positioned himself beside Veronica. He found himself drawn to her elegant profile—her perfectly applied light makeup accentuating her natural beauty, her poise unwavering despite the awkward situation.

He couldn't tear his gaze away from her until he sensed Cullen watching him. Only then did Lester shift his attention, meeting Cullen's knowing gaze. Cullen merely offered a small smile without comment.

When the elevator arrived at DataPulse's floor, Veronica exited promptly, still without acknowledging Cullen's existence. Lester, needing to discuss work matters with her, followed close behind.

Cullen watched them leave, his expression unreadable. Following the receptionist's guidance, he made his way to DataPulse's reception room.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Dario finally arrived.

"Apologies, Mr. Dennis, I'm late," Dario said upon entering. Though his words were technically polite, his tone carried an unmistakable indifference, his expression lacking any genuine regret.

Frank, who had accompanied Cullen for years and witnessed countless interactions with powerful figures, was taken aback. He'd never seen anyone dare treat Cullen with such thinly veiled disrespect. His brow furrowed slightly at this observation.

Cullen, however, appeared completely unfazed. He extended his hand to Dario with perfect composure. "I'm not in a hurry. It's no problem."

Dario made no effort to hide his dislike for Cullen, but business was business. Since they'd already agreed to collaborate, he was eager to conclude their meeting as efficiently as possible.

After taking his seat, Dario launched directly into business discussions without any preliminary small talk.

Although DataPulse had previously established a partnership with Stellar, those negotiations had been handled by one of Cullen's representatives. This marked the first time Dario was dealing directly with Cullen on a business matter.

At Mary's birthday celebration the previous year, Dario had briefly overheard Cullen discussing AI concepts with Malcolm, giving him a limited impression of Cullen's knowledge in the field. But that exchange had been far too brief to draw any real conclusions.

Today's meeting stretched nearly three hours as they delved into the technical specifications for DataPulse's next-generation chip, focusing on its computing power and inference capabilities.

As the discussion progressed, Dario found himself increasingly unsettled by Cullen's expertise. No matter how technical or specialized the topic became, Cullen navigated it with remarkable ease and depth of understanding.

At several points during their conversation, Dario reluctantly had to acknowledge a disturbing possibility—Cullen's grasp of artificial intelligence might actually rival his own. The realization left him feeling strangely threatened.

Cullen glanced discreetly at his watch before suggesting, "It's nearly noon. Shall we continue after lunch?"