Chapter 248

Legally, her marital status remained unchanged.

Given the current tension between them, such words would cross the line.

After seeing Julian off, Isabella hurried back upstairs.

He watched her retreating figure for a lingering moment before turning to Jonathan Sterling, his company's lead engineer. "I need a favor."

"Of course," Jonathan responded promptly.

"A friend wants to specialize in natural language processing but requires top-tier guidance—"

Jonathan listened attentively. Given their professional relationship, he agreed without hesitation.

Yet he paused before adding, "While I have expertise in this field, truthfully, I don't measure up to Mr. Graves from YodaVision or Ms. Sinclair, who handles our corporate negotiations. For premier mentorship, they'd be superior choices."

Julian blinked in surprise at Jonathan's assessment.

Finance was his domain, not artificial intelligence.

But Jonathan was an industry authority.

In NLP—natural language processing—he ranked among the nation's foremost experts. If not the absolute best, certainly in the upper echelon.

Otherwise, Alexander wouldn't have bypassed both InnovaTech and Fleming Tech's specialists to seek his assistance.

Jonathan had praised Isabella's capabilities before, but Julian hadn't grasped the full extent of her talents.

Nathaniel had never restrained his admiration for Isabella, constantly extolling her abilities to colleagues. Julian had assumed that while competent, Nathaniel's praise stemmed from personal bias with some exaggeration.

But now—

"Mr. Montgomery?"

Julian snapped back to attention. "Both Mr. Graves and Ms. Sinclair have prior conflicts with this friend. Not ideal."

"I understand."

Jonathan let the matter drop.

When Julian and Jonathan arrived at the private lounge that evening, Victoria was already waiting.

She greeted Jonathan with polished courtesy.

After exchanging pleasantries, she swiftly steered the conversation toward technical subjects.

Meanwhile, Julian remained largely silent, his attention drifting as he listened.

After extensive discussion with Jonathan, Victoria turned to Julian. "Boring you, aren't we?"

He shook off his distraction. "I'm fine. Continue your discussion."

Victoria smiled and took him at his word, resuming her dialogue with Jonathan.

Her genuine thirst for knowledge shone through her focused demeanor.

This earnest approach, combined with her humility, made Jonathan eager to assist.

After assessing her comprehension level, he outlined a structured learning path and summarized current advancements in the field.

Their exchange continued pleasantly through dinner.

Naturally, they only covered fundamentals tonight.

Victoria sought far deeper immersion.

With tomorrow being New Year's Day, she formally requested Jonathan's mentorship.

Out of respect for Julian, Jonathan agreed to dedicate half his schedule to meet with her.

Victoria expressed profuse gratitude.

After dinner, they bid Jonathan farewell. Victoria then glanced at Julian, who'd been unusually quiet all evening. "Thank you for arranging this, Julian."

He responded tersely, "Alexander and I go way back—this was nothing."

Before she could reply, he added, "It's late. You should rest."

"Alright. See you tomorrow."

At this, Julian muttered, "I've got meetings tomorrow. Count me out."