Chapter 342

Chapter 342

Clifton's smile froze for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. "Ms. Hamilton, you really know how to joke. I think maybe it's because I just took over at Vanguard Enterprises Group and the employees aren't familiar with me yet, so no one told me about this."

"If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have come to bother Ms. Hamilton." He sounded sincere.

Caroline held her wine glass and gently swirled it. "Well, now you know. Can you leave?"

Her rejection was very direct and clear, not giving him any way to save face.

Anyone else would probably be angry or upset and leave by now, but Clifton didn't. He still had a smile on his face, and his tone became even gentler. "I know Vanguard Enterprises Group had some unpleasant dealings with Ms. Hamilton before, which gave you a bad impression of us. But that's okay. Now that I'm taking over Vanguard Enterprises Group, I still hope to maintain good cooperative relations with Ms. Hamilton."

Caroline remained noncommittal. He raised his glass to Caroline again. "I heard Ms. Hamilton has reached an agreement with the government to include several drugs you've developed in medical insurance. Is that right?"

"What's it to you?" Caroline glanced at him.

"Ms. Hamilton is so kind, thinking of ordinary people. That's a good thing. If I remember correctly, Ms. Hamilton's cancer miracle drug has an exclusive cooperation agreement with Vanguard Enterprises Group that hasn't expired yet."

Facing his probing, Caroline nodded. "Yes, we signed a three-year contract with you. During these three years, this drug won't be included in medical insurance, so you can keep making money."

These businessmen were all after profit. Caroline was getting impatient.

But Clifton shook his head. "No, I'm just moved by Ms. Hamilton's good deed. Although I don't have the ability to develop such useful drugs like Ms. Hamilton, as the new president of Vanguard Enterprises Group, I'm willing to give up the exclusive agreement we signed with Ms. Hamilton before, so that Ms. Hamilton can also include the cancer miracle drug in medical insurance medications, allowing more patients to get help sooner."

Caroline finally looked directly at Clifton in front of her. He had a gentle smile on his face, elegant movements, and his words were even more refreshing.

This was a person with high affinity. Whether it was his manner or way of speaking, it was easy for people to develop a good impression of him.

"As long as Ms. Hamilton agrees, tomorrow I'll send someone—no, I'll personally go to Ms. Hamilton's company to sign the relevant contract. I wonder if Ms. Hamilton is available?"

"Even if you give it up now, I won't give you any benefits." Caroline finally spoke.

"Is Ms. Hamilton doing all this for benefits?" he asked back.

Caroline shook her head. "Of course not."

"There you go. I'm not planning to use this to ask Ms. Hamilton for benefits either. I just want to gain Ms. Hamilton's friendship." He looked steadily at Caroline and took out his business card.

The gold-embossed card read President of Vanguard Enterprises Group, with the name Clifton Farley.

Caroline took his card, and only then did Clifton smile slightly. "I won't disturb Ms. Hamilton any further then. We'll meet again another day."

Watching him leave, Caroline frowned.

What a strange man.

The businessmen she knew always only cared about profit.

Clifton was giving up profit within his grasp, but wanted her friendship instead.

Playing hard to get?

Clifton seemed very eager to make this happen. The day after giving her his card, he came to the company. But by coincidence, someone else had the same plan.

"Our Ms. Hamilton is busy right now. Please wait a moment, both of you."

The secretary reluctantly turned them both away, served them coffee, and then ran off.

Arthur and Clifton—how did these two big shots end up here at the same time?

Caroline also had a headache when she got the news and sighed to Gavin.

"Do you know Clifton, the new president of Vanguard Enterprises Group?"

Gavin nodded. "He joined the group in the same batch as me, but he was a top student who came back from studying abroad. He became executive president of Vanguard Enterprises Group right after joining."

"That impressive?" Caroline had originally thought Clifton must also be connected to Richard's family somehow, but it turned out he was sent from outside.

Gavin thought for a moment and shook his head. "I wouldn't say impressive, but he's a very smart person."

"Before Richard took over, he led Vanguard Enterprises Group very well. He was good at reading situations and had a keen sense of the market."

"But Richard was worried he would affect his own authority, so he found an opportunity to send him away and took over the company himself. After that, there were many more competing factions and all kinds of voices within Vanguard Enterprises Group, far worse than before."

It was around that time that he started reaching out to Caroline, trying to invite her to join Vanguard Enterprises Group, but never succeeded.

At first, he regretted this, but after witnessing Richard's absurdity firsthand, he resolutely left Vanguard Enterprises Group.

He never expected that after Richard's downfall, they would call Clifton back to take over this mess.

"Do you want to come along and see?" Just from Gavin's description, Caroline felt he had a decent impression of Clifton, so she took the initiative to invite him.

Gavin smiled. "Sure, I'll treat it as seeing an old friend."

They went to the reception room one after the other. Both Arthur and Clifton stood up immediately.

"Ms. Hamilton." Clifton spoke first. After Caroline nodded, he looked at Gavin. "When I heard you came to Ms. Hamilton's company, I was wondering if I'd have a chance to see you. Today it seems this trip wasn't wasted."

Gavin nodded. "I didn't expect they would call you back to take over Vanguard Enterprises Group either."

"I didn't think I'd come back either, but they offered a pretty high price this time, so I came." Clifton didn't hold back at all, directly stating his reason for returning.

His relationship with Vanguard Enterprises Group was just employment—there were no feelings involved.

But having sent him away once before, getting him to come back this time couldn't be done at the old price.

"Then congratulations, Mr. Farley."

"Too bad. I was originally hoping to ask you to come back and help. Now it seems you're doing pretty well at Ms. Hamilton's place."

"Yes, Ms. Hamilton offers very good terms."

While they were exchanging pleasantries, Arthur also walked over to Caroline's side.

"No matter how busy work is, you need to take care of your health."

This time he had prepared lunch and actually delivered it to the company.

Caroline stared at the lunch box in her hand and sighed heavily. "You really don't need to do this."

"The secretary said you didn't eat lunch again today and have been busy all along."

"Or do you want to get stomach problems too?"

Arthur used to be a typical workaholic, spending most of his time busy with work. Stomach discomfort was common for him.

Caroline used to worry about him a lot and would bring him meals.

Now Caroline herself was heading in that direction.