Even when leaving, Michael Carter didn't exchange a single word with Emily Lopez. Michael Carter is a very calculating person; otherwise, his brother Nathaniel Johnson wouldn't have entrusted such a large family business to his management that early.
Since Emily Lopez attended the PARRT, it meant she must be someone from the company, and the fact that she talked a lot with people from the art school indicated that she must be a teacher there.
With that information, things would be easy. In the future, he could find her at the art school; he wasn't worried about her slipping through his grasp.
However, Michael Carter still wasn't clear about the identity and background of James Brown, who was with Emily Lopez, so he didn't approach her for a chat. He wanted to gather all the information before making his move to make it easier to win over Emily Lopez.
