Coolest Girl in Town
Mikayla’s father, Luke, came back around dinnertime. As everyone sat together around the dining room,
Elise couldn’t help but feel comfortable around them.
“Don’t be shy, Elise. Make yourself at home.” Luke then turned toward Matthew and said again, “Thank
you guys for being our Mikayla’s friends and taking care of her.”
“Dad, do you know that Elise is super smart? She got first place in both the Mathematical Olympiad and
Chinese Week’s speech competition. She’s literally my
idol!”
“You have much to learn from Elise, then.”
Mikayla stuck her tongue out in embarrassment. “Of course. She’s my idol, after all.”
The warm sight of the family being chatty put Elise in an absentminded state, and to hide her emotions,
she slightly lowered her head to keep her expression out of sight.
After dinner, Elise and Matthew left Mikayla’s house.
On the way back, she couldn’t help but lean back on her seat and close her eyes to pretend to be
asleep. Nevertheless, the image of her being with her parents years ago kept flashing past her mind
when she closed her eyes. Despite the memories being old, the images were still crystal clear.
Right then, Elise opened her eyes and looked out of the window before a streak of tears fell from her
eye.
“It’s the weekend tomorrow. Do you have any plans?” Matthew asked out of the blue, breaking her out of
her thoughts. Immediately, Elise looked away and answered lightly, “I’ll probably work on my
assignments.”
Then, Matthew asked again, “I heard that a new hot spring spa opened in the west region of Athesea. Do
you want to go to the spa together?”
Elise shook her head. “Nah. I don’t really like hot springs.”
“What about a movie together? There’s a new comedy movie that just premiered, and it’s apparently
really good.”
At this moment, Matthew’s enthusiasm undoubtedly changed Elise’s last impression of him.
“Matthew, you—”Before she could finish her sentence, Matthew cut her off. “Please don’t misunderstand
me. I was just worried that you might be bored. Besides, my grandpa also wants us to accompany you
more often.”
“Thank you for your concern, but I have my own arrangements.”
Matthew caught on to the hidden rejection behind Elise’s
words. I guess maybe I was indeed a little too pushy. “Alright. Let me know if you want to go anywhere,
and I’ll bring you there.”
“Hmm.”
When Matthew fetched Elise back home, they ran into Alexander, who was descending the stairs. Then
Elise took the initiative and greeted him.
Glancing at Matthew, who was standing behind Elise, Alexander shifted his gaze nonchalantly before he
spoke to Elise. “Grandpa wants to see you later, so go over to the study room once you’re free.”
“Alright. I’ll head there right away.” Then she went upstairs and headed toward the study room.
Once Elise left, the atmosphere between Alexander and Matthew tensed up as Alexander warned his
brother, saying, “Do not try to approach Elise. She’s not someone you can handle.”
Nevertheless, Matthew didn’t look bothered as he smirked. “What are you talking about? I’m just
following grandpa’s wishes and taking care of her. How could you misunderstand my actions?”
Then, he continued, “You appear to be free, so shouldn’t you focus on company work? I heard that the
company is going to start a new project, and a huge sum of money has been invested in it. You better be
careful in case anything happens.”
Although Alexander’s eyes darkened, his face remained emotionless. “Remember what I said to you. Do
not cross the line.” It was clear that he was talking about Elise instead of the company.
Still, Matthew acted as if he hadn’t heard him and declared in a nonchalant manner, “Don’t worry, Alex. I
won’t get involved in company matters, and I’ll know what to do for the others.”
“You better.”
Meanwhile, Elise knocked on the door to the study room.
“Come in…”
After getting permission to enter, she pushed the door to the study room open. “Grandpa, I heard you
were looking for me.”
Upon seeing Elise, Jonah smiled before waving at her. “Come here, Ellie.”
Elise walked toward Jonah obediently before he passed her a document. “This is one of the company’s
important meetings, and I want you to attend the meeting with me tomorrow.”
She was taken aback. “Me? I don’t know anything, though.”
Nevertheless, Jonah smiled warmly. “It’s fine. Just pretend as if you’re walking around with me.”
Toward the end, Elise agreed to Jonas’s proposal as tomorrow was the weekend, and she didn’t have to
go to school, anyway. Hence, off to the Griffith Group, she went with Jonas the following morning.
Griffith Group was one of Athesea’s most famous multinational conglomerates, and it was situated right
in the most bustling part of the city. They were involved in many industries and had investments from
business economics and real estate to the entertainment industry.
On the other hand, this was Elise’s first time entering the Griffith Tower. While trailing behind Jonas, she
entered the elevator along with him to the meeting room on the top floor. Upon entering the room,
everyone stood up. “Welcome, president!”
Jonas greeted them before requesting for them to sit down. “You guys don’t have to be so uptight. Just
continue with your meeting.”
While everyone sat down, Alexander walked toward Jonas. “Why are you here, Grandpa?”
“I’m just here to take a look. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll just listen at the back.”
At that, Alexander had no choice but to return to the podium to continue the meeting. “Our upcoming
project for the next season will be the crude oil extraction project in Aris…” Elise wasn’t interested in
listening to their business meeting, so she took her phone out and started playing games.
“The preparation for the project in Aris has been done, and we are progressing from the discussion with
the Aris government. However, we are facing another serious problem right now.”
Frowning, Alexander motioned for the project manager to explain.
Then, the project manager continued, “It’s not a huge problem, but the interpreter that we had with us
previously wouldn’t be able to work with us anymore. We have to find a new interpreter as soon as
possible, or our discussion with the Aris government might take a toll. To everyone’s knowledge, the
Arise language is a lesser-known language, and not many people can interpret it. It’s rather hard to get a
suitable interpreter for this project.”
This is indeed an issue. Right then, Alexander instructed his subordinates, “I want all of you to do your
best to look for Arise interpreters. We need to get a new interpreter no matter how much we need to pay
them, as the project’s progression can’t be delayed any longer.”
“Yes, President Griffith.”
After the meeting ended, Alexander handed Griffith Group’s latest financial report to Jonas in the
president’s office. Nevertheless, instead of reading the report, Jonas called out to Elise, who was
standing a distance away from them. “Come over, Ellie. I want you to help me to read this report.”
Elise, who was summoned, stopped playing her game and walked over. When Jonas handed her the
report, she looked hesitant because a financial report was not one to be read by unauthorized personnel.
“Read through it and tell me what you think about it.”
Hmm... Well, if he says so. Elise had no choice but to take the report and start reading it.
Right then, she had to admit that Alexander was great at managing the company. Through the financial
report, Elise could see that Griffith Group had been profiting stably throughout the entire season.
However, her gaze paused somewhere before she quickly looked away after a while.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda