“When are we heading home?”
Alexander snapped back to reality and answered, “Pack your stuff. Let’s head back in the afternoon.”
After hearing his answer, Elise relaxed and turned around to enter her bedroom.
In the afternoon, they traveled in silence throughout their journey to the airport. He could sense that
she was intentionally creating distance between them.
Moments after they returned to Athesea, he asked the driver to send Elise home while he himself
headed to the office.
Once she arrived at home, a concerned Jonah asked, “Ellie, how was the exam?”
She replied, “It was fine. Not a problem for me.”
He then gave a warm smile. “I knew it! Ellie is the best! By the way, why are you home alone? Where’s
Alex?”
The last thing she wanted to talk about was Alexander, so she answered curtly, “He went to the office.”
The old man clearly sensed the change in Elise’s mood and assured, “Ellie, he didn’t bully you in the
past two days, did he? If he bullied you, just let me know. I have your back!”
Elise focused on a particular spot on the floor before she shook her head. “I-I’m fine! Grandpa, I feel a
little tired. So, I’m going to rest in my room.”
Now that she had greeted Jonah, she went upstairs into her room. He flashed a smile of knowledge at
the vanishing figure and the butler beside him interjected, “Sir, you seem to be in a good mood.”
Jonah’s smile widened even more. “Yeah! It looks like my trick has worked pretty well. In the future, you
need to figure out ways to make them spend time with each other. I don’t want to let this future
granddaughter-in-law escape!”
The butler rarely saw Jonah in such high spirits. “Sir, you’re right! Miss Elise and Young Master Alex
look quite compatible.”
Confirmations of his greatest wish was what Jonah loved to listen to.
“This boy, Alex, keeps everything to himself and he is extremely calculative. Someone like Ellie by his
side would only spice up his life even further!”
“You’re right indeed! Young Master Alex’s birthday is around the corner. Do you think we should… do
some matchmaking?”
Upon hearing the suggestion, Jonah agreed and nodded. “Let’s observe for now. When the time is
right, we’ll give them a push.”
Elise returned to her room, opened her laptop and logged into the account that she previously used to
help Alexander with interpreter work. She found herself staring at the message he sent to her half a
month ago-he asked whether she wanted to help him with interpreting on the spot at Aris. Without a
second thought, she replied, ‘No!’
She instantly felt much relieved after she replied with a one-word answer. Now that she had sent the
message, she closed the laptop and shoved the matter to the back of her mind.
Now that she was done with the National Mathematics Olympiad, she returned to school once again.
Alexander should have been the one to send her to school, but she stubbornly decided to leave with
Danny.
Since Elise was absent for half a month, she found herself longing for school life.
Mikayla approached Elise and gave a bear hug. “Elise, you’re finally back!!!”
“That’s enough! You’re squeezing me; I can’t breathe!”
Upon hearing that, Mikayla released Elise from her embrace. “Do you know how badly I have missed
you in your absence?”
They interlocked their fingers in an intimate manner while heading to the classroom. As Mikayla
suddenly thought of something, she lowered her voice. “Oh, right, I have something to tell you. Jasmine
is going to be engaged. She came to school two days ago to deliver the invitation cards for her
engagement party to us.
Now that Elise was hearing Jasmine’s name once again, it no longer evoked any reaction from her.
She then replied airily, “Her life has nothing to do with me.”
In contrast, Mikayla looked indignant. “How could someone like Jasmine live such a good life? I refuse
to accept that! Shouldn’t the bad receive their karma?”
Mikayla looked confused, but Elise merely ruffled her friend’s hair. “Okay, stop overthinking! We just
need to live our lives to the best of our abilities. The lives of others do not concern us.”
After being comforted by Elise, Mikayla immediately cheered up and they both entered the classroom.
At the same time, Alexander was seated in his luxurious executive chair in his office at the Griffith
Group. His eyes were staring at the words on his computer screen-the reply he received regarding his
request for interpreting on the spot No!
He lifted a brow in surprise and finally made an internal call. Soon, an assistant came into the office.
“I told you to look for Arisian interpreters. Are there any candidates? Send their resume to my inbox,
please.”
Upon hearing that, the assistant responded in nervousness, “Young Master Alex, we have not received
any resumes so far.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed as he fell into deep thought. “Did you ask the foreign language college? I
don’t mind fresh graduates as long as they can help with basic interpretation work.”
“I have checked with a couple of colleges in Aris, but nobody has majored in the language since the
population of Arisian speakers is small. That’s why I can’t find a candidate until now.”
As he rapped his knuckles rhythmically on the table, Alexander stared at Elise’s reply before he finally
decided and messaged, ‘What’s your offer? As long as you are willing to work, the pay is not a
problem.”
After sending his reply, he felt that it wasn’t enough and added, “If you have any issues, you can talk it
out with me face-to-face. As for the pay, I can match your preferred salary.”
This was the first time Alexander had lowered himself to beg for a favor. It was all because the
company urgently needed talent, yet it was hard to come across.
To be more blunt, he was running out of options.
“Get back to work and search for an Arisian interpreter. Once you receive an application, let me know
right away.”
“Sure, Young Master Alex.”
With that, the assistant left, but the door to the office was opened again soon after. As Alexander was
buried deep in work, he thought that his assistant had returned. “Anything else?”
Jonah smiled and announced, “It’s me.”
Alexander looked up with a surprised face. “Grandpa, why did you visit today?”
Calmness had enveloped Jonah when he replied, “You must have endured a lot this time. I’m just
bored at home, so I decided to swing by.”
Then, Alexander rose to his height and handed his grandpa a couple of financial reports that he had
vetted. “Grandpa, these are the financial reports for this month. Take a look! I have a meeting soon, so
I’ll need to run.”
Jonah accepted the reports, but he placed them aside for the time being. “Those aren’t urgent. I need
to talk to you.”
Upon seeing his grandfather’s grave expression, Alexander thought that serious matters would be
discussed and he asked the assistant to close the door. “Grandpa, what’s the matter?”
Much to his surprise, Jonah flashed a smile. “Why are you so nervous? It’s nothing much. I just noticed
that it’s going to be your birthday soon. Do you have any thoughts on how you want to celebrate it?”
Alexander was taken aback by the question. “Grandpa, it’s just a birthday. It’s not that important.”
As usual, he never liked anything ceremonial and would prefer a simple dinner with family for his
birthday.
“Well, here’s what I think. Since our family hasn’t gathered for a long time, let’s have everyone over to
celebrate your birthday. What do you think?”
Alexander was still in the dark about his grandpa’s plan and tried to reject the suggestion with the
excuse of being busy. “Grandpa, I have a lot of projects to work on. I even have a work trip to Aris in a
few days’ time. As for the birthday celebration, let’s put it aside for now.”
“Look at you! You’re only focused on work. If so, I’ll take care of your birthday celebrations and you’ll
just need to focus on your work. When your birthday rolls around, all you have to do is to show up.”
Since Jonah was insistent and even offered to help, Alexander did not reject the idea and allowed his
grandfather to take charge instead.
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