Elise frowned in annoyance as she thought, I‘ve
already warned him against the effect of the fruit liqueur earlier, but he still couldn‘t restrain himself. Re
gardless, I can‘t leave him by himself now when he‘s in this state.
Despite that, she shuddered when she recalled what happened the last time.
Back at the hotel, she went straight to the hotel staff and passed them a stack of bills while requesting,
“Please send him back to his room.”
Seeing the wad of cash in front of their eyes, the hotel staff didn’t even hesitate for a second before he
called another colleague over to help him bring Alexander back to his room.
The next morning, Elise happened to run into Alexander when she stepped out of her room and saw
that he had already recovered his usual energy. “Morning, Mr. Griffith,” she greeted.
His eyes were fixed on her for a few seconds before he finally uttered, “Morning.”
They got into the elevator one after the other, and the moment the doors slid shut, he said, “Sare,
thanks for bringing me back yesterday.” Then, he whisked out a cheque he had prepared beforehand
and passed it to her. “This is for the trouble you went through.”
Stealing a peek at the cheque, Elise was shocked to see that it was
worth 200,000! All I can say is, he‘s a really, really generous man! she thought.
Nevertheless, she felt that she didn’t deserve it because she didn’t do much, so she rejected it. “That’s
alright, Mr. Griffith. It’s just a small matter that’s not worth mentioning.”
Her words made him grow solemn, and when he spoke again, his voice sounded a little aloof. “I don’t
take rejection very well. Moreover, I don’t want anyone else to know what happened last night.”
So, he‘s using this money to buy my silence? After thinking for a while, Elise decided to accept the
cheque in the end. Why didn‘t I realize before that Alexander has the habit of giving cheques?
“Thank you, Mr. Griffith. Rest assured that I won’t breathe a word about
what happened last night,” she promised.
With her assurance, Alexander was relieved, and he grunted in reply. Just then, the doors slid open,
and Elise let him out first out of politeness.
Today, she accompanied him to have a meeting with the Arisian government
until 7.00PM when it finally ended. Stretching herself, Elise was already very tired, and she returned to
the hotel directly after finishing her work. In the hotel, she had a quick shower before plopping onto bed
and soon drifted off to sleep.
Such busy days continued for the entire week until the cooperation between the two parties reached an
agreement. After the signing of the contract, it also meant that her work had come to an official end.
“Mr. Griffith, are we booking the flight back tomorrow?” she asked eagerly as she
However, Alexander said, “We’ll go back in a couple of days. Accompany me to a place tomorrow.”
Anxiously, she argued, “The work here is finished, Mr. Griffith. How about if I go back first, and you can
stay back to enjoy yourself for a couple of days?”
Stopping in his tracks, he peered at her and asked in indifference, “How am I supposed to enjoy myself
when I can‘t speak the local language?”
So now you realize my importance? Elise thought in silence and rolled her eyes. “Okay, I can stay a
couple more days, but I have to charge extra.”
Fixing his eyes on her, he asked, “Are you in need of money?”
Without hesitation,
she nodded, thinking, That‘s for sure! Everyone is in need of something as good as money!
“I‘ll pay you extra by hourly pay,” he added.
Elise‘s face lit up. “Sure, Mr. Griffith!”
The next day, she woke up early in the morning, but Alexander only contacted her in the afternoon.
When she saw him, she couldn‘t help but ask, “Mr. Griffith, didn’t you
say that you wanted to go out? Why did you contact me
so late in the day?” Don‘t you know that I‘m paid hourly! This delay has caused me a big loss!
Of course she could only say the last part in her heart and not out loud at him because she
didn‘t have the guts to!
Despite that, Alexander seemed to have read her mind. “I can save some money by using your
services a few hours less.”
Speechless, Elise complained silently, What a frustrating capitalist he is! But on the surface, she
plastered on a smile and asked, “So, where are we going today, Mr. Griffith?”
Instead of answering her, Alexander led her into a cab and passed the address on his cell phone to the
driver, who drove the car to their destination.
Aris was renowned in the world for its oil industry, but another speciality of this country was stone
gambling. The last thing Elise could think of was Alexander bringing her to a stone gambling market.
In the world of stone gambling, such a saying existed: “A cut could make one rich and another poor,
while another cut could change one’s destiny and reduce another to rags.”
Both of them hopped off the cab, and what awaited them was a couple of historic, old streets. All along
the streets, shops and stalls of different sizes selling mineral rocks with a variety of shapes and colors
lined the streets.
It was Elise’s first time to visit such a place. “Are we here to buy rocks?” she asked in confusion.
“Yeah. Come and take a look at this.”
Then, they took the street on the right and ventured into the path. Suddenly, Elise realized that there
were not only locals here; there were also some Europeans and Africans who looked really sharp, and
she reckoned they were businessmen.
Alexander brought her to a street corner and stopped. With his eyes fixed on a rock, he said to her,
“Ask him for the price of this rock.”
Following his orders, Elise spoke to the seller in fluent Arisian, but a bewildered look
flashed across her face when she heard the price for the rock. “A sh*tty rock like this costs 8,000?!”
Raising his brow, Alexander asked, “8,000 in which currency?”
“Of course it’s in USD! The person who buys this sh*tty rock for 8,000 USD must have a hole in his
head.”
Just as the words left her lips, Alexander said, “I’m buying that rock. Go and buy it for me.”
Shocked beyond words, she gawked at him in disbelief, but she was only his interpreter now, and it
was none of her business what her employer wanted to buy. Therefore, she swallowed back her advice
to him against buying it and spun around to negotiate with the stone seller instead. In the end, she
made use of her bargaining skills and managed to get a 500 USD discount, closing the sale at 7,500
USD.
Elise was at a loss for words when she held the rock in her hand, but Alexander was expressionless as
he continued walking. On the way, he ended up buying five pieces of stones in different sizes, with
each ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 USD.
As Elise watched him hand out wads of cash, she could feel her heart wrenching. “Mr. Griffith, what are
you going to do with these stones?”
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda