A Long Way to Go
Elise’s face grew stern. “Within this month, I’ve gotten my hands on two Peculiar Jadeite, and I suspect
that they were the result of the radiation caused by an extremist organization.”
“I’ll be honest with you. Recently, we’ve been looking into the disappearance of missing physicists. In
the past three years, more and more physicists in Cittadel had gone missing. There’s certainly a
connection between the Peculiar Jadeite and these missing physicists.”
“The Peculiar Jadeite you now possess is the first one there is in Cittadel, so it’s pretty important. I
hope that, for the sake of Cittadel’s scientific development, you’ll be able to shed light on our
confusion.”
Steven stared at her in surprise. “Are you cops?”
“No, not exactly.” With a straight face, Elise continued, “But my family and lover have suffered, some
more than the other, because of these Peculiar Jadeites, so I need to find out the truth for their sake.”
Understanding her perception, Steven nodded in empathy.
After a moment of wondering, Elise changed her approach. “Perhaps you can tell me if the jadeite
came from within the country or abroad?”
After a long while of silence, Steven took off his glasses, wiping the lenses as he said, “I acquired the
jadeite from a physics professor named Lancaster. Even now, the Peculiar Jadeite remains a rare
substance. He asked for less than a hundred thousand at the time, but fearing he might regret it, I sent
him a check of one million, sealing our exchange.”
“Lancaster? Timothy Lancaster?” Elise anxiously pursued. If Timothy’s our guy, then things are coming
together!
“No idea. ‘Lancaster’ is all I have.” Steven then put on his glasses. As he adjusted them, he earnestly
questioned, “About that ‘Timothy Lancaster,’ how old is the guy?”
“About thirty? Forty?” Elise’s memory was hazy as well.
“Then he’s not your guy,” Steven said. “The man who traded with me was around my age. There’s a
possibility that he’s Timothy’s father, though.” Shortly after, he elaborated, “The jadeite is precious to
me, so I can definitely recognize the man if I were to meet him again.”
His reply reignited Elise’s hopes. After all, she didn’t have to leave empty-handed. She then gratefully
bowed to the old man. “Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Randall. In my family and the missing
scientists’ stead, I thank you.”
Steven hurriedly helped her up. “No, no, no. Don’t bow to me. You’re Old Reynolds’ master. I can’t
accept this! Besides, this is beneficial to me as well, so the gratitude is only mutual.”
Elise did not persist. After saving each other’s number, they left and went their own ways.
Kenneth stood beside her as they watched Steven leave, curiously uttering, “We now know the
Peculiar Jadeites came from the physicists, and this proves you’re looking in the right direction. If we’re
able to locate this old Lancaster man, things will certainly get clearer. Though, I’m still baffled as to why
a man, knowing the jadeite’s value, would sell it for merely a hundred thousand.”
Elise pondered as she replied, “And that’s what I’m about to find out. We’ve hardly scratched the
surface. It’s still a long way to go, but…” She erased the worrying look on her face and turned to
Kenneth, sincerely saying, “I still have you to thank for today. You helped me verify what was a huge
guess.” Although the look on his face right now was rather provoking, he still deserved the credits, so
she wasn’t stingy with her compliments.
“Shush.” Kenneth put his index finger at her lips as he deeply gazed at her. “You still have much to
thank me for in the future. Why don’t we make a promise? Instead of thank yous, say ‘I hope to see you
again,’ and I’ll forget about you repaying your debts to me. How’s that?”
‘I hope to see you again’? That’s cheesy as hell! In no damn situation will I ever say that!
“Sure.” Elise forced a grin. “I hope… to never see you again. Happy?”
Being let down, Kenneth felt rather frustrated. He tugged his hands into his pockets and heaved a long
sigh, self-mocking, “See this right here? This is what you call ‘a long way to go.’”
“Aren’t you underestimating yourself, Smith Co.’s boss? Of course you can achieve whatever you set
your eyes upon!” Elise mischievously teased.
“It’s not like Smith Co. is Santa, allowing me to wake up to whatever I want the next day.” Kenneth lifted
his eyes—his glistening, burning eyes. “Well, waking up to a certain someone next to me, at least.”
Heeding his message, Elise speedily turned away as she guiltily gulped a mouthful of saliva. Realizing
what she had done, she perturbedly frowned. What am I doing? Why am I nervous around him? No,
no! Wrong Elise! Bad Elise!
“You must be sick in the head! Go see a doctor first thing in the morning!” Not wanting to risk her
thoughts being seen through, she blurted those words and ran away. As she picked up her pace, she
shouted, “I’ll see the Saunders myself. You may leave. Bye!”
Before she could run afar, however, a hand reached over and grabbed her wrist. The moment she was
stopped, another hand was already around her waist. When she realized it, she was already in
Kenneth’s arms, in a bridal carry. She then started to shake herself out of his arms, to which her
intention quickly dispersed at his following words.
“Stop struggling, or I’ll stop searching for your doctor friend.”
Of course, she knew that he was referring to Claude. This shameless son of a b*tch is always
leveraging other’s weaknesses! Nevertheless, she, indeed, had to look for Claude as soon as possible,
so she could only cope with him.
Peeking at her eyes from the corner of his eyes, Kenneth subconsciously revealed a smirk when he
caught her trying hard to contain her frustration. Although ‘leveraging’ didn’t sound exactly prestigious,
and it was certainly a dissonance to the ear, what other choice did he have? Whenever he was facing
her, he would always struggle to maintain his morality and rationality and end up as her loyal, obedient
lapdog. Whenever she was around, he’d always find himself wanting to talk more; whenever she
wasn’t, all the words he wanted to express would accumulate, so he would have to vent it all out at
once. Since she wasn’t giving him the opportunity, he could only attempt to create one for himself.
As it turned out, his attempt led to a good result. Her not using all the force in her body to shake him off
was a sign of improvement.
Some time after they drove out of the center, Elise remembered the gown Celina sent her. Her eyes
glowed as she, somewhat thrilled, stated, “It’s gonna be fun at the Saunders Residence tonight.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Kenneth went along with her excitement.
“The daughter’s trying to piss her dad off. Isn’t that fun?”
“Hmm?” Kenneth helplessly revealed a faint smile. “Please, Miss Sinclair, cut the suspense.”
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