Chapter 519 A Different Purpose
Kenneth slightly pursed his lips. Then, he reached out to position her hand in place before taking it into his as they headed inside.
Both of them walking together was quite a sight to behold—one looked mature and stable while the other was ethereal-looking.
The host was considered to be quite experienced and used to handling different situations, so he quickly came to his senses. However, he couldn’t quite contain the surprise and excitement that was clearly evident in his voice. “This is totally unexpected! Mr. Bailey has actually arrived with a date for this event. Mr. Bailey, please sign here.”
At this moment, Kenneth naturally strolled forward and signed his name on the wall before heading inside with Elise.
The duo’s sudden appearance had caused quite a commotion inside.
“Who’s the person next to Kenneth? Is there someone so beautiful amongst the members here?”
“Kenneth’s date would definitely not be just an ordinary person. Who cares about her identity?! If you get the chance, just go forward and talk to them! That’s more important.”
However, most of the comments from the crowd seemed to be quite bitter.
“Oh. That person there. Haven’t you guys heard of her? She’s the second daughter of the Anderson Family from Athesea. She didn’t grow up in that household and was instead raised on a farm with cattle. It’s just that her looks are acceptable, but there’s no hiding the stench of cow dung and sheep poop on her.”
“Is that for real?! So, she’s just an uneducated girl. Tsk. Tsk. I don’t even know what the lower-class people eat as their main meal. I shudder at the thought of it. God bless us. I hope she doesn’t come close to within ten meters of me later on.”
“Don’t panic. Have you forgotten the rules of our gathering? After attendance has been taken, firstly, she would have to play a series of chess matches. Once the marks are tallied, the ones who come out of the match as the bottom three will have to leave. She’s just an uneducated girl, so do you guys think that she would be familiar with the ways of chess?”
“That’s right. Hahaha! That means it’s quite likely that she’ll have to leave the place in an embarrassing manner.”
Then, a bunch of mean people gathered around and waited to see Elise being kicked out of the room.
In fact, their words coincidentally were heard by Kenneth.
There was a fierce glint in his dark eyes as he glanced directly in the direction of those people. His domineering aura resulted in the previously happily talking crowd falling silent almost instantly.
Elise did not have a strong family background and neither did she have any actual skills, so they were not afraid of offending her with their words. However, they didn’t dare to offend Kenneth.
At that point, Kenneth turned in the other direction with a cold, indifferent expression as he continued to steer Elise inside.
Despite that, Elise had in fact heard those nasty words and turned to him curiously, “Who are those people attending the gathering?”
“They’re the elites from all over the world and come from all sorts of industries including physics and jewelry design. I’ll introduce you to them later on. It’s good to know more people because you could find the contact useful in the future. However, the reason for me bringing you here today isn’t actually to expand your contacts but to get to know Steven Randall.”
“Steven Randall? Who is he?”
“He’s the president of Randall International and he’s also the first man in the country to own and have an odd-colored jade for display. You’ve discovered two pieces of blood jade in succession, but you’ve only sold one of them. I reckon you have a plan for the other one, so he should be able to help you with it.”
At that moment, Elise was significantly shocked as she paused in her tracks.
So, the only reason he’s here for this gathering today is just to help me solve my problem?! Elise was quite torn and she didn’t quite know how to face Kenneth.
After quite some time, she finally managed to come up with a few awkward words through gritted teeth. “Thanks… I really don’t know what else I can say, so I can only say thanks. I hope that I’ll have the chance to help you in the future.”
She disliked the feeling of being indebted to someone because it was quite unpleasant.
Meanwhile, Kenneth was tickled by her action. “I can’t believe my eyes! Miss Anderson is shy?! Well, I am of the opinion that to be able to smoothly get along in life, one would need to train to be brash and less shy. That’s why I think that perhaps we’ll only be able to get along well once we are at the point where you no longer feel burdened and have to keep coming up with ways to repay my favor equally for all that I’ve done for you.”
“I hope so.”
Meanwhile, Elise shrugged and subsequently changed the topic. “Shouldn’t the gathering be merry and jovial? Why is there a chess match? Furthermore, the losers are eliminated too.”
“This gathering was initially organized by an old man named Mr. Warren Reynolds. He’s the chess pioneer in Cittadel and was the one who set this rule during the first gathering. It then became a tradition up till today,” he explained.
As the two of them continued their conversation, Clement, who had arrived fashionably late, walked toward them and glanced at Kenneth. Then, he respectfully greeted Elise, “Miss Sinclair, I’m sorry for being late.”
“It’s fine with me as long as you turn up.” Elise lifted her head and directed a half-smile at Kenneth. “Your secretary is Melody Smith while you have a staff member called Johnny Smith. Coincidentally, I have just hired an assistant with the name of Clement Smith. Mr. Bailey, do you find him familiar?”
At this moment, he smiled with a calm expression. She’s purposely probing. What a brat. I’m busy helping her solve her problem and yet she’s trying to uncover my identity. She’s such a naughty girl.
“I’ve spoken with Old Mr. Reynolds and told him that you’re with me, so you don’t need to go through those series of chess matches.” He then abruptly changed the topic.
“Then, you might need to give him a ring and inform him that I’m interested in chess, so I would like to join the match. I’ll try to see how far I can get,” Elise responded with a deep look in her eyes.
“Do you play chess?” Kenneth lifted his brows questioningly.
“Well, how hard can it be? It’s just an intellectual game of black and white pieces on a board.” She had gently raised both hands as she casually commented.
“Yeah. What else do you know?” he asked.
“Isn’t this enough?” Elise gravely squinted her eyes and asked, “Are you going to go and talk to Old Mr. Reynolds? If you aren’t, I’ll go and enroll myself instead.”
Meanwhile, Kenneth had a resigned expression as he looked at her. He had only considered it for a moment before finally relenting, “Okay. If you’re actually interested in it, there’s no harm in giving it a go. I’ll be here with you anyway, so no one will dare to kick you out. Just stay right here and don’t wander off.”
“Okay.” She beamed widely at him. As soon as he saw that, he shuddered slightly.
He thought that he had already kept his emotions in check quite well, but he was totally a gone case when facing Elise.
Furthermore, he knew that it would be unwise for him to continue staring at her, so he forced himself to shift his gaze to the other direction as he left in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Elise looked at his sprightly figure and she suddenly revealed a smug smile of having successfully pulled a prank.
Although Kenneth was a lovely man, she had a different purpose for attending tonight’s gathering—she was intent on humiliating him. She wanted to humiliate him as badly as she could so that he would finally have had enough of her. At that point, surely he wouldn’t be fixated upon marrying someone who brought about such utter humiliation to him.
She wrapped her arms around herself. Then, she swiftly and rhythmically tapped with her long, slender fingers on the side of her arms as she contemplated how to lose so badly in the chess match later to the point where everyone would be shocked to the core.
Elise didn’t even realize the charm that she exuded since she had remained lost in her thoughts. Many men dropped by to flirt with her one after the other and they left her their business cards before walking off. In no time, she was left holding a pile of name cards.
Suddenly, one of the cards fell to the ground and she instinctively reached out to pick it up. At that point, she suddenly came to her senses and figured out the situation she had encountered earlier. This is too scary! Why is it that all of these elites are still single? Is that why Kenneth is so fixated on me? It must be because he wants to end his bachelor’s life! That’s quite possible!
Just as Elise was lost in her thoughts, three to four women in heavy makeup came toward her with evil looks.
The person leading them was a young woman in a white, tulle dress and she was the one who also greeted Elise first, “Miss Anderson, we meet again. Do you remember me?”
