Chapter 486 Up for a Match?
As soon as Kenneth said that, the whole room erupted into chaos.
Elise is his woman?! Then, what does that make Melody, who is practically stuck to his side all the time?
However, Melody acted aloof and she stood there quite calmly, as if she was not the least bit inquisitive of her boss’ woman.
Mr. Carnegie was initially stunned, but he quickly collected himself and chuckled. “This is unexpected, Mr. Bailey. You’re very good-looking, so you must be popular with the ladies. You young ones are quite impressive. I’m not a match at all.”
“You’ve got it wrong.” Elise then added, “I’m not related to him at all.”
However, Kenneth disregarded her words and looked toward Mr. Carnegie in resignation as he explained, “Women tend to enjoy such games.”
“I completely understand.” At that point, Mr. Carnegie revealed a knowing look and he patted Kenneth on the back. “I’m sorry for being rude earlier. Don’t take it personally.”
“It’s fine.” Kenneth dealt with everything with ease.
In the end, Mr. Carnegie made a move after making small talk for a short while.
Just then, Elise turned to glance coldly at Kenneth and she warned him, “You’d better not challenge my limits.”
“Tsk!” Kenneth revealed a hurt look and said, “I’m heartbroken, Miss Sinclair. I helped you when you were in trouble, so how could you treat me this way?”
“I didn’t ask you for help.” Elise couldn’t help rolling her eyes at him before walking off.
The smile on Kenneth’s face disappeared and he turned to signal to Melody. Subsequently, the latter went after Elise.
“Miss Sinclair,” Melody trailed after Elise and followed her as they strolled mindlessly along. “How much do you know about Mr. Carnegie?”
“I don’t know him.” As soon as Elise finished her words, she suddenly realized that Melody had been following her. “Why are you following me?”
Meanwhile, Melody ignored her question and continued to explain, “Jim Carnegie is the organizer of the gem auction event and he’s the head of one of the founding families of Dukethorn. In the past, the Carnegie Family would always manage to gain a lot of top-grade gemstones from each gem auction event. All this while, they have also maintained their position as the primary founding family quite well but last year, there was a slight occurrence…”
At that, Melody stopped suddenly, seemingly lost in her memories.
At that moment, Elise was quite engrossed so she took the initiative to ask, “Why did you stop? Do continue. I hate it when someone stops halfway while talking!”
“Last year, there was a girl, who was known as God’s Chosen Girl, and all of the stones that she bid on turned out to be top-grade ones. As for the Carnegies, they barely uncovered any top-grade stones, so they were humiliated in public. Over these years, the Carnegies had established themselves in Dukethorn and lived quite lavishly. They completely disregarded the outsiders. However, God’s Chosen Girl turned the tides and brought pride to the non-locals.”
Melody seemed to admire God’s Chosen Girl very much and this was evident judging by the look she had on her face, which she rarely showed.
Elise found Melody’s reaction quite comical, so the former slowed down and lifted her eyebrows teasingly. “So, where can I find God’s Chosen Girl?”
The sparkle in Melody’s eyes dimmed when she heard that. “She disappeared right after the gem auction event. Perhaps it was because too many people wanted to get her to work for them and she got quite annoyed about that. In the end, she went off the grid. I’m not even sure whether she’s going to attend this year’s event.”
“That’s wishful thinking. God’s Chosen Girl is a load of baloney! She was just lucky, that’s all. Even if she dares to attend this year’s event, she won’t be able to have such good luck again. Perhaps she might only be here to entertain the crowd. Ha!”
Elise turned around and looked in the direction of the voice, and she saw a guy. He had a carefree attitude and was dressed quite outlandishly too. Just then, he walked in surrounded by a few people.
“Who are you, anyway?” Elise asked in an unpleasant tone.
Meanwhile, Melody whispered in her ear, “He’s Ziggy Carnegie, the only son of the guy you met earlier, Jim Carnegie.”
Just then, Ziggy headed straight in Elise’s direction and he stopped in front of her. He didn’t hold back at all and he studied her intently, a roguish look in his eyes. “You’re such a stunning beauty! Is this your first time here? Do you know who I am?”
Meanwhile, Elise couldn’t quite fight back the repulse within her as her eyes met his flirtatious ones.
Suddenly, Kenneth appeared from nowhere and he stood protectively in front of Elise. “What a strange coincidence. Firstly, your father wanted to kick my woman out of the place and now, you’ve come over to provoke me too. It looks like your whole family doesn’t care too much about your own lives, I believe?”
A slightly impatient look flashed across Ziggy’s face, but he changed the topic in resignation. “You guys were talking about God’s Chosen Girl, right? Ha! She’s such a coward! If she was actually brave enough, she should come out and compete with me publicly. I’ve been searching for her for almost a year now, but she hasn’t accepted my challenge. Obviously, she must have realized that she doesn’t stand a chance to win against us Carnegies.”
Meanwhile, Elise was baffled as she thought, I didn’t even know that you were searching for me! If I knew, I would have appeared to teach you a lesson. You wouldn’t even have the chance to stand here and show off!
“Mr. Carnegie, I don’t think it’s fair to say that. God’s Chosen Girl comes and goes as she pleases, so perhaps she didn’t even realize that you issued her a challenge. If you guys actually competed on the same stage, you might not be a match for her,” Melody stated calmly without giving a thought to Ziggy’s pride.
Somehow, Elise could sense Melody’s protectiveness from her words, and the former smiled casually in response.
At that point, Ziggy was angered to the point where there was a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.
“Don’t mention such nonsense to me! I don’t care about God’s Chosen Girl or God’s Chosen Guy, for that matter. We’ve got a secret weapon this time, so no one will be able to steal our limelight!”
“Oh?” Elise snorted coldly, a mocking look in her eyes. Her gaze was icy and instantly, the whole room was stunned by her imposing manner.
However, Ziggy was blissfully unaware of the changes in her aura and he continued to leer at her.
With a sly glint in her eyes, Elise squinted before smiling at him. “Are you up for a match right now?”
Ziggy was stunned to hear that. “Compete in stone gambling? With you?”
“Yes, with me.” The smile on Elise’s face remained as she continued, “Let’s compete to see who can discover a jade that’s darker in color and a stone that is worth a higher figure.”
Meanwhile, Kenneth’s expression darkened and he glanced at Melody.
Instantly, the woman voiced out her objections, “Miss Sinclair, don’t make any hasty moves. The Carnegie Family always seems to have an advantage in stone gambling, so you’re not his match.”
“Don’t worry.” Elise’s eyes narrowed as she smiled and she gave Melody a reassuring look before turning to Ziggy. “Do you have the guts to compete with me?”
“Why not?!” She had successfully piqued Ziggy’s interest, and he rubbed his palms together in anticipation as he licked his lower lip.
He could clearly tell that Elise was an outsider. If this happened in a game, she would just be handing herself to him on a silver platter, so of course he was going to take it.
The Carnegie Family had not lost a stone gambling match in so many years, and the only exception was that match with God’s Chosen Girl.
Well, it doesn’t mean that any random woman would be God’s Chosen Girl, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. As soon as Ziggy thought of this, he felt very confident all of a sudden and an evil thought came to his mind.
“However, this is a match, so it would be much more fun if there’s a prize for the winner.” As Ziggy said that, he stared perversely at Elise’s slender waist. Her waist is so slender. I wonder how it would feel to have my hands wrapped around it?
“What do you want the prize to be?” Elise asked.
“I like that you’re so straightforward. Since that’s the case, then I’ll be frank too. If you lose, I want you to be my bedmate for a week. How does that sound?” Ziggy smiled furtively.
Kenneth, who was by the side and hadn’t spoken a word up till now, suddenly clenched his teeth so hard that the veins on his temples pulsated visibly.
Nonetheless, Elise maintained her smile and calmly responded, “That’s not a problem. But what if I win?”
“You can have me and do whatever you want with me.”
“That’s not needed. I would be quite repulsed by that.” After some consideration, Elise spoke up once again, “You’ve got a jewelry shop that’s doing quite well, right?”
Dukethorn was renowned for its jadeites and the Carnegie Family was established in Dukethorn. Naturally, they were involved in a lot of industries related to the jade business, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that most of the jewelry shops in Dukethorn belonged to them.
