Chapter 789 Choose Your Enemy
In the president’s office at Smith Co., Johnny knocked on the door and walked in, placing a document onto the table in front of Alexander. “Sir, there’s a new mineral discovered in South Africa. Would you like to go and have a look?”
Alexander leaned backward and looked up at the ceiling, shrugging. “It’s meaningless.”
Johnny was confused. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Alexander sat upright and explained earnestly, “There’s no end to earning money. I feel like we shouldn’t be in such haste to earn a profit all the time. Perhaps we should slow down and look around us to see what legacies we’ve left for the world.”
“Sir, Smith Co. has branches in over 140 cities in the country. We’re involved in all sorts of industries, and the economic benefits we’ve produced put us at the top of the country. We’re leaving behind legacies of progress, the horn of development. It’s—”
“Stop.” Alexander raised a hand to cut him off. “I’m not asking you to give me a report of our work. What I mean is, we can invest in some cultural industries.”
Sensing something out of the ordinary, Johnny narrowed his eyes. “For example?”
“I think online literature is interesting,” Alexander stated.
“Is online literature even considered a cultural industry?” Johnny was doubtful. How much can we earn from child’s play like that?
“Look at you. Your thinking is so shallow. No culture is better than the other, and we can’t discriminate here. So why don’t we work on different aspects together? You’ll deal with the mineral, and I’ll test the waters on our side.”
With that, Alexander flopped back to his computer, staring intently at the screen. On the screen was a page for ‘Rebirth: Identity Exposed’.
Johnny was speechless. After all, it wasn’t the first time Alexander acted on impulse. “Then I’ll stop bothering you.” He nodded, then turned around and walked out.
“Wait.” Alexander stopped him. “From now on, whenever I attend all sorts of social gatherings, arrange a female companion for me.”
“Understood.” Johnny wasn’t fazed at all as he walked out straight away.
As soon as the door was closed, Alexander immediately had a dreamy smile. He navigated to the comments section of the novel and spammed enthusiastically.
‘Your story is amazing!’
Seeing the comment board taken up by his comments, he nodded in satisfaction. A moment later, he suddenly stopped smiling. Ellie can’t go by her true identity for now, so of course she won’t be able to use the property under her name. If she needs money at some point, she’ll be troubled, right?
Small inconveniences might affect the big picture and he didn’t want Ellie to suffer. At that thought, Alexander immediately navigated to the donation screen.
Meanwhile, a message popped up on Elise’s phone. ‘You have received revenue of 4 million, which has been transferred to your bank. Please confirm the transaction.’
She immediately called up the editor. “What’s up with that 4 million?”
Up until now, Elise had only published a web novel under Anastasia’s pen name. It was worth less than 5 million, and there were various commissions to be paid to the publisher, the website, and all sorts of middlemen. She couldn’t have earned that much.
“Haven’t you heard? You just made history! Miss White, I knew you’d be popular one day! We finally made it!” The editor was going crazy with excitement.
“Can you please calm down?” Elise couldn’t smile, however. “I want to know what exactly happened.”
“A reader donated 5 million to you, and according to the share system on the platform, you’ll get 4 million in total. Did you know? This 5 million broke the record of the highest amount in donations in web novel history. From today onward, we can do whatever we please on all those major websites!” Speaking at an octave higher, the editor could hardly hide the excitement.
“Who are they?” Elise asked.
“That, I don’t know. It was a guest account, so the platform didn’t have the right to check their personal information,” said the editor.
“Okay, got it.”
After hanging up, Elise couldn’t bring herself to smile. She hoped that this money wasn’t a warning to her. She worked so hard and came so far so that she could rest with Anastasia’s identity; she couldn’t let her efforts be in vain.
However, for the foreseeable future, Elise’s life wouldn’t be so troubled, so she could stop worrying for a bit.
One month later, at the White Residence. Elise was about to head down the stairs, and she had just arrived at the staircase when she heard Lyra and her daughter talking about Alexander.
“Mom, look at this. Alexander brings a female companion in public, and it’s suspected that he may intend to marry someone else!”
“I’ve seen that already. Alexander wasn’t too interested in women before, but now he switches girlfriends even more frequently than he switches cars. I heard that he’s been like that ever since he took over Smith Co. from Kenneth. Money really does corrupt all men!” Lyra didn’t mince her words.
Women do like bad boys, after all. Alexander is so handsome, so it’s the women’s loss if he doesn’t date more of us.” Adelpha had a dreamy look in her eyes. “Also, I’m on par with those models and singers, so maybe I have the chance to be Mrs. Griffith as well.”
Elise smiled. As she walked past, she commented, “You have quite the bad memory, Adelpha. Alexander had recently exposed your collusion with a fake piano association, but now you’re dreaming of becoming his girlfriend? Do you think everyone is as forgetful as you are?”
Adelpha was instantly upset. “Can’t I just dream at home? Your tummy is so big now. You should be kinder for your child’s sake!”
Elise walked down the last step of the stairs. She stood on the spot and reached up to caress her bulging belly. She said thoughtfully, “Yes, it’s time I start planning for this child.”
At that, she suddenly stopped and looked up at Adelpha, a hint of a smile in her eyes. “So, as part of the child’s family, you should be more careful of everything you do. The Griffiths isn’t as simple as you think, so you’d better not cause any trouble.”
Adelpha was defiant. “Why not? You got yourself a husband who had no money or status and who only leeched off our parents, but I don’t want to follow in your footsteps. If I have the chance to pursue happiness, why should I give up?”
Elise lifted the corners of her mouth, faking a smile. “You can try. If you dare trouble the Griffith Family, I’ll chase you out of this house.”
Onyx had just come back when he saw them arguing, so he immediately frowned. “What are you arguing about first thing in the morning?”
“Dad!” Adelpha stomped her feet in exasperation. “Anastasia is being unreasonable! She said she’d chase me out of this house for no reason. You should teach her a lesson!”
Onyx glanced at Elise, and when he saw her cold eyes, he immediately averted his gaze.
He could no longer provoke this daughter of his, for he had to choose his enemies wisely.
“What about you? Your sister is pregnant, but you keep making her angry. Go back to your room and keep practicing!” Onyx reprimanded Adelpha instead.
“I, you! Hmph!”
Adelpha felt so wronged that she couldn’t say anything in return. She stomped her feet once more, then ran upstairs reluctantly.
