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3.95% The Alchemists / Chapter 43: A Personal Bodyguard?

Chapter 43: A Personal Bodyguard?

The next morning, they had breakfast together as usual. Caspar had to go abroad for a week and he took Ben with him.

"I have to attend business meetings in Germany. You'll be fine here. I'll call you every day. Ben will come with me, so one of my personal bodyguards will drive you to work."

"Eh?" Finland raised her eyebrows questioningly, "Your personal bodyguard will drive me? What for?"

"To give me peace of mind during my trip," Caspar answered while sipping his tea. "I don't want to lose focus on working because I am thinking about your safety in Singapore."

"Uhm... okay." Finland shrugged. "If that's what you want."

Finland was happy because she could save on bus fares because there is always someone driving her to and from work. Caspar refused to receive the rent for the pavilion after Finland knew that Rose Mansion was his property, and he even returned the money that Finland had paid for the previous two months.

She also had breakfast and dinner with Caspar in the main house. So with this configuration, Finland didn't have to spend any money at all.

"I'm leaving first." Finland finished her breakfast and prepared to leave. "What time are you going to the airport?"

"In a few hours," Caspar answered. "Hey, we won't be meeting for a whole week. Don't I deserve a goodbye kiss?"

Finland sighed softly. Her cheeks turned red as she looked around. Ms. Law and Katrin were not there, and neither was John. It was as if they knew they had to give these two some privacy.

Finland tiptoed to Caspar's side and kissed his cheek once.

"I need enough kisses for seven days. What you gave me isn't enough." cried Caspar impatiently. He pulled Finland on his lap and hugged the girl tightly, "Let me hug you for a while... I promised you I would not use my access to stalk you. You have no idea how hard it is for me to grant your request."

Finland recalled that she asked Caspar to act like a normal man and not stalk her with his extraordinary access to infinite information. Apparently, Caspar stood to his promise.

It was true, Finland felt uncomfortable when she knew that Caspar could know all her movements and whereabouts. She was relieved to know that Caspar kept his promise.

"I promise you that we will communicate intensively..." Finland said calmly. "I'll be fine here."

"Send photos often," Caspar said hoarsely.

Finland frowned in amazement. The man in front of her acted like they were going to be separated for years.

"Yeah... yeah..." Finland shook her head, "I promise. Please, stop being so mushy. Won't you feel embarrassed if Ben sees you like this?"

At that exact moment, Ben coughed softly at the door.

"Sorry, Master. Jadeith has come to pick Miss Finland up," he said in an almost whispering voice.

Apparently, Caspar was not at all embarrassed to be seen like this by Ben. He tightened his arms even more and patted Finland's hands gently.

"Don't tire yourself by working too much. Follow Jean's advice to learn how to have fun and enjoy life. Send me updates often. Germany is 7 hours behind Singapore, but you can contact me anytime. If there is an urgent matter and you cannot contact me, you can contact Stanis." He pulled out a black card from his pocket and handed it to Finland.

"Alright. Thank you. I go first."

Finland actually felt very touched. No one had ever shown her this much love and treated her this sweetly. Fearing that she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears and Caspar would see her feeling moved, Finland hurriedly broke away from Caspar's arms, kissed his lips gently, then ran away.

Caspar was amused by seeing the whole scene. He then could only shake his head and touch his lips, feeling the sweet scent she left behind. Hmm... at least today Finland took the initiative to kiss him.

This made him very happy.

Ben escorted Finland to Rose Mansion's front yard where a black Rolls Royce was waiting for her. A hipster man in his 30's with a man bun got out of the car and greeted her with a polite bow.

His face was very handsome. He looked like an action movie star. He wore a body-fitting blue shirt that showed a muscular body with hidden muscles. When he took off his sunglasses, Finland could see a pair of beautiful emerald green eyes.

"Who is this?" Finland asked in surprise.

"Good morning, Madam. I'm Jadeith, your bodyguard." The man bowed respectfully once more.

"Madam? I'm not yet married, and I am not that old, please just call me Miss..." Finland said quickly. "Are you my bodyguard? Uhm… for how long?"

"I was assigned to escort you while Master is abroad. I understand that I have to give you your personal space; I know you do not like to be followed. I will keep you safe discreetly. My job is to take you to and from work, and wherever you please." He took his cellphone out of his pocket and then called a number.

Riiingg ...

Finland's cellphone in her bag rang. Jadeith was calling her.

"That's my number. You can contact me at any time." He said, smiling.

Finland was amazed. Maybe this was what it felt like to live like Caspar... She suddenly had a personal bodyguard and was driven in a luxury car every day...

Not bad...

"Okay ... then you take me to work, but ..."

"But I have to drop Madam off in the park one block away from the Suntec Tower, I understand that..." Jadeith said quickly.

"Miss."

"Alright, Madam."

Finally, Finland gave up. She no longer corrected every time Jadeith called her Madam. She waved to Ben and then got into the car and left for work.

In the car, she quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

Without batting an eye, Jadeith handed her a handkerchief.

"Th... Thank you..." Finland stammered.

"Master told me to prepare a handkerchief. In the cabinet on the left, you can also find drinks."

Finland was touched after hearing Jadeith's words. She looked at the handkerchief in her hand and saw that the letter 'C' was embroidered in the corner.

She couldn't hold back her tears running down her face. She was so moved by this simple gesture.

.

.

>>>>>>>>

From the author:

Dear wonderful readers,

Thank you so so so much for reading my first English novel. I've been writing since I was 12, like decades ago (yeah... I'm old) and never got anything published since I was a perfectionist and my works needed research and I didn't have the means to do it back then.

I mean, how could you write about life in other countries when you never go there? I felt like a fake - that's why the only people I allowed reading my novels were my sister and a few friends whom I know would still love me no matter how weird I am in their eyes... hehehe.

Before you #coughcough Google... Well, Google and the internet weren't a thing back then (when I started writing), I didn't even have a computer. I wrote in any piece of paper I could get my hands into.

Sadly, out of maybe 100 titles I wrote for almost 20 years, 95% are gone now because my mom thought they were trash (literally) and threw them together with my old school books. It was heartbreaking because I really wanted to be a writer.

I am so happy to find a platform like Webnovel that allows me to publish my works, reach an audience that relates to my stories, and make some money. I am not hoping to get rich from my books, but if it could give me enough to quit my day job and focus on writing, it would mean the world to me.

Thus.. I would like to kindly ask your understanding that this book will go premium today, October 7, 2019, and will be locked from the next chapter. I hope you don't mind showing your support for this book by unlocking it with coins. It would mean so much to me.

GOING PREMIUM & PRICING

Going premium means the book might be locked today or next week and you can unlock the chapters with coins or fast passes. If you are new to the site, this is how the chapters will be priced:

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So, the longer the chapters, the more coins needed to unlock them. For 1200 word-chapters, the price will be 6 coins, 2000 word chapters are worth 10 coins, and so on.

Out of these coins, the author will only get 30%, minus 5% tax. The other 70% was divided between Google/Apple (as app store providers) and Webnovel.

HOW MUCH AN AUTHOR ACTUALLY EARNS?

An author gets around 25% of what their novels earn. From a chapter that costs 6 coins, only 2 coins will go to the author. It's not really much, considering 1 chapter takes 1-4 hours to write (depending on the author's health, inspiration, research, etc).

However, the more readers unlock the chapters using coins, the more money an author could make. So.. please open the locked chapters with coins if you wish to support me and this novel.

I really hope at least 100 readers could unlock the chapters every day, seeing that I have around 5000 people adding this book to their collection.

If each chapter of this book gets 100 unlocks every day, that means I will get

200 x 2 coins x $0.02 =$4 per day or $120 in one month if I publish 1 chapter per day.

I know it's not enough to live, so I will have to publish more chapters, and that's fine. If I published 2 chapters per day, it means with 100 unlocks, I will earn $240 in one month. At least, if I knew you are invested and are willing to support this book, I would feel encouraged to write more and more and more.

If we can get 500 unlocks per chapter every day.. I would even dance the rain dance because of how happy it would make me :).

Plus, if this book sells well, Webnovel will give it special attention and promote the book to the wider audience.

In exchange for your support, I can promise you my dedication and hard work to see this book written until the end. I never drop a book in my life and I will not leave you hanging. I hope this book brings you joy as you read it and get you through the day, feeling happier.

FAST PASSES & OTHER SUPPORT

If you cannot afford to unlock the chapters with coins, and can only use fast passes, don't feel bad about it. I love you too! I know how it feels to be poor and crave books. I understand. I was there.

I pray that you will be blessed abundantly and someday you can have the luxury to support the content creators that you love. The universe is listening :).

You can also support this book by voting your power stone so it will go up in ranking and noticed by other readers, write your thoughts about the book in the comments or reviews, give me feedback, or anything at all. I'd love to hear from you.

Lastly, I would like to thank the silent readers who are reading this book. Even though you didn't say anything, I notice your support from your power stone votes and gifts. Thank you!

love,

x

(October 7, 2019)

PS: SPOILERS & TEASERS

Please do note that I love throwing spoilers here and there in SEPARATE CHAPTERS to satisfy curious people who are eager to know what happens in the future.

For some people, knowing a bit of what will happen gives them peace of mind that they are not investing their time, feeling, and money into a soap opera or cliches or shitty novel or simply something that is not their cup of tea.

I respect that. So please, if you hate spoilers, just SKIP the chapters marked with TEASERS or SPOILERS and you'll be just fine.

If you LOVE SPOILERS, hell yeah! Go read them! Woot woot!!

The original novel is loved by many and I got on average 1000 power stones in votes every day. Of course, I wish to see this English version gets the same exposure and support. If you liked this novel, please vote and help this story reach more people.

My biggest dream for this novel is someday to see it made into Netflix's original series, for example. Wouldn't it be awesome? Does anyone know anyone in Netflix? Bahahaha...

Anyway.. again, thank you for joining me on the ride. I hope this story can bring you happiness.

much love, xx


Chapter 44: Atlas Corp

"Our office will be hosting a number of American guests who sell private jets to customers from Asia. All this time they have been represented by another company, but they are not satisfied with their performance. That's why they want to change their partner and are considering using our services."

Tony Wu opened the Marketing department meeting that morning and was immediately cheered by enthusiastic staff. This was an industry that they haven't touched before and its value was sure to be fantastic considering the price of their unusually expensive products.

Tony calmed his staff down by raising his hand and then he continued speaking.

"I will choose two staff to accompany me to meet this client for dinner tonight at De Lune Restaurant. Finland and Lily. This is your chance to learn how to entertain clients."

The two girls stood up and nodded. Finland was happy to be able to eat free dinner at a fancy restaurant because she knew the food at De Lune was very good. She remembered that last week she had eaten dinner there with Jean and Katia.

"Oh yes... Finland... if possible, please buy new clothes," Tony said when he was about to leave the meeting room. He handed a credit card to the girl, "This is an important client, appearance is also important."

Her departmental colleagues looked at each other and Finland felt an aura of hostility again. She quickly chased Tony and returned the card.

"No need... I have new clothes. I'll wear them later."

"It's okay, this is included in the marketing budget," Tony said. "I know you don't have a lot of good clothes. But from now on, if possible, you need to have some chic clothes when representing LTX as a bona fide marketing brand."

"Then, you can just give me a raise. If I am given a company credit card for shopping, but my teammates are not, I will be looked down upon by my coworkers."

Tony understood. Finally, he took the card back and nodded.

"Okay, then I'll talk to HR. Now that you are a full-time employee, we can add bonuses on top of your salary for clothing and appearance."

"Thank you, Boss." Finland bowed. She returned to her coworkers who now no longer looked at her like hungry raptors.

They all understood that the poor girl did not have many nice clothes. Maybe the man who was reportedly close to her, Heinrich Schneider, was not her lover, because if so, why was Finland still wearing such simple clothes?

Surely she was not romantically involved with him. Maybe Finland was able to get the Continental Hotel ballroom for their Bartz event because of pure luck or something else they did not know about.

[I have to shop for clothes again. Our marketing director said that I don't represent our brand because my clothes are too modest. So, today I will go home earlier to shop for clothes. Later tonight I will represent LTX to a dinner meeting with clients and I have to look expensive. Ughhhhh...]

Finland sent a WhatsApp message to both Jean and Caspar before lunch.

Jean replied to her message 5 minutes later.

[You're weird. All other women I know will be happy to shop for clothes when told by their boss.]

[You just found out I'm a weirdo?] Finland replied.

Caspar replied to her message 10 minutes later.

[No need to shop. Lauren will send all your clothes to the mansion this afternoon. Try checking at home first.]

[Hey, aren't you flying right now? How can you reply to my WhatsApp?] Finland asked in surprise.

[WiFi on the plane.] answered Caspar. He sent the next message [Don't forget to take photos with your new clothes and send them later.]

Finland recalled that yesterday in the boutique Lauren said that she had to choose one outfit and the rest would be sent to the mansion. Was this what Caspar meant just now?

Ahhh... she couldn't wait to go home and see which clothes Lauren sent her.

[Thank you!!]

[You are most welcome.]

Caspar was smiling when he sent his reply. He now wished he had set up a hidden camera to watch Finland's candid reaction when she saw hundreds of clothes he bought for her. Now he should only make do with pictures and report from Ms. Law.

Finland's mood improved. She completed the gallery design for Katia and sent the results via email. Katia loved it and wanted to further discuss the details this Saturday when they go to Universal Studios.

She also completed presentations for LTX's other clients. Now she had time to read Atlas Corp's company profile, the company they would have dinner with tonight.

Atlas Corp was a fairly new aviation company, but they had been developing very rapidly because of the various sophisticated innovations they have. Currently, the two lines that they would market to super-rich consumers in Asia were the regular private aircraft which had a capacity of 12 passengers and a single helicopter which they say would soon replace cars for the super-rich.

Finland was very interested in seeing their products.

[Can I ask for a photo from your private plane?] She asked Caspar.

[Sorry, I don't like being photographed.] Caspar replied.

[I asked for a photo of YOUR PLANE... I want to know how many seats there are. I did NOT ask for YOUR picture.] Finland replied, pursing her lips.

Why was this Caspar so narcissistic, she thought. She just wanted to compare the private plane that the man used to the products from LTX's prospective clients.

[So, you prefer my plane to me? Do you just want a picture of my private jet and not a picture of me? I feel sad…] Came a reply from Caspar.

Ugh...

Finland massaged her forehead and rolled her eyes. She did not continue texting Caspar and put her phone down.


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