Friends go their separate ways

"Yes, Young Madam," Butler Lee nodded with a smile. The Mitchell Family Corporation was renowned both domestically and internationally, known by almost everyone.

Elise, both surprised and delighted, eagerly asked, "And who is your Young Master?"

"Our Young Master is the heir to the Mitchell Family Corporation. Due to his special status, we cannot reveal his real name to you just yet.

Once you marry him, he will tell you everything about himself. You will then enjoy endless wealth and luxury," Butler Lee continued to smile as he explained.

Endless wealth and luxury! Elise's heart soared with joy.

What an enticing offer! She had dreamt last night of marrying a wealthy man, and now, her dream was coming true the very next day!

"Does this mean I won't have to share this shabby apartment with others anymore? No more crowded subways? No more taking orders from my boss?" Elise asked excitedly, her hands gesturing wildly as she envisioned her future.

Blinded by greed, Elise had completely forgotten that the jade pendant actually belonged to Nadia. In her heart, she had already convinced herself that the pendant was hers.

Butler Lee couldn't help but chuckle at Elise's exaggeratedly excited expression and nodded.

"This is wonderful! Take me with you right away. I want to be the Young Madam of a wealthy family!" Elise exclaimed, unable to believe how quickly her happiness had arrived.

While Elise was lost in her joy, on the other side of town, Nadia was already sitting in front of her computer, diligently working.

For Nadia, transitioning from an intern to a full-time employee meant securing a stable job after graduation, ensuring she wouldn't be unemployed the moment she graduated.

The fates of two women began to diverge from this very moment.

Elise sat in a luxury car worth millions for the first time, her heart racing with excitement and filled with endless anticipation for the first Young Master of the Mitchell Family.

What kind of man would he be?

Nervous and thrilled, Elise sat behind the driver's seat, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"Young Madam, please fill out this form," Butler Lee, who accompanied her, said as he handed her a pen and paper from his briefcase.

Elise took the pen and form, glancing at it with a shy smile. "Why do I need to fill this out?"

The form seemed simple but felt like a detailed census survey. It required her to fill in her name, date of birth, occupation, home address, family members, and their backgrounds in great detail.

"It's to facilitate the betrothal gifts for your parents," Butler Lee explained with a smile.

Hearing this, Elise couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. She tentatively asked, "Does the Young Master even know my name? And why does he suddenly want to marry me?"

"Well..." Butler Lee was momentarily at a loss for words.

Early this morning, the Young Master had called him, ordering him to go to Hope Apartments, Room 1808, to pick up a woman who possessed the Mitchell Family's ancestral jade pendant.

He only mentioned that this woman was to become the Young Madam of the Mitchell Family.

As for other details, the Young Master had not provided any.

In truth, Butler Lee didn't need the Young Master to explain everything. Since this woman was to become the Young Madam of the Mitchell Family, he knew exactly how to proceed with the marriage arrangements.

Otherwise, what use would the Young Master have for a butler like him? Butler Lee could only think of so much.

"Young Madam, how did you and our Young Master meet?" Butler Lee paused, then asked Elise with a hint of curiosity.

The Young Master, who had never been in a relationship and had never even touched a woman, suddenly announced he was getting married. As the butler, how could he not be curious?

This time, it was Elise who was caught off guard. She quickly came up with an excuse, stammering, "It's... it's... a secret!"

After brushing off Butler Lee, Elise began to ponder what exactly had transpired between Nadia Clark and the Young Master of the Mitchell Family. If the Young Master really knew Nadia, then how could the butler have mistaken her for someone else?

Could the key be this jade pendant? Elise was startled and lifted her hands to examine the jade pendant around her neck once more. The intricate craftsmanship indicated that the pendant was indeed an antique.

Seeing Elise scrutinizing the pendant, Butler Lee couldn't help but remark, "This jade pendant has been a family heirloom of the Mitchell Family for over a hundred years.

You must take good care of it! When you and the Young Master have a son, you can pass it on to him when he comes of age."

"What if I can't have a son?" Elise frowned in displeasure. From Butler Lee's words, she could indirectly understand what kind of aristocratic family the Mitchell Family was.

Butler Lee smiled knowingly. "If the Young Master loves you enough, even a little princess can inherit this jade pendant!"

In other words, the person who holds this jade pendant is the future heir of the Mitchell Family Group.

Butler Lee did not tell Elise this, but she should already be very satisfied with the wealth and luxury she could enjoy.

"Young Madam, please fill out the form first so I can proceed with the wedding arrangements," Butler Lee continued.

Elise snapped back to reality, an awkward smile playing on her lips, though a small thrill danced in her heart. She picked up the pen and began filling out the personal information form.

From this moment on, the book of her life was turning a new page.

Her name was Elise.

Was she named after the swirling white snow on the day she was born?

She truly lived up to her name.

In an abandoned, half-constructed building, a man with his face smeared in camouflage paint sat in a jeep disguised as scrap metal.

He received a message from Butler Lee and couldn't help but let a small smile creep onto his lips as he read the screen.

"First Young Master, we're about to have a showdown with the 'Vultures,' and you still have the time to smile at your phone?"

Gregory, his comrade whose face was painted black, teased Geraldo Mitchell, who rarely smiled.

The usually cold and expressionless Geraldo, feared by his enemies, was actually smiling?

Gregory felt like he had witnessed something extraordinary today. Was the sun rising in the west?

Geraldo's smile vanished instantly, and he remained silent.

Gregory watched as Geraldo quickly typed out a message, but he had no idea who it was for.

"First Young Master, last night you were almost caught while on a reconnaissance mission, chased by the 'Vultures,' and you jumped from such a high rooftop and survived.

Did some beautiful lady save you?" Gregory asked with a mischievous grin, fiddling with the gun in his hands.

In this life-or-death situation, he still found the time to tease him.

After sending the text message, Geraldo turned off his phone and put it away. His cold, dark eyes glanced meaningfully at Gregory. "You have a problem with my wife saving me?"

"You have a wife? Since when? How come I didn't know?" Gregory looked utterly bewildered, staring at Geraldo in disbelief.

Geraldo's lips curved into a knowing smile.

"Since last night..." One kiss sealed the deal!

He had met a woman who could cook, knew medicine, saved lives without asking for anything in return, and had a heart as pure as snow!

Meanwhile, at the interior design company, Nadia was working in her cubicle when she suddenly sneezed out of nowhere.

At that moment, their team leader, Tyree, rushed over and leaned on the glass partition of Nadia's cubicle, asking, "Nadia, why isn't Elise at work today?"

"Elise didn't come to work?"

Nadia looked up from her computer in surprise. She had been so engrossed in her tasks that she hadn't noticed whether Elise had shown up.

"Yeah! It's already this late, and she's still not here! Don't you two live together? Didn't you leave together?" Tyree questioned repeatedly.

Nadia instinctively glanced over at Elise's desk and realized it was indeed empty.

Tyree pointed at the wall clock, complaining, "She's your roommate and your best friend. Call her! I have a ton of work waiting for her to do!"

"Alright, I'll call her," Nadia replied with a helpless smile. She then took out her phone to call Elise.

She dialed several times, but Elise didn't pick up. It was only then that she noticed she had an unread text message from an unknown number.

"Elise, wait for me at home. —158xxxxxxx1."

After reading the text message, Nadia was stunned and replied back.

"Who is this? —139xxxxxxx9."

She waited for a long time but received no response.

Nadia couldn't help but feel puzzled. Who could have sent her this message, and why did they call her "Elise"? Could it have been sent to the wrong number?

These questions briefly crossed Nadia's mind, but she quickly brushed them aside. Her priority now was to finish her design drafts.

It wasn't until late in the afternoon, just before she was about to leave work, that Nadia received a reply from the mysterious sender.

Geraldo, after finishing a tense standoff with some criminals, finally checked his phone and saw the message from "Elise."

His previously tense mood lightened up considerably upon seeing the reply.

Without hesitation, Geraldo replied back.

"Your fiance. —158xxxxxxx1."

Fiance?!

Nadia was bewildered upon reading the message. Elise had a fiance? How could she not know? Could it be someone from Elise's family?

Wanting to clear up the confusion, Nadia kindly replied.

"Hello, you sent the message to the wrong number. I'm not Elise; I'm her best friend.

Elise's phone number is 139xxxxxxxx8, which is different from mine by the last digit. —139xxxxxxx9."

Because Nadia and Elise got their school IDs together, their phone numbers were sequential, differing only by the last digit.

Elise's number ended in "8," while Rachel's ended in "9."

When Geraldo received a text from Nadia Clark, he was momentarily stunned. He instinctively checked the message his assistant, Sloan, had sent him earlier that morning. It was indeed "139xxxxxxx9."

Last night, he had used that girl's phone to call Sloan, whose phone displayed incoming calls. Could Sloan have entered the last digit of the phone number incorrectly?

Just then, another message came from "139xxxxxxx9":

"If you can reach Elise, please tell her to call me back. She hasn't answered her phone and didn't come to work. I'm really worried. —139xxxxxxx9."

"She was picked up by my people. —158xxxxxxx1."

After reading Nadia's message, Geraldo quickly replied. Butler Lee said he had picked her up and settled her in Mountain-view Gardens on the east side of Seaside City.

The fact that Elise had friends worried about her indirectly proved she had a decent social circle, didn't it?

Geraldo held his phone and smiled thoughtfully.

Nadia hadn't had a chance to read the message yet when Elise finally called her back.

"Elise, why didn't you come to work? Are you feeling unwell?" Nadia asked worriedly as she answered the call.

Elise replied coolly, "I'm fine. Please resign for me. I don't want to work there anymore."

"Elise, did something happen?" Nadia asked, her voice tinged with nervousness upon hearing Elise's icy tone.

Elise continued in a cold voice, "I'm fine! I've already gone home. And from now on, let's not contact each other. Don't mention me to anyone, and don't say you know me. In short, Nadia, let's end our friendship."

"Breaking up? Wait, Elise, what's going on?" Nadia felt utterly confused, having no idea what had happened between her and Elise that could lead to Elise suddenly saying she wanted to end their friendship.

"Beep—"

Elise didn't respond to Nadia's question and simply hung up the phone.

Holding her phone and staring at the "Call Ended" screen, Nadia was completely baffled.

What on earth was Elise thinking?

At that moment, their team leader, Tyree, came over and asked, "Nadia, is Elise coming to work tomorrow?"

"I think she probably won't be coming back at all," Nadia replied with a slight shrug.

Tyree walked away, looking disappointed.

Only then did Nadia open the text message she had received earlier.

"She was picked up by someone I sent. —158xxxxxxx1."

It seemed like Elise had really gone home. Could it be that she was secretly getting married?

She even had a fiance!

The thought made Nadia chuckle. Was her best friend really ending their friendship over a wedding? Something just didn't add up.

After a long day at work, Nadia returned to her rented apartment. Elise's room door was wide open. She walked in to find that all of Elise's belongings were still there, but Elise herself was nowhere to be seen.

"Elise? Elise?" Nadia called out a few times. When she got no response, she took out her phone and dialed Elise's number.

The phone rang for a long time before Elise finally picked up.

"Elise, where have you been all day?" Nadia asked, still very worried. After a busy day at work, she had forgotten about the argument they had that morning.

Elise, however, responded irritably, "Didn't I make it clear to you earlier?

Why are you calling me again?"