The Alchemists

Caspar introduced Finland to his directors at the two special tables reserved for the directors. They immediately stood up with their respective dates and greeted them respectfully.

"Let me introduce you to my wife. You can call her Mrs. Schneider," Caspar said casually, not paying attention to the shocked faces of the directors. Even if he mentioned Finland's name, he was sure that the members of his top management would not notice that a girl named Finland started working in their company recently, but for privacy, he chose not to give his wife's name.

"Good evening, nice to meet you all..." Finland greeted everyone at both tables. She was surprised when she saw Stanis Van Der Ven present among the directors. "Eh... Stanis, I didn't know you would be here... I thought you are in Barcelona."

Stanis smiled happily and shook his head, "I always come to the annual party at the office here. This year I also brought my son who started running the head office in Berlin. This is Kurt."

"Ah, nice to meet you, Kurt." Finland remembered that Van Der Ven's family had worked for the Schneider family for generations, so it was to no one's surprise that Stanis had now begun to mentor his son to replace him later to take care of the Schneider family affairs. Stanis and his family were part of a few commoners who knew the secrets of the Schneider family.

Kurt Van Der Ven looked very much like his father, but his face was not as serious as Stanis. He was in his late 30s and looked very confident. He shook Finland's hand excitedly.

When the directors saw that Finland was already familiar with Stanis, they understood immediately that Caspar was not joking when he said that the woman next to him was his wife, and from the looks of it, they have become a couple for longer than they expected. They remember that Heinrich Schneider was indeed very protective of his privacy, so it was not surprising that he married secretly and avoided public scrutiny.

The MC appeared on stage and greeted the top management at the two front tables. The guests applauded many times when one by one the directors were greeted and they stood waving.

Finally, of course, the big boss himself. When the MC announced the presence of Heinrich Schneider, Caspar stood up and invited Finland to rise with him, then waved to the employees who kept clapping and cheering.

Finland felt proud because it seemed like the employees were fond of their boss. Bosses who were not well-liked would not receive such a warm and festive reception.

The MC then took a large glass bowl which contained raffle tickets and asked Caspar and several directors to take raffles from the inside and read out the number written on the papers. Guests who have received a ticket number during registration at the ballroom reception desk could check their tickets to see whether or not they were lucky that night.

The prizes given were truly extraordinary. A new laptop, a 2-week vacation to Bali with the whole family, $ 1,000 in cash, and many other prizes. The most eagerly awaited prize was a Tesla electric car.

When Finland heard the door prizes for the raffles that the MC read, she could only swallow hard.

"Gosh... why didn't I get a ticket from the receptionist earlier?" she complained.

Caspar laughed at her, "Which prize do you want? I'll buy it for you."

Finland blushed. She lived a tough life for such a long time and was used to work very hard to make ends meet, she was still mentally drawn to free things and saving money.

She almost forgot that with Caspar by her side, whatever she wanted in this world could now be easily obtained.

"Sorry... hahahaha, old habits are hard to break," Finland answered with a chuckle.

Caspar just ruffled her hair and smiled broadly. He still remembered Finland being very frugal and she even 'tricked' him into eating at the cheapest Michelin restaurant in the world. When he remembered that, he could only shake his head.

Finally, it was time to draw for the grand prize. The MC invited Caspar onto the stage to pick a raffle from the bowl. The ballroom instantly became quiet. Everyone was paying attention to which number was chosen and who would be the lucky guest to bring a Tesla car home tonight.

Caspar opened the paper in his hand and then read the numbers, "It is 2-4-7."

Voices started muttering in the whole dining area as people looked over each other's tickets and, five seconds later, there was a happy cry from the back of the room. A young woman with glasses excitedly ran fast toward the stage and brandished her ticket.

"Oh my God, oh my God... that's my ticket number...!!!"

Everyone applauded and congratulated this employee who looked like she was dreaming and had to keep pinching herself to make sure she was not sleeping. With a gasping breath she greeted Caspar and the MC and then showed her ticket.

The MC checked the numbers on the ticket and immediately confirmed the employee's luck and announced the winner of the Tesla car that night.

"Wow... that's great... You're really lucky. Please introduce your name and what department you're from..." The MC then gave the mic to the woman.

"Hello, my name is Patricia Brennan and I'm from the Finance Department. Thank you, Sir... for this amazing gift... I am very happy to work for the Schneider Group..." Patricia looked very moved for winning the car prize. Caspar smiled at her and nodded.

After all the door prizes were distributed, it was time for them to watch a special music performance by Billie Yves, who would perform four songs. Thereafter the directors would give a speech, followed by the closing performance from Billie with three more songs. That would mark the end of the party.