The Alchemists

Caspar's cellphone beeped and the name Stanis appeared on his screen. He immediately picked up the phone.

Wow... that was fast, thought Finland. It's only been 15 minutes.

"It's all done? Alright. You take care of everything needed for the transfer process and find a new Marketing Manager."

He put down his cellphone and smiled at Finland.

"What happened?" Finland asked.

"Meet the new Atlas Corp owner," Caspar reached out and shook Finland's hand gently. He was in good mood. "Tomorrow Atlas Corp will sign a cooperation contract with LTX, you don't have to worry."

"Oh really?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"No." Finland shook her head. She then smiled a little and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Thank you."

"I did this for myself," Caspar grasped Finland's hand and squeezed it softly, "If anyone hurt you, it means they hurt me. I am only protecting myself."

Caspar signaled to the waiter and said something. The waiter nodded and walked to Noah and his friends' table.

"What are you doing?" Finland asked.

"I will fire the man right before your eyes, so he knows why he lost his job, and learns to respect women next time."

Noah, Jonathan, and William came to their table with questioning looks. Earlier, the waiter said that they were summoned to Caspar's table because there was an important matter to discuss.

They did not know the man at the table, so they thought it was Finland who called them. Their faces seemed unhappy because they thought Finland was being rude by calling them to her table like this.

"What's wrong, Finland? The waiter said we should come to this table?" Noah asked, snorting, "If you have something to say, then you should come to us."

Caspar cleared his throat and cut off Noah's words.

"What is your name?" he asked,

Noah turned to Caspar and frowned, "I'm Noah Janssen. Who wants to know?"

"Are you Atlas Corp's Marketing Manager?" Caspar asked again.

"I am." Noah looked at Caspar and Finland in turn. "What's with all this?"

"I am the new owner of Atlas Corp, and I don't like the way you treated Finland." Caspar stared sharply at Noah. "You have to learn to respect women. As a business owner, I don't like to see my employees sexually harass women, especially by threatening to cancel contracts to force clients to comply with your demands."

Noah and his two friends were shocked to hear that. They looked at each other. A moment later Noah shook his head and laughed contemptuously.

"I did nothing to her. Don't believe this woman's rubbish talk." He shrugged, "Besides you're not the owner of Atlas Corp. I know my boss. Don't talk carelessly..."

Caspar didn't care about Noah. He pointed to Jonathan and told him to come closer.

"Who are you? Assistant to Marketing Manager?"

Jonathan nodded. "Yes."

"Tomorrow, on behalf of the Marketing Manager, you will sign a cooperation contract with LTX because Noah is fired. Until Stanis appoints a new marketing manager, you have to take care of all his work."

Jonathan was amazed. He did not know what to answer. He and William exchanged glances. It seemed crazy, because they knew that the owner of Atlas Corp, their boss, was a technology-savvy middle-aged entrepreneur named Sam Atlas.

He would never sell his company. But this young man in front of them seemed very serious.

Noah burst out laughing.

"Very funny..." he said in a mocking tone.

William Chan, the Director of Engineering, frowned and called the office in Seattle. His voice sounded rather shocked when he heard the answer from the other end. He then handed his cellphone to Noah.

"This is Boss Sam..." He said softly.

Noah accepted the cellphone with a frown. "Hello, Boss..."

His face immediately turned pale. He then looked at Caspar, fear clearly visible in his eyes. William's cellphone fell from his hand.

"You... you..." He shook his head in disbelief, "Who are you?!"

Caspar gave a sign and the waiter returned to fill his glass with champagne.

"I told you, I am the new owner of Atlas Corp, and you are fired. Tomorrow you will fly straight to Seattle. There's no need for you to go back to the office. Severance pay and dismissal letters will be taken care of by HR."

He then signaled for the three men to go away. William and Jonathan bowed before pulling Noah away. They had to drag him because Noah was frozen in his place like a statue. He didn't expect this to happen...

Finland witnessed what happened and stared at Caspar with eyes full of gratitude. Noah's actions hurt her greatly, and Caspar made her feel safe, protected, and defended...

She slowly felt the defensive wall around her heart collapse...

"Thank you..." She whispered.

Caspar smiled mischievously, "Are you grateful enough to give me a kiss?"

Finland smiled back and nodded.

"Yeah..." The girl hurriedly added, "but not here. This is a public place and too many people are watching…"

Caspar smiled even wider. Earlier Finland didn't mind kissing him quickly in front of many people when he translated the menu into English.

If now Finland didn't want to kiss him in front of other people... It could only mean that this girl would give him a special kiss, not just a quick kiss like before.

The thought made him very happy and impatient. He quickly finished his champagne.