Chapter 127. Birthday coming
[Because you helped Ellaine so quickly, you’ve prevented the worst possible outcome from happening to her]
[As a result, you’ve earned 20 additional system points!]
[You’ve successfully advanced to the next level!]
[Here is your current status]
[Name: Riki Khaizer]
[Age: 21]
[Level: Diamond]
[Nickname: wealthy young entrepreneur]
[Points: 450]
[Intelligence: 80/100]
[Charm: 88/100]
[Influence: 87/100]
[Reputation: 85/100]
[Strength: 89/100]
[Since you’ve reached the Diamond level, you’ll receive a reward of 200% cashback for an entire month on anything you buy or pay for]
[To reach the next level, you must earn +550 system points]
[Good luck!]
Riki smiled with satisfaction as he realized he had suddenly leveled up. It certainly wouldn’t be easy to earn additional system points right now.
The system itself is very random when it comes to awarding these points. Sometimes, even when the missions he completed were extremely difficult, Riki would receive very few system points—or none at all.
To earn a lot of points, Riki usually had to take the initiative to do something on his own, though even that was still random.
After a few months had passed, Riki finally leveled up again, and this time the cashback would be a huge help—even if it was only 200 percent. He was planning to seriously launch a new business with Zeno and Kaivan.
At that moment, Riki was just sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view of the Thousand Waterfalls. Next to him was Ella, who had just finished work and was now chattering nonstop about everything that had been happening to her since Liz’s death.
Ella said she was deeply saddened, even though she had previously considered Liz her toughest rival. Ella herself was in shock and had even shut herself away because her mental state had plummeted after hearing the news of Liz’s death.
Well, it’s no wonder, since almost everyone who knew Liz was in severe shock. Especially Kaivan and his family.
Although Kaivan seems fine now, Riki knows that Kaivan is far sadder than he is. Because Kaivan had been with Liz since before he was even born. Kaivan himself also knew best how Liz truly felt, and at first couldn’t believe the strong evidence suggesting that Liz had tried to kill Angeline.
Even so, it turned out that Kaivan was the first to recover from his grief. Unlike Riki, who needed more time.
Ella also said that she’s getting busier and busier, with many modeling and advertising offers coming in. Offers to become a brand ambassador are also pouring in, and Ella’s team is very strict about screening them all.
Just like Riki, Ella used this opportunity to immerse herself in her busy schedule so she could forget about Liz and move on.
"You know I’m homeschooled too, so I’m really busy, but I really love being this busy, hehe... by the way, what are you doing here with Kaivan and Zeno? Are you guys just on a regular vacation, or is there business involved?" Ella asked, sipping her young coconut juice.
Zeno had bought almost all the young coconuts in the area for Ella. Only a few were opened and shared with the staff and people nearby. Riki asked that the rest be taken to Kaivan’s villa.
From that, Ella realized that Riki and Zeno were staying at Kaivan’s place.
"It started as a vacation, but all of a sudden I got the idea to start a business here... what kind of business do you think would work here?" Riki asked.
Ella let out a weary sigh, then said in an annoyed tone, "Come on, Riki! We haven’t seen each other in a long time because we’ve both been so busy, and now you’re asking about business? This is so annoying. Let’s just talk about something else... or is it that all you can think about is business?"
Riki burst out laughing at Ella’s remark, because, sadly, her accusation was true.
Right now, Riki’s mind was filled with nothing but business. The same went for Zeno and Kaivan. That’s why the three young men were such a perfect match for one another.
"Am I boring?" Riki asked, since Ella seemed to get even more annoyed when he laughed.
Ella shook her head in response to Riki’s question. "Well, not really... I like you—your face, your body and build, the way you talk, your wealth... I like everything about you."
Riki laughed again upon hearing the phrase "your wealth" that Ella had just said.
"Would you get mad if I said something like that? What if your wealth is my type?" asked Ella, making Riki laugh even harder, until Ella joined in with him.
After Riki stopped laughing, he tried to speak more seriously, even though he still wanted to laugh.
Maybe Riki just laughed too easily, or maybe it was because Ella’s words and expressions were so funny.
But to Riki, the innocent, sinless expression on the girl’s face looked funny.
"To be honest, I don’t mind at all... I do have a lot of money, and if you asked me for money for this month—no matter how much it is—I think I’d actually be happy," said Riki.
Ella furrowed her brow. "Oh, really? You really like spending money, don’t you? What a coincidence—tomorrow is my birthday, and I’ll be turning 16! I might be able to get my driver’s license soon, so I want a nice car... it has to be pink!"
"Tomorrow?" Riki asked, confused.
"Oh, not tomorrow—I misspoke. I meant in two days. There won’t be a party because I don’t really like celebrating. But I want a gift from you," Ella said.
Riki looked at the girl’s face; she was staring off into the distance, a beautiful, measured smile on her pretty face.
"That’s very unusual, because most girls like you love to celebrate their birthdays."
Ella chuckled softly, then met Riki’s gaze; her smile suddenly turned wistful.
"Something bad has happened on every one of my birthdays. It’s not because my friends don’t want to celebrate or because I don’t have friends to celebrate with... but rather because my family doesn’t have time for it. The last time I had a birthday celebration like that was when I was about five years old. After that, my parents were too busy for it, but I got used to it. Now, I don’t really have a good reason to celebrate anymore, because I don’t think it’s that important. Besides, I’m here on vacation, and I’m just vacationing with my new manager—the one you picked out for me. She didn’t come here with me because I asked her to take care of something right now."
"Hmm, okay, so you want a car, right? And it definitely has to be pink?"
Ella nodded enthusiastically, "Yup! Pink and black would be so pretty... I like that color—don’t get me the wrong Shade, I like soft, pastel pink... like this purse of mine."
The girl held up her pale pink purse.
Riki thought, pink is just pink, but it turns out girls categorize those shades into even more complicated distinctions.
No wonder Sofie once got mad at Riki for getting the shade of green wrong.
"What about flowers? What kind of flowers do you like, Ella?" Riki asked suddenly.
Ella smiled brightly again upon hearing this, "As for flowers, I like all of them... but my favorites are lilies, tulips, and roses. Oh! I also like orchids! They’re so unique."
Meanwhile, far behind Riki and Ella—who were sitting quietly, gazing at the scenery—were Zeno and Kaivan, happily sipping their young coconut ice.
Both of them stared at Riki in disbelief.
"Turns out Riki can laugh nonstop with Ella," Kaivan remarked.
"I don’t think Ella is that funny, but every time she changes her expression, Riki always laughs. Is it just us who feel that way?" Zeno replied.
Kaivan didn’t answer because he suddenly received a call from the villa manager.
"What? Yeah, I know her... Ella’s with me right now—what? Her manager is coming? Ella wants to stay the night too? Dad given her permission?"
Zeno just laughed as he watched Kaivan glare while answering the phone, his voice slightly raised.
Ella, sensing they were talking about her, turned around and laughed happily at Kaivan’s confusion.
Kaivan’s family and Ellaine’s family still believed they could set Kaivan and Ella up.
Kaivan cursed under his breath and simply resigned himself to it after learning that Ella would be staying at his family’s villa.