178 Keren's Hope

A small amount of $10 million?!

As Liz heard this, she couldn't help but gape.

Oh, yes. These were people whose casual hobbies included going into the sea with their own personal submarine.

"Liz, tell her it's crazy! And that I would never accept such a deal!"

Seeing that his best friend had descended the stairs, Luke got up and quickly walked to Liz before standing beside her and saying this.

Meanwhile, Keren sighed and spoke with a patient tone.

"Liz, I spoke to Will. He plans to make you a Director of Operations, and this will be your first operation. I have about $50 million lying around that needs to be invested in some venture or the other. When I was considering the options, I got the idea that it would be best for that money to benefit someone I know. It's not favoritism, and I won't even be giving you the money directly. You would have to earn it all through performance, and then, it would truly be yours. For this project, the software and technology will be implemented by Happle, and that's where you come in. Anyway, this is the dossier containing a few plans I made after spending the whole day yesterday. I hope you two at least look them over before coming to a decision. I'll go now; I have a meeting in 15."

Keren wasn't speaking like her usual self: typically, she would always spice up whatever she was saying with her own unique quirks.

Noticing this, Liz also observed that there were dark circles under Keren's eyes, and she even appeared haggard.

Also, after a moment, Liz noticed something else.

Keren had already nodded at them and gotten up to leave without letting them say anything, but she paused when she heard Liz ask a question.

"Weren't you wearing those clothes yesterday, too? Were you up all night finishing those plans?"

As her back was turned to them, they didn't notice that she had gotten an expression as if she had been caught red-handed in something.

Shrugging and turning around, she just said, "What can I say? I was really passionate about this- enough that I didn't care for the silent curses of 50 other employees, too. Call me when you make a decision. I have quite a few meeting to attend that I put off yesterday."

Leaving these words, Keren exited the door and got on to the waiting car.

As she drove away, Liz sighed.

She had to admit one thing: when this woman was motivated, she would stop at nothing to accomplish what she wanted.

She was clearly very invested in this project, and must be hoping that they would accept.

However, Liz knew Luke. He was someone who hated to take hand-me-downs.

Almost everything he had now-he had earned through his own hard work, and he hated depending on someone else for anything, except if it was Liz.

So, she wasn't very hopeful that Keren's wish would come true.

Besides, why was Keren wishing for this anyway? Why did she want to work with them so badly?

After pondering over these questions, Liz got back to the fact that had just been revealed.

She was going to become a…Director of Operations?!

That was usually a post that was reserved for those who had spent a decade or so in the company, and thus had a very solid knowledge of how the company operated.

However, she, who hadn't even been at Happle for a month, was going to get it?

Just like Luke, even she was someone who hated to have things handed to her for free.

Yet, this was different.

She knew that she had helped the company in a major way by tackling the case of Sam Raimi. By doing that, she had also shown her true capabilities.

Hence, she believed full well that she deserved to get that post.

Only, this wasn't the time to rejoice about this.

As soon as Keren's car drove away, Luke turned to Liz and threw his hands in the air, exclaiming, "Can you believe her?! Why the hell would I want to take her money?!"

At this moment, Liz realized that they had to be objective.

Seeing Liz hesitate to answer, Luke couldn't believe it.

Pursing his lips, he said, "Don't tell me you're actually considering it? Liz-"

Unable to resist anymore, Liz reached forward with her hand in a flash and pinched Luke's waist.

"Oi, shut up! I know exactly how you feel! But I think we should at least see what she prepared!"

Saying so, she caught Luke's ear in a practiced motion, just like how she had seen Mama Dorota do it.

For this new trick up her sleeve, she really had to thank Mama Dorota, as it seemed incredibly effective.

Cocking his head and wincing, Luke had no option but to follow.

The only reason Liz was doing this was that Luke was a bull-headed person who sometimes wouldn't listen to reason unless it hit him on his head.

That was what she was going to do now. Keren had worked so hard to draw these plans up, so they at least deserved to be studied by them, before they made any decision.

"Ready to read what she made after sitting up a whole night? Doesn't your girlfriend at least deserve that? What, you're still shy because of that?"

Indeed, Luke had blushed at the mention of his 'girlfriend', but of course, it had been because of the truth that he was hiding.

As he nodded painfully, Liz let go of his ear, making him scowl and massage it.

Opening the dossier, both of them did a double take as they came upon an image that had been made using graphics.

It was an old-school diner, with sloping walls that was very reminiscent of the '60s.

The logo was the thing that had shocked them.

On one end, there was Luke wearing an apron and holding a dish aloft, and the word written beside that image in a large font was: "Luke's".