When it comes to arguing, Claire Xu really has quite the sharp tongue—she could shut someone down before they even find their words.
“You...” Xiao Pei faltered, momentarily speechless. Then, with a haughty tilt of her chin, she changed tack. “Do you know who the man eating with me just now was? He’s the chairman of Feican International.”
She looked utterly smug, almost wishing she could shout her relationship with Zhu Xun to the world, as if she saw nothing shameful in it.
“And who he is, what’s it got to do with us?”
Anyone with eyes could see she just wanted to parade her new status in front of them, yet the two girls didn’t care in the slightest.
Xiao Pei and Lauren Shaw had always had a strained relationship—ever since she learned Lauren Shaw had married the third son of the Shen family in Ancheng, Xiao Pei’s jealousy had grown harder and harder to mask.
Then, by chance, she met Zhu Xun, CEO of Feican International. Sure, he was much older than her, but she didn’t care—money, power, and status were all that mattered.
Her plan today had been to show off in front of Lauren Shaw and put her down, but to her disappointment, Lauren Shaw simply didn’t take the bait.
This woman must be crazy, they thought. Zhu Xun is a married man!
Both Lauren Shaw and Claire Xu twitched at the corners of their mouths, momentarily speechless.
Yet Xiao Pei misread their silence as envy. She chuckled softly. “He said he’ll divorce his wife and marry me. Soon I’ll be Mrs. Zhu, fair and square.”
She actually boasted about something like this—clearly clueless about the situation in the Zhu family. What a fool.
Lauren Shaw couldn’t help but warn her, “Do you seriously believe he’ll divorce and marry you?”
The question made Xiao Pei’s face darken and her voice rise.
“Of course! I’m carrying Zhu Xun’s own flesh and blood...”
Claire Xu interrupted impatiently, “Whether he marries you or not has nothing to do with us. Your pregnancy isn’t our business. We’re eating. Don’t ruin our appetites.”
Claire Xu and Lauren Shaw lowered their heads and kept eating, treating her as if she didn’t exist.
Seeing she was getting nowhere, Xiao Pei snatched up her bag in a huff and stormed off.
“Unbelievable. I really hate admitting I even know her,” Claire Xu grumbled. This woman had serious issues.
Lauren Shaw sipped her juice and nodded in agreement. “She probably doesn’t realize the Zhu family is a cesspool—looks glamorous on the surface, but just wait. If Zhu Yurou and her mother catch wind she’s pregnant, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Even if we tried to warn her, she’d just think we can’t stand to see her do well.”
True enough—Xiao Pei’s greed would catch up with her sooner or later.
“Respecting others’ choices—that’s fate and consequence. She’ll have to walk her own path.”
—
Wanrui Group President’s office.
Xue Qiang sat hunched over a pile of documents, so anxious he was scratching his head, but every possible solution had already failed him. On the other side of the desk, Mandy Snow gazed blankly out the window.
“Mandy, what should we do now? Are we just going to sit by and watch the company go bankrupt? Think of something!”
Mandy Snow shot him an impatient look, her tone thick with annoyance. “Do you think I’m not trying? If you’re so capable, why don’t you come up with something?”
After being snapped at, Xue Qiang’s tone softened. “I just can’t think of anything else. What if you go ask the Shen family—beg them to help us...”
“Second Brother, are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what our relationship with the Shen family is like now? You want me to go beg them?”
“Dad and Big Brother have already paid the price for their mistakes. Why should we be held accountable for what they did? Besides, you’ve worked alongside Nathan Shaw for years—if nothing else, he ought to remember that.”
“Don’t bring this up again. Over my dead body will I ever beg the Shen family.” Mandy Snow grabbed her bag and left without a backward glance.
As she stepped out of the company, she dialed an unfamiliar number.
The other end picked up quickly. Her tone was icy: “Do you have a moment? Let’s meet.”
She could vaguely hear a woman’s playful laughter on the other side. Bitterly stifling her disgust, she resisted the urge to hang up.
Moments later, Mo Fan’s voice sounded, slightly breathless. “What is it?”
“I’ll say it in person.”
Mo Fan named a hotel. Mandy Snow hung up and headed straight there.
Inside the hotel’s presidential suite, Mo Fan pushed the woman on top of him aside. She clung to him unwillingly. “President Mo, I’m not done yet...”
“Be good—put your clothes on and go.” His tone was emotionless, all business.
She tried to protest, but his face darkened. Meekly, she gathered her clothes from the floor and left.
Twenty minutes later, Mandy Snow rang the doorbell.
Mo Fan opened the door, an unreadable smile playing on his lips. “Miss Xue, please come in.”
Mandy Snow stepped inside. The room was still thick with the scent of passion—even a fool could guess what had gone on during their phone call.
Mo Fan closed the door and walked over slowly.
Mandy Snow reflexively kept her distance.
“I’m here today because I need your help.”
Mo Fan took his time fetching a bottle of red wine from the fridge, pouring it into a tall glass.
“It’s a habit of mine—to have a little wine before talking business. Makes things go smoother.”
He handed her the glass, raising a brow—the message was clear: if you want to talk business, you’ll have to drink, and you’d better drink in a way that pleases me.
Forcing down her humiliation, Mandy Snow took the glass and downed it in one go.
Mo Fan chuckled. “Just like old times—your drinking’s as good as ever, Miss Xue.”
“Don’t talk about the past.” Mandy Snow’s voice was cold as ice.
Mo Fan wasn’t offended. He reached out and grabbed her hand. She tried to pull away, but his grip tightened.
“Mandy, you know as long as you ask, I’ll help. I only want one thing: to see my daughter, just once.”
Mandy Snow sneered. “President Mo, you must be joking. You’ve already got two kids—why bother about this daughter?”
“It’s different. She’s our child.”
Sensing his grip growing ever tighter, she stood abruptly, yanking her hand free. Her voice rose sharply. “Enough of the past, President Mo. The thing I regret most is ever meeting you—being with you was my biggest mistake.”
Mo Fan dropped the mask and laughed coldly, leaning back and crossing his legs, his tone taunting: “So what? The Snow family has no one but me left to count on, and you’re here today because you need my help, aren’t you?”
He knew exactly what Mandy Snow wanted. Their personalities were so similar—both ambitious. That’s why, even with all the women he’d had, he’d never forgotten her.
Mandy Snow fixed him with a dark stare. “Since you know why I’m here, I’ll be blunt. You know what kind of trouble the Snow family’s in. If we go under, that won’t do your Mo family any favors either.”