After Lu Hongwen hung up the phone on Lu Xia, her face turned ghastly pale as she listened to the dial tone. She stood frozen in her place for a long time.

  How could she have the cheek to beg Huo Tingrui like her father asked her to?

  Even if she tried her luck, she would probably get driven out before she could even set her foot inside his office.

  Her father told her to beg her foster parents if she had to, but they had already moved and she did not know where to find them. She reckoned they probably would not answer if she called them on the phone.

  Lu Xia’s eyes turned red and she felt absolutely awful. She went back to class dejectedly when the bell rang at the end of the last period of the morning.

  *

  Meanwhile, in Huo Yanxi’s office in the afternoon.

  “The deputy CEO just passed me the contract for the takeover of North Star News Agency,” said the assistant reverently as he placed a contract on Huo Yanxi’s table.

  Huo Yanxi sat in the chair with one hand leaning against his forehead. His face appeared slightly pale and he looked tired. After some time, he finally put down his hand and opened his eyes to look at the takeover paperwork on his table.

  The assistant asked worriedly. “Mr. Huo, are you okay?”


  Huo Yanxi shook his head and said somewhat hoarsely, “I’m fine.” He slowly picked up the paperwork.

  “I don’t get it. North Star News Agency is just a tiny news agency. Why are we taking over them when we do not have any entertainment news operations?” asked the assistant in confusion.

  Moments later, Huo Yanxi muttered. “Perhaps I can make up for……”


  “Huh?” The assistant could not understand what Huo Yanxi was saying.

  Huo Yanxi waved his hand before he quickly put the contract in his drawer.

  The assistant did not continue probing.

  Instead, he recalled something and said, “Lu Corporation was involved in tax evasion. Also, it is caught up with some legal cases. I recall that your foster sister is from the Lu family. Shall we……”


  Before the assistant could finish his sentence, Huo Yanxi interrupted him. “It is a sheer waste of money to take over unethical businesses like those.”


  The assistant parted his lips for a long time.

  In reality, he was going to ask whether they should help Lu Corporation.

  “I don’t want to hear about Lu Corporation…… or anyone from the Lu family from now on,” said Huo Yanxi expressionlessly.

  Everyone in the Lu family naturally included Lu Xia.

  The assistant finally realized that Huo Yanxi had no intention of helping the Lu family.

  Even though he was puzzled, it was not his place to poke his nose into Huo Yanxi’s private matters, so he simply acknowledged Huo Yanxi and stopped asking.

  Huo Yanxi’s phone rang as it sat on the table in front of him.

  He glanced at it mildly before he frowned slightly and did not answer.

  The assistant looked at Huo Yanxi cautiously. He could keenly sense Huo Yanxi getting annoyed by the phone call, so he cringed before quickly taking his leave. He disappeared quietly from Huo Yanxi’s office.

  The atmosphere in the company had been rather tense of late, so he was worried about infuriating Huo Yanxi.

  Since it was lunchtime, the assistant headed to the lift and swiped his card before he took the lift downstairs.

  Huo Yanxi’s phone rang a few times in a row, but he continued leaning into his chair motionlessly with both hands on the armrest. He seemed to be in a daze.

  After some time, the caller finally gave up and his phone stopped ringing. Moments later, the landline on his desk rang.

  This time, it was from the ground floor reception.