Yun Sui Bo took the papers into his hand and read deeply.

  "She laid out her trap so well. She waited for half a year, collecting evidence and plotting our downfall. She looked into everything the company was doing and…"

  Fast attack was the weapon of her choice. It had forced all the pawns in her game to react without the time to think over their plan. With no time to think, they had all made errors of judgment. Qian Meng had expertly maneuvered two tactics in one plot. She had waited and baited for the right opportunity and then proceeded at lightning speed when the opportunity came. She displayed that the only way to win was to make the enemy respond on her terms.

  He couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of pride at how she had grown up.

  But then she remembered her saying that he had taken no part in her growth. He sighed.

  "I will try to get you out of this. I need time. I need time." He repeated. He slid back into his bed. For the two days, he stayed in his hospital room, pretending to be sick.

  Not a single idea he had in his mind would work. Qian Meng had blocked every path he wanted to take.

  On the third day in the hospital, Yun Sui Bo was stunned and downright scared when the door to his room opened and he saw a grim Mo Qingchen enter his room.

  The man sat down beside him and looked over his body curiously. "Qian Meng forgot to tell me that you were sick," he said calmly. Of course, he had known. "As your son-in-law, I should have come earlier."

  "Why are you here?"

  Mo Qingchen looked calm but an aura of danger surrounded him. "To see how you were doing. Qian Meng doesn't enjoy watching others in misery, but I enjoy it immensely. I wanted to see you crushed in the hands of your daughter."

  There was happiness in his eyes that Mr. Yun had not expected to see.

  "You didn't take my permission to marry her. You haven't done your duty as my son-in-law either. Do you dare to claim that you are it?" Yun Sui Bo asked. It was his last attempt to look strong in front of Mo Qingchen.

  Qingchen scoffed. "Do you remember my warning? I clearly told you that you would meet a bad end if you messed with Qian Meng, but you were plotting against her all this time."

  "There was no plot. My right—"

  "I don't care about your chauvinistic point of view, Yun Sui Bo. I have tried my best to hold back and let Qian Meng handle the situation herself." He paused. "She is a capable young woman who has crawled up from the hell of insecurity and uncertainty to where she is today. No thanks to you. And she is still kind enough to let you live a peaceful life."

  "Peaceful?"

  Mo Qingchen raised his brow. "Don't think for a moment that you would have been at peace in this hospital room if not for Qian Meng. She is kind. But I am not." Mo Qingchen finally stood up. "This is your final warning. Remain in this hospital room and be sick until you are ousted from the board of directors. And don't try to contact Qian Meng every again."

  Mo Qingchen slung his jacket over his hand and sauntered out.

  Yun Sui Bo sank into the bed in disbelief. Did he just get threatened again? He had lost all control. The lawyers couldn't do a single thing about the sold shared and the power of attorney actions.

  The media was no longer talking about Yun Sui Bo being in the hospital and the protest in the company continued.

  Slowly, his phone had stopped ringing. No one asked him how he was. And he knew exactly what that meant. The calls were now going to Qian Meng and her people. All the shareholders were on her side and he was going to be thrown out.

  He had received notice that he would be removed from his position as the President at the next board meeting. And after Mo Qingchen's warning, he knew well enough that he couldn't step out of the room to attend it.

  He took out his phone and texted Qian Meng one last thing.

  [Yun Qian Meng, please allow me a leeway.]

  The response didn't come.

  Back at Mo Qingchen and Qian Meng's house, Qingchen entered to find Qian Meng shimmying and singing in the kitchen as she cooked.

  The song was peppy and she was in the bare minimum of clothes as she cooked. The apron acted as a protective barrier from her mostly exposed body.

  "What are you cooking?" he asked as he slid his hand around her waist and kissed her neck affectionately.

  She hummed and continued to shimmy, grinding against him insistently.

  He growled and bit her neck softly, making her chuckle.

  "I am trying out a new recipe," she said happily. "So far, I haven't made the kitchen explode," she proclaimed proudly.

  "It is still early," Mo Qingchen teased.

  She huffed and dodged his lips. "I am really happy today," she said. There was a hint of pride in her voice.

  "What about?" Mo Qingchen asked. His eyes were fixed on the food being cooked and he knew that Qian Meng would continue to cook hideous looking food unless his mother was assisting her.

  And he had come to enjoy it immensely.

  "Yun Sui Bo texted me!" she exclaimed. Qingchen stiffened. A jolt of anger raced through him until he remembered that his wife was happy.

  "What did he say?"

  "He grovelled. He pleaded that I spare him," she giggled. "I… I didn't know I needed this. All my life, I ran after his praises but this… this was the thing that made me happy."

  Then, she sighed. "To be honest, I feel like I wasted my time running behind his praises. He is begging me now and I feel like the man I looked up to was just a fake." She shook her head, suddenly her happiness diminishing.