While waiting for her appointment date with Doctor Lee, Xiu Mei resumed her daily activities. She gave a brief report to Lu Chen in regards to what he missed last week and some other important stuff.

  For the rumors going around in the company, she contemplated whether to clean it up now or should she just ignore it. She even considered showing Lu Chen’s net worth that was from an article late last year. With that amount of assets, do they still dare to think that he got seduced by her money?

  "……and they’re going to have a big sale at the end of this month! Ms.Xiu, should we go take a look?"

  She was currently in the pantry with her assistant to take a short break. The two indulged in some girl talk about fashion and gossip news.

  "Didn’t you go to an intense shopping spree three months ago? And now you want to shop again?"

  "But it’s a sale!"

  "Don’t your boyfriend ever scold you for overspending like this?"

  "He does sometimes. And Ms. Xiu, I don’t overspend ah!"

  "Heh, says the person who came to me running months ago because she almost emptied her money in the bank account because she shopped too much."

  "Hey! That only happened once!"

  "And the year before that."

  "……Okay, twice. But that won’t happen anymore!"

  "That’s what you said last year too."

  "I have a financial advisor this time!"

  "Looks like she’s not doing a good job then."

  "……I hate you ah."

  "Then should I give you more work?"

  Her assistant’s tone immediately changed as she tried to flatter her. "Ms.Xiu, I admire you so much! Can you please give me your autograph?"

  Xiu Mei cringed at the look she was giving her and looked away.

  "……Go away."

  "Don’t give me more workload ah. I think I’m going to die from overwork."

  "I was just kidding."

  "It’s a scary joke."

  "Oh."

  "Ah! I almost forgot. It seems like you have a parcel ah though it was misplaced and was put on my table."

  "A parcel? Did I ask you to order for me or something?" She said while scrunching her brows.

  Her assistant shrugged. "Nothing. Maybe it’s for the material testing? We usually receive a lot of test materials."

  "Oh, then leave it on my table."

  "Copy that."

  After their break, she went down for a quick meeting with the finance department. The meeting took a little longer than expected so it was already lunch when they finished.

  She was waiting for the elevator when somebody called her name.

  "Ms.Xiu, perfect timing!" It was Albert. This time though, he was with other people.

  Xiu Mei blinked. Albert stopped before her.

  "Do you wanna go out with us for lunch?"

  "Huh?"

  He pointed at the people behind him and replied, "My team and I are going out for a celebratory lunch today.���


  Her eyes shifted from his team and to him. "Did something good happen today?"

  "Of course! It’s good news that you’ll like!"

  "?"

  "We got the bid."

  Xiu Mei immediately understood what he was trying to say. It was that negotiation bid that she was talking about with Lu Shao a week ago.

  "Really? That’s great! Congratulations!!" She exclaimed. She was very thrilled after hearing that news. After all, it was one of the important bids for the project that they’ll be working on.

  "Great job, guys!" She praised them.

  "So Ms.Xiu, do you wanna come with us?" Albert insisted but Xiu Mei turned him down once again.

  "I’m fine. Just go and celebrate with your team for this win." She politely replied. Besides, it’s his team’s win so it would be rude for her to suddenly butt in.

  After sending them off, Xiu Mei returned to the president’s floor. While putting back the files on her table, she saw a box sitting on top of it.

  She curiously touched the box. Is this the parcel her assistant was talking about?

  She reached out to open it but before she could lift the lid, her telephone rang. She looked at the blinking light on it realizing that it was Lu Chen who was calling her.

  She smiled. It seems like he was still waiting for her to eat lunch ah.

  She picked up the box and strode towards his office. Inside, she already saw the food reheated and served on the table. Looking at the yummy foods, her stomach growled in hunger so she excitedly sat on the sofa opposite him.

  "Did your meeting take too long?" Lu Chen asked, handing over a pair of chopsticks to her. Xiu Mei accepted it while nodding.

  "Yep, we had to look over a lot of things so it took longer. Did you wait long?"

  "Not really, I just finished what I was doing too."

  Xiu Mei turned at his table and saw the stacked folders. Well, he did miss a week of work, and even if she did a lot of his workload, there are stuff that he should be the one to look over ah.

  "Looks like you have to bring home a lot of work later ah. Do you want me to send your dinner to your study?" She offered.

  "I’ll eat at the table with you."

  "But you’re pretty busy ah."

  "But you’re my family."

  Xiu Mei paused. A smile suddenly bloomed in her face as she was filled with warmth.

  "Yes, we’re family."

  She also saw Lu Chen’s expression softened. Right, he was orphaned like Lu Qiang. Aside from his uncle and aunt, he only has Lu Qiang as his family.

  The two of them spent their lunch talking about random things that’s not work-related. Lu Chen was busily packing up the lunchboxes while Xiu Mei cleaned the table with a wet wipe. After throwing it away, she sat back on the couch, almost squishing the box when she almost sat on it.

  Ah, she forgot about the parcel ah!

  Xiu Mei looked back at Lu Chen who was putting back the lunchboxes on the table.

  If this is some new material, might as well get his opinion about it ah.

  Xiu Mei set the box down on the table and finally lifted off the cover. As soon as she saw what was in the box, her brows scrunched up in confusion.

  She looked at the single rose that sat inside the box. She looked at Lu Chen and wondered. Did Lu Chen give her this?

  But he’s the type to send her the gift personally ah.

  Xiu Mei picked up the rose and looked at the petals with interest.

  The color of the petals is unique ah. It’s a mix of red and white. This was the first time she ever saw a two-toned rose in all her life since she wasn’t that interested in flowers. It must’ve been really difficult to procure this.

  Is this a new material that they’re proposing? If so, then isn’t it going to be expensive? Are they proposing to use this as a decoration for the next clothing line?

  After scrutinizing the rose, she saw a card inside the box as well. She casually picked it up and flipped it. She unconsciously read the message out loud, enough for Lu Chen to hear.

  "A bloodstained rose of the first victim I killed as my second gift to you. Hopefully, you’ll like it."……

  a what?!

  Xiu Mei reflexively released the card and rose she was holding and dropped it on the ground.

  "Chen!" She unconsciously cried out. She looked in shock at the rose she dropped on the ground.

  What the hell did she just read ah?!

  Lu Chen immediately flew to her side after hearing her read the message. He quickly pulled Xiu Mei away from the rose lying on the ground and kept her behind him.

  "Are you okay?"

  He noticed that she was trembling a little bit when he held her hand to pull her.

  "I think I’m fine but that…… what is that?"

  Lu Chen looked at the rose again and his face grew dim. How did this package get past through the inspection? Didn’t he already inform them to check all the parcels coming in for Xiu Mei first?

  He picked up the card on the ground and read it.

  "He talked about that this is a second gift. Was there another box like this?" Xiu Mei probed. Even though she was still in a state of shock, she didn’t miss that part.

  A second gift? She doesn’t remember receiving a gift that was similar to this though?

  Then she thought of the possibility. She looked suspiciously at Lu Chen who was exuding with anger right now.

  Or…… someone purposefully prevented her from receiving it?

  "Chen, is there something you’re hiding from me again?" Her tone turned somber as her suspicion increased.

  She already knows that Lu Chen keeps a lot of secrets from her. Uust like when he disappeared on her last week, she didn’t even receive any explanation from him at all. Even though she was quite frustrated, she didn’t ask him about it. She wanted to wait whether he will tell her his secrets or not.

  But right now, it seems like Lu Chen might be hiding even more secrets from her than she thought of.