Secretary Zhou looked at Xia Yan with surprise, as if she hadn't heard her words, her gaze fixed on Xia Yan's neck.
"Secretary Zhou, um, why are you staring at me?" Noticing Secretary Zhou's eyes on her neck, Xia Yan instinctively reached up to touch it, unaware that this gesture seemed to Secretary Zhou like an attempt to cover something up.
"Xia Yan, you..."
"Secretary Zhou, has the meeting started?"
"Not yet. But Xia Yan, are you sure you want to go into the meeting room looking like that?" Secretary Zhou asked incredulously, never expecting Mr. Lu's possessiveness to be so strong, to the point of...
"What's wrong with how I look?"
"Did you not look in the mirror this morning?" Secretary Zhou said cautiously, raising a finger to point at Xia Yan's neck.
Xia Yan, puzzled, touched her neck. "What's wrong with my neck?"
Look in the mirror? Xia Yan frowned, staring blankly at Secretary Zhou.
"Manager Ke."
Hearing Secretary Zhou suddenly call out "Manager Ke," Xia Yan froze and turned around. As she did, Ke Yaru's gaze at her was like venom from a snake—if looks could kill, Ke Yaru would have killed her countless times by now.
"Secretary Zhou, Mr. Lu is waiting for the documents you have. What are you still standing around for?" Ke Yaru's tone was harsh, and not just Xia Yan but even Secretary Zhou could tell. For this battlefield of women, she gave Xia Yan a quick wink—take care—and slipped away.
"Yes, I'll deliver them right away."
Ke Yaru crossed her arms over her chest, clicked her high heels, the sharp clacking echoing as they met the floor, then fixed her gaze on Xia Yan's neck. Suddenly, she let out a cold laugh. "Xia Yan, you really have no shame!"
"No shame? Who are you talking about?" Xia Yan glared at Ke Yaru, who was always picking a fight.
"Who else do you think is here besides you? Xia Yan..." Ke Yaru stepped forward, closing in on Xia Yan, and suddenly pointed at her neck. "Tsk tsk, are you here to show off to me? Or do you want everyone to know how intense you two were last night?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"You don't know what I'm talking about?"
"Why should I automatically know what you're saying? Ridiculous. A good dog doesn't block the way. Move aside."
"Fine, very well. I suggest you take a look at your neck in a mirror and stop making a fool of yourself." Ke Yaru said coldly. This morning, she had received Xia Yan's leave request, and she had imagined many reasons, but never this one. Now, seeing Xia Yan still looking clueless, she narrowed her eyes, thinking to herself that the only one who could have approved Xia Yan's leave was Lu Zhengting; otherwise, she wouldn't be here now.
"If you're done, move aside. I'm in a hurry to deliver documents to Mr. Lu. If it delays the meeting, I don't think either of us can bear the consequences."
With that, Xia Yan brushed past Ke Yaru and headed toward the office. Ke Yaru watched Xia Yan's retreating figure, her mind filled with the sight of the varying shades of hickeys on her neck, densely covering her vision, each one screaming that she had gotten Lu Zhengting while Ke Yaru had gotten nothing! Her eyes narrowed venomously, and she turned angrily to go back to the meeting room.
Xia Yan picked up the documents, thinking about the meaningful looks everyone had given her as she walked in, recalling Secretary Zhou's stunned expression as she pointed at her neck, and Ke Yaru's furious demeanor. A bad feeling crept over her. She pulled a small mirror from her bag and saw in it the dense hickeys on her neck, clearly from the past couple of days, their color still fresh. She had walked around like this from the Lu residence all the way to the company, seen by so many people—did she have any dignity left!
Xia Yan clutched the documents tightly, her emotions in turmoil. She vaguely remembered having a dream about Lu Zhengting last night, but it was just a dream, wasn't it? Why had she woken up with all these hickeys on her neck! She slumped weakly into her chair. It was over; her respectable image was shattered today...
The culprit behind it all was Lu Zhengting! She rested her hands on the armrests and began recalling last night's events. She had been in the bathroom showering, that was right, then she lit some aromatherapy, drowsiness slowly overtook her, and she closed her eyes, planning to rest for a bit before getting up. Then... she dreamed. In the dream, she vaguely remembered transforming into a domineering queen, while Lu Zhengting became a soft, submissive boy...
And then... of course, she had her way with the soft and adorable Lu Zhengting.
Xia Yan frowned deeply, suddenly remembering that she had opened her eyes at some point, but she had thought it was still part of the dream. Could it have been real? With that realization, her head throbbed so much it felt like it wasn't her own. Thinking of the man who had caused the trouble and then slipped away, now sitting solemnly in the meeting room, her face instantly soured, while she had made such a fool of herself early in the morning!
It was utterly humiliating.
Xia Yan picked up the mirror again and looked at her neck, at the hickeys. Before, she could have walked around nonchalantly in front of everyone, but now that she knew, where would she find the courage to walk through the company? Did she have no face left?
Fuming, Xia Yan grabbed her phone, found Lu Zhengting's number, and without a second thought, called him directly. The moment the first ring sounded, she suddenly remembered he was in a meeting and quickly hung up.
Less than a minute later, as Xia Yan was fretting over how to get the documents into the meeting room, her phone suddenly rang. In the quiet office, she was startled, her shoulders jerking. She rolled her eyes, saw the caller ID was Lu Zhengting, and hesitated about whether to answer.
After a pause, Xia Yan picked up the phone, and her first words were a deep accusation. "Lu Zhengting, how can you be such a jerk! Last night, while I was asleep, you did... those things to me? And not only that, you had the nerve to leave all these marks on my neck! What exactly are you trying to do? Is there anything you wouldn't dare to do? Do you have any idea that I walked into the company from the front door, completely unaware, under everyone's teasing gazes!..."
As soon as the call connected, Lu Zhengting didn't even get a chance to speak, only hearing Xia Yan rattling off a long string of words on the other end, speaking rapidly but clearly. He held the phone, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, with a group of company executives left waiting behind him. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if he was patiently listening to Xia Yan's accusations.
"I'm talking about something serious, and you dare to laugh!" Xia Yan heard Lu Zhengting's low chuckle and immediately launched into a stern complaint. If she hadn't been at a loss for a solution right now, she would have stormed into the meeting room and given that perverse man a good beating.
It was too much. Why did he have to leave such obvious marks on her, and in such a visible place?
Xia Yan squinted, looking up at the light above her, almost crying. She had been in such a hurry to leave that she had grabbed a random shirt from the closet, and unfortunately, it was a low-cut one.
Lu Zhengting glanced at the people behind him out of the corner of his eye, then straightened up, raised his hand to his mouth in a fist, and coughed lightly. "Are you in the office now?"
"Don't worry about where I am! I don't want to see you right now." Xia Yan was furious, and the consequences were serious.
He watched the phone screen suddenly go dark, and couldn't help but find it amusing as he pictured Xia Yan sitting anxiously in her office.
Ke Yaru was seated just below him. She could clearly see his expression as he stood by the floor-to-ceiling window taking the call. Her long fingers slowly tightened; if she had been holding a pencil, it would have snapped in two with a crack.
Before meeting Xia Yan, Lu Zhengting had always forbidden taking calls during meetings, and phones had to be turned off. But now? He was leaving a room full of company executives waiting to take Xia Yan's call!
Ke Yaru narrowed her eyes, said nothing, and sat quietly in her seat, silently watching the man standing with his back to them by the window.
Lu Zhengting rubbed his temples, turned around expressionlessly, and ordered Secretary Zhou to distribute the prepared documents to everyone. Then he returned to his seat, swept a sharp gaze over the group, and said in a low voice, "Take a look at the documents just handed out. If anyone has anything to say, speak up directly."
After he spoke, the meeting room fell into a long silence, occasionally broken by the rustling of paper being turned. He sat leisurely, hands crossed on the table, his distinct knuckles tapping lightly on the surface, producing a crisp, rhythmic sound.
This meeting concerned the company's development in Europe and was of great significance.
The meeting lasted about three hours. During that time, Xia Yan didn't dare leave the office. Without warning, she had once again given the company a new topic for gossip. She felt like tearing her hair out—who knew what version of those indescribable scenes would come out of their mouths.
Xia Yan paced anxiously around the office; "restless" was an understatement for how she felt. As the end of the workday approached, she felt a flicker of excitement, suddenly remembering that she might have some concealer in her bag...
After a pause, a spark of inspiration hit her. She quickly pulled out her chair, sat down, propped the mirror up against the computer, took out the concealer from her bag, stretched her neck, and gently patted the concealer over the hickeys with one hand while holding the mirror with the other.
Half an hour later, Xia Yan looked at her neck in the mirror. The skin was so pale... she couldn't help but complain, but at least it covered some of the marks, which was better than before. Seeing this, she let out a sigh of relief, slumped back in her chair as if paralyzed, tilted her head back, gripped the armrests, and swayed her legs back and forth, making herself and the chair rock side to side.