Their words were harsh, so An Ruo decided to be even more vulgar and crude in return!
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? I thought you kept lecturing about this because you were tired and wanted to earn money lying down."
"What do you take me for!?"
"And what do you take me for?" An Ruo glared at her coldly. "Just because others don't fight back, you think they're easy to bully? Just because they don't cry out in pain, you think you can push them as far as you want!?" "..." "Let me tell you, I, An Ruo, am not someone who just takes things lying down! If you've got the guts, kick me out of work fair and square. But gossiping behind my back and pulling petty tricks behind the scenes—that's just utterly disgusting!"
Sister A was considered a veteran in the planning department. Being scolded like this by a young upstart in front of so many people, with such coarse language, made her lose all face.
She lunged forward to teach An Ruo a lesson, but the moment she raised her hand, it was caught, and she ended up getting slapped herself.
"Can't win an argument, so you resort to hitting? Sister A, all those years at Lanzhen, and this is what you've learned."
Gu Chao advocated that those with strong tactics had the right to speak, so no matter how much infighting went on among his subordinates, if they complained to him, he would only side with the stronger party. Unless the situation was extremely serious, and even then, stirring up trouble wasn't something he, as the CEO, should meddle in.
Someone beside her tugged at Sister A, signaling her not to act impulsively. An Ruo was now the CEO's favorite, and going against her would only lead to trouble down the line.
Sister A had no power or influence and relied on this job to support her family. Forced to accept that An Ruo now outranked her, she had no choice but to swallow her pride and endure.
The special assistant's job was to assist the CEO with daily schedules and meeting arrangements, prepare materials for each meeting, write meeting minutes, follow up on meeting tasks, draft various documents, organize work reports, and promptly relay them to other departments.
By the end of the day, An Ruo was running around like crazy, but she felt fulfilled every day. Plus, sticking with the CEO meant good perks—fancy restaurants, and whenever Gu Chao had a meal, she and Secretary Fang could get a share.
As it neared the end of the workday, An Ruo handed the meeting minutes she had drafted that afternoon to the CEO's office.
Gu Chao flipped through the documents and glanced up at her. "It's getting late. You can head home first."
He didn't dare keep An Ruo a second longer. There was a living demon waiting for her at home, and if she didn't get back in time, Shen Xiaoxing would probably come charging over with a knife.
An Ruo nodded. She never liked to ask too many questions, even though countless doubts swirled in her mind. She constantly reminded herself that others had their reasons for doing things.
Leaving the company, she saw it was still early and decided to hit the food street to buy the man some trendy snacks, as a reward for him not throwing tantrums lately.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was Chen Keqiao, not noticing a van suddenly pulling up beside her.
Just as she was about to answer the call, a shadow loomed over her...
An Ruo froze and slowly looked up to see two burly men standing in front of her. Before she could scream, one of them pressed a cloth over her mouth and nose.
A pungent smell seeped into her nostrils. Her consciousness began to fade, her vision blurred, and then the world spun as she plunged into darkness.
Night fell over the seaside villa.
The man sat in the living room, waiting and waiting. The food on the table had been reheated over and over, but the girl still hadn't returned.
Han Chong stood nearby, glancing at his watch with a puzzled frown.
The young mistress was always punctual. By this time, she would usually be home. Why was she so late today?
Lately, the young master had been waiting for her to come back for dinner. To keep him from waiting too long, Gu Chao let her leave on time, and their relationship had even started to warm up.
Shen Xiaoxing's hands on his knees gradually tightened. The faint smile he had worn while waiting for her to come home slowly turned dark and menacing, finally settling into a cold, fierce glare.
"Han Chong, call Gu Chao!"
Han Chong quickly stepped aside and dialed Gu Chao's number.
Two minutes later, he brought back terrible news. "The young mistress left the company early, just like usual."
Shen Xiaoxing's brows furrowed. What was this girl up to? He had told Gu Chao to let her leave on time, and things had been just a little better between them these past two days. Now she was starting to disregard him again!
"Young master, I'll take some people to look for her."
The man had no appetite for dinner. He had the servants wheel him back to his room, then angrily got up and went to the balcony to smoke. After a moment of thought, he pulled out his phone and dialed He Su's number.
"Is she at the hospital?"
"Who?" He Su was confused. "I'm not on duty at the hospital today."
Just as the man was about to hang up, He Su's voice came through with a sly tone. "What's going on? Did your little wife run away from home?"
"You sound pretty happy about that?"
The other side cursed under his breath, his voice turning serious. "She really ran away?"
"You'd better say something useful." Shen Xiaoxing's voice was icy cold, as if it could freeze the person on the other end of the line.
He Su shrank back. "She's probably not at the hospital. Her little brother was discharged a few days ago."
There was no one she cared about at the hospital.
Shen Xiaoxing's eyes grew colder. Without waiting for He Su to say another word, his face twisted with barely contained anger, and he slammed the phone down with a sharp crack.
An hour later, Han Chong rushed back. "Young master, I found out... The young mistress was kidnapped on her way home from work."
He had pulled the street surveillance footage, which happened to capture An Ruo being drugged and stuffed into a van by two burly men.