Annie lifted her head, sensing a figure towering in front of her. Because she hadn’t noticed the man enter the CEO’s area a while ago, surprise flashed in her eyes before it was replaced by an impassive look.
She removed the earphones in her ears and looked at him. “Mr. Ju’an, how may I help you.”
Of all the secretaries sitting in the many cubicles, they were surprised that the man walked up directly to the girl.
Some of the secretaries were a bit jealous, seeing Annie receiving this handsome young man’s attention. And the other ones who already had snippets about the two’s relationship were simply curious.
“The Arts Department’s Manager has been here for quite a while now… I wonder why he’s still here.”
“Isn’t he here to see the CEO?”
“Or is it because of something else?”
“Maybe he’s here to see Ms. Lin… After all, I heard…” The secretary trailed off and covered her mouth.
“What did you hear, just tell us.”
As the secretaries whispered and gossiped among themselves, Jason stood in front of Annie, as if he had lost his tongue.
He looked at the girl who was giving him her attention and he sighed inside. “Ms. Lin, maybe we should talk somewhere else.”
Contrary to what brought him, he found himself speaking what he hadn’t planned to. The decision came to him at the last moment and he couldn’t take back his words.
“I hope Ms. Lin will not deny me a minute of her time.”
Annie could decline his request without batting an eye, but she was curious about what he wanted to say.
“Sure, Mr. Ju’an. Please make it fast. As you can see, I’m in the middle of work.” She left her cubicle and followed him to a corner that led to the CEO’s office, away from the secretaries’ eyes.
Jason looked at her gratefully. He shoved both hands inside his pockets, looking somehow nervous.
“Annie, I can see that you still hold a grudge. I hope you can let bygones be bygones.”
“Is this what Mr. Ju’an wanted to say to me?” Annie folded her hands. “Of course, what Mr. Ju’an did to me isn’t a funny thing. However, I’m not someone to dwell on insignificant matters.”
“Annie-“
“What exactly do you want?”
“I want you to back out of that mission.” Jason stared at her. “You wouldn’t want to trifle with Mr. Wang and Mr. Wu. It’s not safe.”
“Oh.” A small smile made its way to her face and Annie tilted her head. “Mr. Ju’an, how surprising. I didn’t know you cared about my safety.”
The cold smile on her face had the man’s heart sinking, and he sighed heavily. “Annie-“
“Please excuse me, Mr. Ju’an. I’ll go back to my work,” Annie said and turned around to walk back to her cubicle. At that moment, the man grabbed her hand.
As if time had stopped… She stilled in her movement, feeling his firm grip on her hand.
“Listen to me, Annie…”
“Mr. Ju’an, let go-“
Annie had not finished speaking when a loud shrill came from ahead. Staring at the girl rushing towards them, an almost bored look appeared in her eyes.
“Ahhh! You! Honey!” Priscilla screamed like a crazy lady. She had just raced to this place, following her intuition. Who knew it would become true?
“Annie! Are you crazy!”
Her loud scream caught the secretaries’ attention and they instantly left their cubicles.
Quickly, Jason let go of Annie’s hands, his expression as pale as a white paper. “Priscilla-“
He didn’t finish saying her name, because Priscilla attacked Annie like a wild beast. She pounced on the girl and started pulling at her hair.
“Annie! Are you crazy! What kind of a bitch are you? I knew it! I always knew that you’re after my husband! You crazy bitch! You won’t waste a chance at seducing him, right?”
Annie didn’t see her attack coming so she was quite taken aback. Before she could even react, Priscilla had sent a heavy slap across her face.
*PAK*
The sound resounded in the area, startling every spectator. Some of the secretaries’ screamed and most of them let out gasps of astonishment. Jason on the other hand was too shocked to react.
“You are too stubborn that you won’t leave my husband alone, right? You won’t even leave this company, Annie. How about I disfigure your face today so you can’t think of chasing after people’s husbands?”
As Priscilla said that, she grabbed Annie’s hair again. This time, Annie was prepared for the girl’s attack and she quickly evaded it.
“Priscilla, wait…” Jason broke out of his shock and held the screaming girl tightly. “Calm down, it’s not what you’re thinking.”
“Let me at her, Honey! I swear I’ll put an end to her slyness today!”
.
Inside the CEO’s office, the commotion was too loud and Assistant Jiang wondered why the secretaries were too loud.
Those stupid girls never dared fight one another when the CEO was in the office. What had gotten into them today?
Layla who was serving the fifth cup of coffee to the enraged man wiped her sweat and looked at the door with a frown.
That loud and shrill voice. Wasn’t that Priscilla?
Her eyes widened and she instantly recalled why she was here in the first place. She had left her brother outside. Did his witch of a wife follow him?
“M-Mr. Lim.” Layla’s lips trembled as she dropped the coffee in front of the man. “P-Please accept this… I- I’m sure it won’t taste as bad as the other ones.”
Each cup of coffee she made, the man would spit it out. Not wanting to disappoint her idol, Layla would plead with him to give her another chance.
Now, she was convinced that she would really get fired if the man didn’t like her last cup of coffee.
She’d already exhausted the coffee beans, and she was afraid her days in MystiArt Productions would be exhausted as well.
“Assistant Jiang…” The man didn’t take the coffee from Layla and he glared at the Assistant, obviously displeased by the noise. “Tell them to be quiet, otherwise, they’ll all lose their jobs.”