Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 59

Xu You wasn’t in a hurry to interact with her. The fact that she had appeared in the elevator with the boss, Zhou Siyu, would surely be exaggerated and spread to every colleague’s ears before she even finished signing the contract and headed down to the design department.

She wasn’t the least bit angry.

On the contrary, she was quite looking forward to it.

Zheng Ran, having received Zhou Siyu’s message, waited by the elevator with a file folder in hand. Assuming the boss would emerge from the innermost elevator, he stood by the wall, but when the doors opened to reveal another one, he hurried over to the two of them.

“Boss,” he said, then turned and saw Xu You, barely suppressing his shock. His expression, however, betrayed him, and he froze for a moment. “Miss Xu.”

Xu You nodded slightly at him, stepped out of the elevator, and followed them to Zhou Siyu’s office.

After not seeing it for years, the layout of Zhou Siyu’s office had changed significantly. Previously, it had only featured a combination of black, white, and gray, but now several walls were adorned with the oil paintings she had left behind in Beicheng.

To be honest, it felt quite out of place.

To her, the things she left behind were nothing more than trash and useless canvases. She didn’t care how Zhou Siyu dealt with the junk. She withdrew her gaze and sat down in the chair opposite Zhou Siyu.

“Miss Xu, please review the contract terms again to see if there are any parts you’re dissatisfied with. I can make changes now,” Zheng Ran said, standing while the boss remained seated. After handing over the file folder, he somehow produced a laptop out of nowhere, unlocked it, and placed it on the desk.

Xu You gently flipped open the plastic cover. She was facing YUYOO’s entire legal department. If it were a design company with a barely functional legal team, she might have been able to spot errors based on common sense, but with a contract drafted by a listed company, even if they had set traps for her, it would be hard for her to detect them.

She skimmed through it, skipping over any clauses she found questionable for the time being.

Zhou Siyu’s intense gaze fell unabashedly on Xu You, completely ignoring Zheng Ran’s presence. Xu You kept her head slightly lowered, her expression warm, which only deepened the tenderness in Zhou Siyu’s heart.

Xu You read the contract, while Zhou Siyu watched Xu You, this state lasted for over ten minutes.

“I can’t make heads or tails of it,” Xu You admitted frankly, flipping all the way to the last page where the signature was required, tucking a strand of long hair behind her ear.

Zhou Siyu understood and glanced sideways at Zheng Ran.

As Zhou Siyu’s right-hand man, he immediately caught on. “Miss Xu, I’ll ask a colleague from the legal department to come up and explain the contract to you. Once you fully understand everything, we can proceed with the signing. How does that sound?”

Xu You didn’t hold back. “Fine.”

Not long after, the glass door to Zhou Siyu’s office was pushed open from the outside, and a woman in formal attire, wearing black high heels and exuding an elite aura, walked toward the group.

There were two copies of the contract. She took the one from Zhou Siyu and analyzed the pros and cons of each clause from top to bottom.

“Working hours are to be determined by Party B at their own discretion… Party A has no right to interfere with Party B’s work content…”

After listening to it all, Xu You found no clauses in the contract that were unfavorable to her. Her expression remained unchanged as she calmly nodded and then casually remarked, “Alright, I can sign.”

The colleague from the legal department had no idea where this VIP had been recruited from. Just having to explain the “unequal treaty” clause by clause was enough to shock her, and the final compensation of 50 million was a figure she couldn’t even fathom.

Faced with all this, the woman remained unfazed, casually stating that she could sign, which piqued the legal colleague’s curiosity to the max. She composed herself and discreetly sized up this extraordinary young woman.

Xu You pulled the cap off the pen, found the signature line, and elegantly signed her name. The contract didn’t reveal her identity as Esme, and with outsiders present, she certainly wouldn’t expose it herself.

Zhou Siyu followed closely, retrieving the contract from the legal department, signed it, and exchanged it with Xu You.

As the final strokes of their names settled, the contract took effect.

Xu You officially became the team leader of Group A in the YUYOO Design Department, directly managing the deputy team leader, Li Rui.

In front of her subordinates, Zhou Siyu put on her cold-faced CEO persona, tapping the wooden desk with her slender, well-defined fingers and saying coolly, “We have matters to discuss. You may leave now.”

Zheng Ran led the way, with the legal staff following closely. Before the office door closed, Xu You overheard the legal staff asking Zheng Ran about her background.

With only the two of them left in the office, the faint hum of the central air conditioning was barely noticeable. Xu You’s soft fingertips brushed against the metal clasp of her leather bag as she raised a single eyebrow, waiting for what Zhou Siyu had to say.

The air seemed to circulate around them, avoiding their presence. Zhou Siyu pressed her fingers against the indentation of Xu You’s signature on the contract, feeling the texture of the paper.

After a long pause, she murmured softly, “How is Yu Yao doing?”

Xu You leaned lazily into the leather chair, closing the file. “Thank you for your concern, President Zhou. Yaoyao is doing much better now.”

President Zhou? again with that title.

She hated it when Xu You used such a distant form of address. What she wanted to hear were those two words.

“Can you please not call me President Zhou?” Zhou Siyu frowned, her eyes pleading.

“Then what should I call you?” Xu You straightened up, slightly closing the distance between them, giving Zhou Siyu a sense of being within reach yet unattainable. Her eyes shimmered with emotion, as if infused with feeling. “Should I call you Old Zhou? Siyu? Or…”

Xu You deliberately paused there, leaving the blank for Zhou Siyu to fill in herself.

Zhou Siyu had never imagined she could be strung along like a puppy on a leash, yet she remained patient and unruffled, wagging her tail in anticipation.

Intense hope flowed from her heart, threatening to fill the entire office.

Go on.

Call her, call her Ayu, call her sister.

She desperately wished her silent plea could reach Xu You’s ears, but a childish ringtone shattered the silence between them.

Startled by the silly melody, Xu You unintentionally glanced at Zhou Siyu’s phone screen, where three bold characters stood out, Qin Keyi.

The thrill of teasing her vanished instantly, replaced by memories surfacing from the depths of her mind.

Xu You averted her gaze, a chill creeping into her eyes. She let out a cold, mocking laugh, the meaning unclear, and said, “Our relationship is strictly professional. It’s only appropriate for me to address you as President Zhou. Since you’re busy, I won’t disturb you any further. I’ll go check out my workstation now.”

The icy tone extinguished the hope that had ignited in Zhou Siyu’s heart. The hurt in her eyes was unmistakable. She wanted to explain, but the tangled old story couldn’t be unraveled in a few words. She wanted to stop Xu You, but the phone rang incessantly, like a death knell.

The name “Qin Keyi” flashed on the screen. Speechless, Zhou Siyu could only watch as Xu You closed the folder, held it between her fingers, and strode away without a hint of hesitation.

She was leaving, not just the office, but her side.

The heavy sound of footsteps felt like a blunt saw grinding against her bleeding heart. Her face pale, Zhou Siyu cursed herself for faltering at the critical moment. She ran her fingers through her hair, clenched and unclenched her jaw, took two deep breaths, and answered the call.

Xu You left the CEO’s office and took the elevator directly to the second-floor design department.

In her imagination, the gossip had already begun to simmer. As the numbers on the elevator screen steadily decreased, her playful smirk grew wider.

How would Li Rui introduce her to everyone?

[I just saw my college classmate in the elevator. Let me tell you, she’s a total mess. In her freshman year, she was kept by a wealthy man, became a mistress, a side chick, and slept her way to the top of the department, winning awards that didn’t belong to her. After sucking her previous sugar daddy dry, she kicked him to the curb. After graduation, she went straight to Europe for grad school to ‘gild’ her resume. I bet she’s latched onto our CEO Zhou now. Everyone, be careful.]

The closer she got to the design department, the more excited she became.

With a ding, the elevator arrived. Curling her lips into a smile, she stepped out and walked toward the design department, one deliberate step at a time.

“Oh my god, there are really people like that? So, she’s latched onto CEO Zhou and just waltzed in here, huh? Ugh, I’ve been slaving away for this company for three years, still stuck at the bottom, without a single decent position to show for it. What a failure! How can people’s fates be so different?”

The door to the design department was wide open. From a distance, Xu You could see a small group of people clustered near the entrance, passionately discussing something.

At first, she was too far away to make out their conversation. But as she drew closer, she noticed the person at the workstation sighing heavily.

The employee’s frustration seemed long-suppressed, her resentment palpable. Someone noticed Xu You’s approach and nudged her arm, signaling her to stop. Instead of quieting down, she exaggerated her movements, leaning back in her chair and letting out a dramatic, skyward groan.

“Heavens, you are so unfair!”

Xu You stood just a step away, looking down and meeting the employee’s resentful, questioning gaze directed at the sky.

Startled by the sudden appearance of a stranger in her line of sight, the employee immediately straightened up. After a quick glance around and realizing her colleagues had scattered, she gave Xu You an awkward smile.

She smiled, and Xu You smiled back even sweeter.

Sitting up straight, the employee guessed that Xu You was the “gold-digger” she had just been badmouthing. Her awkward expression now mixed with scrutiny.

She gave Xu You a quick once-over, her eyes soon locking onto the million-dollar Hermès bag in Xu You’s hand. As someone in the arts, she had a bit of knowledge about luxury goods. Being a gossip enthusiast and familiar with Li Rui, she immediately recognized it as a diamond-buckle collector’s edition bag. She couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

The boss is really generous.

She swallowed hard, forcing her envy back down, and slowly raised her gaze to Xu You’s face.

Earlier, Li Rui had hesitated for a few seconds before calling out Xu You’s name precisely because, after years of carefree living, her features had changed, and her aura was entirely different from before.

The confidence radiating from her very core wasn’t something that could be faked with a luxury bag or an expensive custom-made gown. It was an innate self-assurance that made the employee’s earlier slander seem vile and shameful, something that shouldn’t see the light of day.

Flushed with embarrassment, her cheeks turned red.

Xu You’s exquisite features were captivating, making it hard to look away. The employee recalled a recent internet meme:

Doubt the boss, understand the boss, become the boss.

The woman before her had sculpted, flawless features that could rival any A-list celebrity, a smooth, defined jawline, textbook-perfect facial proportions, and sleek, sensual waves of hair.

A gentle breeze from the central air conditioning swept through, lifting a few strands of Xu You’s hair, making them drift tantalizingly close and then away. The employee’s guilty heart raced with restless excitement.

“Xu You!” A familiar voice called out from a private office further inside. Qian Doudou had been scrutinizing the figure at the door and, finally certain it was Xu You, forgot her professional demeanor and shouted her name, rushing over in a fluster.

“You left without a word, not even saying goodbye to me.” Team Leader Qian rushed over, noticing the glimmer of tears in her eyes. After looking her up and down, she beamed brightly, “You’ve become so beautiful… this is the real you!”

Xu You embraced her generously, ignoring the male colleague sitting across from her with an ingratiating expression. Her gaze swept past every workstation, searching for that familiar face.

“What are you looking at?” asked Deputy Minister Qian, as she was now.

Xu You smiled without answering, just as hurried footsteps and ragged breaths sounded behind her.

Turning around, she met Li Rui’s displeased and agitated face.

Maintaining a faint, elusive smile, after all, she had returned to YUYOO specifically to deal with her, so why bother being genuinely pleasant? Xu You spoke leisurely, “I thought I heard someone calling me just now. So, it was you.”

“Assistant Zheng told me to clear out a workspace for you.” Li Rui’s expression was a mix of tears and forced laughter, far from natural or pleasant.