My Weekend Lover Turned Out To Be My Boss - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Heart Death. “Frontier”

After leaving the Lan family estate, my first destination was Yu Tingzhi’s catering group. She was standing in her office, leaning over her desk. My sudden appearance didn’t bring out the fiery attitude she had that other day; instead, she looked slightly startled. “What are you doing here?”

I sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette. It had been a long time since I’d visited; the office had been redecorated and looked even more opulent. I didn’t want to waste time. “I’m here to withdraw my shares.”

Over the years, leveraging the reputation of the MA bar in the coastal district, we partners had turned it into a chain. Every new branch meant accumulated investment. Calculated out, I had actually put in a significant amount of money. Now that I wanted out, it wasn’t something that could happen in an instant, but I figured it would be best if Yu Tingzhi could buy out my portion.

That single sentence made Yu Tingzhi explode. She flopped into her executive chair and scolded me, “That day was a misunderstanding! Can’t we just clear things up? When did you become so petty? You can’t handle a little criticism? Is it worth throwing away your shares just to spite me?”

I flicked my ash and shook my head. “You’re overthinking. My withdrawal has nothing to do with you. The legal representative of the company is He Da Zhuang anyway; my leaving won’t destabilize things. I don’t want a penny of this year’s dividends—just my initial capital. If you buy my shares, I’ll even give you a 2% discount.”

Fuming, Yu Tingzhi paced back and forth in front of me. Finally, she stopped and glared. “I just don’t get it. You and Phoebe fall out, so you come here to take it out on me?”

I smiled faintly. “I’ll say it again: this has nothing to do with any of you. This is a personal decision. Neither our contract nor the law forbids me from withdrawing. If you’re still my friend, grant my request. I don’t want to go through a lawsuit.”

Seeing my resolve, Yu Tingzhi took a deep breath and let it out heavily, staring at me with venom. “Fine! You Feifan, I’ll consider you a friend one last time and agree. I’ll have the administration department contact you later. You can handle the procedures with them. From now on, we are dead to each other.”

Since she agreed, there was no reason to stay. I patted my knees and stood up. “Make sure the admin people are efficient. I want the money as fast as possible.”

As I reached the door, she shouted after me, “I want to see what kind of ghost you become without Phoebe, without the bar, and without your friends… Are you really going to fly off into the sunset with that Miss Qiu of yours?”

I stopped and turned back to look at her. My steady, cold gaze made her shiver slightly. I lowered my voice to a whisper: “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m definitely going to live a better life than before.”

Infuriated by my coldness, she screamed, “Get out!”

…

Leaving her office, I drove aimlessly through the city. My brain felt like it was filled with paste—a total mess. When I got home, Qiu Qi and He Mu were still out. Good. I needed silence.

Sitting on the balcony lounge chair, I replayed every word Qiao Xin had said. Eventually, I moved to the study and locked myself in. I bent over the desk, doodling and mapping things out on paper to clear my head. Now that I thought about it, everything since I first saw Qiao Xin at the “Deyue Boat” was interconnected.

I wrote Qiao An’s name in the center of the paper. Guan Shuyun’s relationship with Qiao An was enough to put her and Qiao Xin on the same team. This meant that Guan Shuyun’s sudden appearance in our lives was likely a calculated move to get close to me and Phoebe for a specific purpose.

I kept digging. Qiao Xin had confidently claimed that “ten percent of the equity” was hers… and that Phoebe had “lost her lover.” Now she had a court-ordered visitation right to see the child. But how did these things connect?

I wrote Phoebe’s name. Qiao Xin’s first move was to target Xiao Xiao Fan, and Phoebe’s reaction was one of suppressed endurance. Was the child Qiao Xin’s trump card? No, a child alone wouldn’t be enough to make Phoebe swallow such insults.

I wrote my own name. Why was Qiao Xin so sure I would seek her out in the future? Unable to figure it out, I leaned back and rubbed my chin. I knew Phoebe better than I knew myself. The most important things in her life were Qingfan, Jieshi Excellence, and Beisheng International… and perhaps, stretching it, me.

Wait! What did Qiao Xin mean when she circled back to tell Fei Jun that his mother missed her grandson? It hit me! I immediately wrote Li Shuhua. Did Qiao Xin know that old witch Li Shuhua? They were worlds apart—how would they know each other? No, wait… when the old Master Lan was alive, Qiao An was his chosen grandson-in-law. When Qiao An proposed to Phoebe at the annual meeting, Li Shuhua hadn’t been hostile toward him then.

As the paper filled with names, I drew lines to map the relationships. The result was clear: the only commonality between Qiao Xin, Guan Shuyun, and Li Shuhua was their unresolvable hatred for Phoebe.

And the three of them seemed to be tied together by some mutual benefit. Equity… Lover… Child… Connection… Qiao Xin’s words echoed in my head. Had she said all that just to hurt Phoebe? No… it felt like she was saying it for me to hear.

Suddenly, it clicked. If Qiao Xin represented the Child, and Guan Shuyun represented the Lover, then Li Shuhua represented Jieshi Excellence. If this was true, Phoebe was being attacked from three sides at once.

But why was she associating with Guan Shuyun and Qiao Xin? She hated being coerced more than anything—who would willingly cooperate with their enemies? I opened the drawer and looked at the few photos I hadn’t torn up. If I had misunderstood Phoebe, why was she so intimate with Guan Shuyun in these pictures?

My head throbbed. I cleared the desk. Without Phoebe telling me the truth herself, everything was just a guess. Just as I walked out of the study, He Mu and Qiu Qi returned. Seeing me, He Mu didn’t even take off his shoes. He stormed over, grabbed my collar, and slammed me into the sofa.

“He Mu, what are you doing?!”

Qiu Qi screamed and rushed over, grabbing his raised fist. I was panicking—I had no idea what I had done to provoke him. He Mu gritted his teeth, glaring at me with no intention of letting go. “Success was because of you, and failure is because of you! It’s all because of you!”

He roared like a wild beast. I kicked him in the stomach. He groaned and curled up on the floor, knocking Qiu Qi down in the process. I straightened my collar and looked down at him. “What kind of madness has possessed you?”

He Mu struggled to stand. Qiu Qi, anxious, stepped between us and scolded him, “Do you know what you’re doing? Is it Feifan’s fault the deal failed?”

I was completely baffled. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Today was truly bizarre. Everyone was acting like they’d skipped their medication. He Mu pointed at my nose, huffing. “We’ve been working so hard, and because of you, Lan Feiyi refuses to cooperate with us at all!”

So He Mu and Qiu Qi’s company did engineering work too. I knew this wasn’t just a vacation, but this felt off. I calmed down and said coldly, “Whether she cooperates with you depends on your merit. What does that have to do with me?”

He Mu paced around, then sneered, “Because you broke up with her! Now she refuses to use anything related to you!”

I admitted it was possible Phoebe was making things hard for He Mu because of me, especially since she misunderstood my relationship with Qiu Qi. I glared at him silently, still thinking he was being unreasonable. Then my phone rang—it was Soso. I ignored He Mu and went back to the study to answer.

“I know what you’re going to say,” I said before she could speak. “The withdrawal is final. I’m not changing my mind.”

I expected Soso to scream at me, but the line was quiet for a long time. Finally, she sighed. “Think it through. Yu Tingzhi is going insane with rage.”

“What about Da Zhuang?”

“He says you’re being irresponsible. It’s too sudden; he can’t accept such a change in the company. Is it because of Phoebe that you’re doing this? You’re an adult—can’t you be rational?”

“I don’t expect you to understand, but please respect my choice.”

“Feifan, I respect you, but I want to know: what is the point of all this?”

I lit a cigarette and brushed her off. “No point. I’m tired. I’m hanging up.”

I hung up immediately, but then Yu Xiao called… It was clearly not a good day for phone calls. One after another!

I answered weakly, “Yu Xiao, what is it?”

“I heard you’re back from your trip with a new lady friend! Not bad! Anyway, are you free? Let’s grab dinner. I’ve got a birthday gift for you.”

Given the atmosphere at home was so toxic, I accepted immediately. “Sure. Where?”

“The club. Old place.”

“Fine.”

As I was about to hang up, Yu Xiao shouted, “Wait, wait, wait!!!”

“Now what?”

“Make sure to bring that mysterious female companion. Yumeng and I are dying of curiosity~”

“We’ll see.”