My Weekend Lover Turned Out To Be My Boss - Chapter 81

Chapter 81: A Scene. “Darwin”

I mulled over her words: “If you don’t know, ask. If you can’t do it, learn.”

“The new joint venture between Lan Feiyi and me is actually quite suitable for you,” Guan Shuyun said. “You’re an old hand at dealing with colleagues and adapting to new environments. How quickly you learn engineering business depends on your own intuition and diligence. You Feifan, I truly want to pull you out of your past predicament, but you have to cooperate willingly. This is as much as I can do to help you.”

“Send me to the new company? But… would Lan Feiyi ever agree to that?”

“She has no choice. I have the final say. Take a rest for the next few days; you’ve worked hard accompanying me on overtime lately. Report to the new company next Monday. I’ll place you in the Engineering Department.”

I gave her a full ninety-degree bow. “Thank you, CEO Guan!”

“If there’s nothing else, you can head back. I have social engagements today. I’ll call you later to pick me up.”

“Understood.”

I was about to leave when I remembered something. I dutifully reported my movements: “I want to go home today. The matters regarding Qiu Qi and He Mu still need to be handled.”

Guan Shuyun, buried in her documents, looked up and stared at me. “Go. Clear out all those unnecessary relationships. People like Qiu Qi and He Mu—if they can lie to you once, they’ll lie to you twice. My grudge with them is my business, but I expect you to handle your problems with them. Don’t cause me trouble.”

“I will handle it.”

As I reached the door, she called out again. “Feifan.”

“Yes?”

“If they cling to you or refuse to let go… call me.”

I flashed a bright smile. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

…

It felt like I hadn’t been home in an eternity. When I pushed the door open, Qiu Qi and He Mu were nowhere to be found. It made sense; with things as strained as they were, they wouldn’t have the thick skin to stay in my house. I instinctively sat in the lounge chair on the balcony. It was a lonely feeling. When no one likes you or understands you, your heart feels hollow. It’s not exactly sadness—just a profound desolation.

I hesitated before calling Qiu Qi. She picked up quickly, her tone lukewarm. “What do you want?”

“Where are you guys?”

“Jieshi Excellence.”

“Are you free? I want to see you.”

“If you really want to see me, come here. As it happens… there are others here who want to see you, too.”

I hung up and lit a cigarette, debating whether to go. But I knew things couldn’t stay like this. At worst, I’d be ostracized and ridiculed; I just had to remember which side I was on. I composed myself and left the house.

Stepping back into Jieshi Excellence felt like entering a different lifetime. Even though the faces weren’t unfamiliar, I felt no connection to them. When I reached Phoebe’s floor, Secretary Du saw me from a distance. Likely knowing the situation, her attitude was icy—just like the first time we met during my interview.

She remained polite, however, and knocked on Phoebe’s door. “CEO Lan is inside. Please enter.”

Phoebe sat in her executive chair, sipping steaming coffee. On the sofa sat Qiu Qi, He Mu, and Feijun, whom I hadn’t seen in ages. My entrance felt like a glitch in the room. The conversation died, and four sets of eyes fell on me.

There was no seat for me. I stood awkwardly by the door. Phoebe, a master of creating distance, radiated an oppressive aura. With a mocking curl of her lip, she spoke: “Well, if it isn’t CEO Guan’s Assistant You. What brings you to my place? Coffee or tea? I imagine after spending so much time with Guan Shuyun, your tastes have changed. She loves tea; surely you do too.”

She called out, “Xiao Du, brew a cup of fine tea for Assistant You.”

In the past, no matter how angry Phoebe got, she was never sarcastically cruel. It seemed my recent actions had made her bitter. The atmosphere was unbearable. Secretary Du brought a cup of scalding tea, and since no one invited me to sit, I stood there like an idiot, holding the hot cup.

Phoebe closed her file. “Speak. Why are you here?”

I shrugged nonchalantly, glanced at the sofa, and explained confidently, “I’m not here for you. I’m here for these two.”

He Mu glanced at me and looked away dismissively. Qiu Qi was kinder; she shifted over to make room. “Come sit. We can talk slowly.”

I refused. “No. Since everyone involved is here, I’ll be blunt.”

I stepped toward Qiu Qi and asked insincerely, “Just a quick interview: you two finally got close to the ‘noble benefactor’ in your plan. Are you happy? How does it feel? Have you already started plotting how to bring down Guan Shuyun?”

Qiu Qi’s face paled. She knew how angry I was and couldn’t find the words to respond. I walked to Phoebe’s desk, set the tea down, and looked her in the eye, though my words were directed at the two on the sofa:

“I’ve realized you two are quite amazing. You love keeping secrets—one loves to hide things, the other loves to lie, and both love wearing down my feelings. It’s a perfect match. No wonder you ended up together. ‘Birds of a feather,’ right? Did I use the phrase correctly?”

Phoebe’s hand tightened around an old fountain pen. I realized it was the one I had thrown in the trash—she had retrieved it. Suppressing her temper, she whispered, “If you’re only here to mock people, I’m sorry, but this is a place of business. Leave on your own before I call security. Don’t embarrass yourself.”

Seeing her lean forward to warn me, I shook my head with a scoff. “Just mocking you would be boring. I had to say a few harsh truths. Qiu Qi, He Mu—I shouldn’t care what you do to Guan Shuyun, but you played the wrong hand. You destroyed me in the process, and I have no intention of letting you off. I will stand by Guan Shuyun and do everything in my power to stop you. Especially you, Qiu Qi… you know exactly how much you owe me. You’ll never pay it back in this lifetime.”

“Get out!”

Phoebe finally snapped at my arrogant attitude. I turned and glared at her, cutting her off: “Everyone in this room knows exactly what they are doing and what they want! Lan Feiyi, you’re as angry about me being with Guan Shuyun as I am about you being with these two. We both know these people are the direct reason we broke up, yet you choose to look the other way for your own interests. Your pride and my insecurity are two extremes—we were never going to work. The answer you gave to the choice Qiao Xin presented determined that we would end up as enemies today. Don’t blame me. I was the innocent victim from start to finish, tied to your name. I can understand why they hurt me. But why did you choose to hurt me in the end, too? How is your betrayal any different from theirs? Actually, it is different—it’s worse because of who we were to each other. Now, I just want back what belongs to me. I am not in the wrong.”

Phoebe’s eyes were filled with horror. She realized I truly didn’t want her anymore. I had chosen her enemy and was willing to throw away our entire past to fight her. She finally accepted the reality, letting out a desperate, silent sigh as she turned her chair away from me, facing the window.

Qiu Qi stepped toward me, trying to explain. “It’s not what you think. He Mu and I didn’t mean for everything to spiral out of control. I took you on that trip to show you a different life… I wanted to confess everything to you a thousand times, but I was too cowardly. I was afraid of seeing you snap… I know I’ve wronged you, and asking for forgiveness sounds ridiculous, but… we’ve all seen how cold and cruel Guan Shuyun is under that smile. She killed someone who shouldn’t have died and feels no remorse. She must be punished. Feifan… please don’t be like this… I don’t want us to be enemies…”

I paced the office with a loud, mocking laugh. “Enemies… Hahaha! The moment your lies were exposed, we became enemies!”

He Mu couldn’t take it anymore. He slammed the armrest. “You Feifan, how long are you going to throw this tantrum? There’s a limit! We wronged you, and we owe CEO Lan an explanation, and we will do everything to fix it. But we won’t tolerate your bottomless insults!”

I spun around to face him, snarling, “Shut up! Do you even have a voice here? You dare talk to me about hurt! I came here to draw a line between me and all of you. From today on, I am Guan Shuyun’s person. I don’t care how you curse me or target me. But as long as you are her enemy, you are mine.”

He Mu laughed uncontrollably. “What kind of drug did she give you that you’re so eager to be her dog?”

I pointed at his nose. “Then you’d better check who the owner is before you kick the dog.”

Qiu Qi finally exploded. She grabbed my clothes, screaming, “Wake up! You can’t see through Guan Shuyun. She’s keeping you around because you’re useful. She’ll use you to fight us, and when we’re both destroyed, she’ll be the only winner! Do you hate us that much? Forget us—can’t you think about CEO Lan’s feelings?”

I shoved her away. “I’m doing this willingly! I want you all to taste the bitterness of defeat! What are you going to do about it?”

Feijun, who had stayed out of it until now, finally spoke up. “Feifan, that’s enough. You’re going to give them a heart attack. I’d better take you out of here.” He stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go.”

I finally calmed down a little. “Sorry you had to see that,” I told him.

He patted my shoulder. “I know you have your grievances… You really aren’t built for tea. You belong in that coffee shop downstairs. Come on, big brother will buy you a coffee.”

Feijun was strong; I knew he wouldn’t let me cause more of a scene. As we reached the door, I couldn’t help but look back. Phoebe had turned her chair around. She looked at me with such sorrow, not expecting me to look back. I had intended to steal one last glance at her silhouette without her catching me being soft-hearted, so I immediately turned my head away with a cold expression.