Chapter 5 File

In the morning, Leila woke up to the blinding sunlight coming from the window, forcing her to cover her eyes with her arms.

"Do you remember a manager with the last name Dong in the Song Group? Your grandfather hired him."

The sound of a man talking made Leila open her eyes, only to see a head buried in her neck. In a matter of seconds, all her blood rushed to her face, causing her to blush and shove the man away. In a meek voice, she mumbled, "I... I'm going to take a shower."

Max quickly held on to her slender waist, preventing her from leaving. Then, in a low, alluring voice, he replied, "Let's go together."

Without waiting for an answer, he picked her up and strode to the bathroom.

An hour later, Leila walked out of the bathroom, blushing as red as an apple. She hastily put on a dress from her wardrobe and went downstairs with an embarrassed expression on her face.

In front of a table full of food, Max was quietly sitting down and reading a newspaper. His slightly furrowed eyebrows turned his usual charming face into a slightly intimidating one.

Leila sat opposite of him without uttering a single word. After that, she picked up a sandwich and ate. The whole dining room was so quiet that only the sound of her chewing could be heard.

"Have a look." Max said while throwing a document in front of Leila without bothering to look her in the eye.

Startled, Leila stopped eating and quickly checked the document. The more she read, the more enticed she became. Her eyes twinkled like stars, and it didn't seem like she was going to stop soon. Only when she heard a frigid voice did she come back to her senses.

"I'm sorry to say this, but you can't go to the hospital everyday anymore. Please remember to follow along in the future."

Outraged, Leila quickly closed the document and asked with a frown on her face. "What? Why? Didn't I come back before dark?"

Max diverted his attention from his newspaper, then looked straight into her eyes. In a serious tone, he replied, "I can't tell you the reason; you just can't go. Besides, there're already nurses there to take care of your mother!"

How unreasonable! But instead of outright refuting him, she stood up and tried bargaining. "Can I at least visit her four times a week?"

"No! Only twice!"

Max shouted, then continued to read his newspaper. This made Leila even angrier. But instead of shouting back, she clenched her fists and took a few deep breaths. In a soft, mellow tone, she said, "I want to go to work tomorrow if that's alright with you."

"Fine, but please come back before four o'clock," Max replied without raising his head.

"Okay," Leila meekly responded.

Losing her appetite, she got up and started walking towards the stairs. But before she could even take the first step up, Max sternly said,

"Finish your meal!"

Now she couldn't even choose when to stop eating! With no other choice, Leila returned to the table and sat down again. After that, she took her sandwich and gnawed on it, looking like she was venting out all of her frustrations.

Seeing this, Max slammed his newspaper on the table, stood up, and glared at her. In a frigid voice, he said, "You should finish the porridge as well. If you don't gain ten pounds this month, I'm forbidding you from going to the hospital at all."

After that, he went upstairs to his room, leaving Leila alone at the dining table and filled with rage.

How dare he say such rude things! Was she a pig? Leila's anger caused her to breathe heavily. But from doing it too much, she almost choked to death. After a few minutes and managing to regain a bit of composure, she hesitantly gulped the porridge down and clutched the papers Max gave him. No matter how hard it was, she knew that she needed to bear with Max until her plan succeeded.

The papers had detailed information about the Song Group, making it the first step for her to being able to grab her mother's shares. So for Leila, it was pretty much the most important thing in her life.

When Max left for work, Leila quickly called Johnson and told him that she wanted to start from the next day. Johnson agreed with no hesitation and told her to head straight for the logistics department tomorrow.

Max didn't come back that night, making Leila as happy as she's ever been. After a good night's sleep, she woke up early, got dressed, and went to the Song Group.

"Are you Miss Leila? The CEO told me you were coming today. Please follow me to your new office."

The director of the logistics department greeted her with a flattering smile. He was a man named Freddy Zhou. On their way there, all the employees they passed by couldn't help but be curious about who this young and beautiful lady was.

However, Leila ignored all of their curious glares and just followed Freddy to her office. When she arrived, she noticed that the room looked like it had been recently cleaned.

While sitting on a chair in front of her desk, Leila placed her hands on the table, smiled, and asked, "Mr. Zhou, you can leave me alone now. I'm sure you still have a lot to do."

"Alright, Miss Leila. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to let me know. Also, I've already assigned a secretary to you." After his response, he called out a name, then a young girl timidly walked into the office.

"Will do. Thank you for your help," Leila replied while glaring at the girl.

After that, Freddy nodded his head then left, closing the door behind him. When he returned to his office, his warm smile earlier disappeared. It was just an act all along. News of Leila being the eldest daughter of the Song family, and that she was with Max had spread around. How could he not be courteous? He believed that if Leila could put in a good word for him to Max, he would finally be able to leave his current job and work for the Mu Group.

That being said, he still didn't know what Leila was up to. So instead of being upfront about his goals, he observed her from afar, trying to see if she was any benefit to him.

Being left alone with the timid girl, Leila looked at her with a friendly smile and asked, "What's your name?"

"Uhh... I'm Tansy," the secretary meekly responded.

Her voice had a hint of panic in it, leaving Leila to question if she was being a bit too intimidating. "So how long have you been here?"

Tansy hesitated for a while, taking almost a full minute before she raised her head and gave an answer. "One month."

"Really?" Leila wasn't upset that she had an inexperienced secretary. In fact, she was happy about having one. A newcomer who knew nothing was definitely better than a spy who was sent to watch her every move. Building her own force slowly was definitely easier and less stressful than minding everyone else's every move with dread and doubt.

"Since I'm new here, I'm pretty sure I don't have that much work for you yet. You should just do whatever you want in the meantime," Leila uttered with a smile.

At that moment, Tansy took a good look at the beautiful woman in front of her and wondered why she was nothing like the rumors about her. This lady was easy to get along with!

"Alright. Please call me if you need anything,"

Tansy responded in a much more relaxed tone when she realized that Leila was a nice person after all. Then she turned around and left.

When Leila was finally all alone, she stared at the computer in front of her while the corners of her mouth turned into a scheming smile. Since she was still under keen eyes, she had to try her best to lie low so that she could take action without getting noticed.

Leila spent the whole day "working" in front of the computer while a few of her office mates peered into her office from time to time. At half-past three, she packed up her things then stood up to go home, following Max's overbearing rules.

On her way out, she passed a break room and heard a few female employees gossiping while having afternoon tea. Suddenly, she heard her name, so she stopped at the door and tried eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Did you hear about the news? Miss Leila was handed the position of vice manager right away while Miss Daisy has to start from the bottom just like us. The chairman is so unfair!"

"That's right! Miss Daisy is so easy to get along with compared to Miss Leila! I can't understand why she's the one getting special treatment."

"Who can bear to stare at such a pretentious face! She's horrible! I heard that Miss Leila stole Miss Daisy's fiance!"

"Really? She's that horrible?"

"If that's true, then Miss Leila really is a vicious woman. I can't believe someone would take a liking to such an arrogant woman."

Leila didn't stay long at the door. After a few seconds of listening, she walked away and rolled her eyes. She couldn't but applaud her sister for being able to make her look bad to everyone in such a short amount of time. What did she do that made her appear arrogant in everyone's eyes? Why were they calling her vicious? Wasn't Daisy the vicious one?

Leila walked out of the company doors in a bad mood, so she just wanted to go home. The villa's driver was waiting for her, so she walked towards the car. But before she could get in, she came across the last person she wanted to see.

"Leila! How have you been lately?"

It was Veron, wearing his casual gray clothes and walking towards her with a concerned look on his face. How ironic it was to meet the handsome man who had been occupying her heart for so many years after everything she'd heard.

"Hi, Veron. Or should I be calling you my brother-in-law? Are you here to pick up Daisy from work?" Leila greeted him with a distant smile, completely opposite of what she used to be. Seeing this, Veron couldn't help but frown a little.

Trying to patch up things with her, he walked to her side, held her hand, and said softly, "I know you still hate me, but it's not what you think. Let's find a place to talk, okay?"

Leila harshly pulled her hand back, looked at the people passing by, and replied with a frigid glare, "I'm sure you knew about my love for you over the years, but you chose Daisy. No matter what you say right now, you're nothing but my brother-in-law!"

After that, she opened the car door and stepped inside. Veron was caught off-guard by her words, leaving him in a daze until the car was far away. Did the pretty girl who used to chase him everywhere he went, really gave up on him?

Leila felt sick to her stomach on the way back to the villa. In her heart, she wanted to go to the hospital and be with her mother. But the thought of what Max said yesterday forced her to bear with the sadness, leaving her with nothing to do but read documents.

To make matters worse, Max finally came back in the middle of the night and forced himself upon her once again, leaving Leila in a daze.

The next day, Leila woke up and saw that Max was gone. She quickly took a bath, wore her office clothes, and headed out for work.

Meanwhile, Max was busy with work in the Mu Group's headquarters.

"Sir, Miss Liu is here to see you," the secretary politely said to Max on the phone.

Max was so busy that he didn't even bother to let go of the documents in his hand when he replied, "Tell her to leave."

Hearing this, the secretary gently placed down the phone and told the pretty woman, "I'm sorry Miss Liu, the president said that he's busy right now and can't entertain any guests."

The woman was wearing a tight black dress, which outlined her perfect figure. When she heard the secretary's words, she removed her big sunglasses, which showed her intimidating gaze. In a low voice, she replied, "I see, thank you."

The pretty woman had an arrogant tone, making the secretary feel a little uncomfortable, making it a little clearer why Mr. Mu had dumped her. She looked like a star, but so what? It wasn't her right to talk to innocent people in such a condescending tone!