Chapter 27: Cliché
"C-CEO Bai..." Duan Fen's lips started to tremble as hesitation filled his eyes.
It seemed like Bai Ruoxi had hit the jackpot. She leaned back onto the chair and let the man contemplated on whether or not he should tell her. One way or another, he would anyway. Currently, she was permitting him to have the easy one way, but if it came to another...
A malicious glint crossed her eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it came.
When Duan Fen raised his head to look at her, pleasant surprise beamed in his eyes. As he stared at her figure bathing under the light that was blaring through the glass walls, he now understood that it wasn't an exaggeration to acclaim Bai Ruoxi as the epitome of beauty. The aura she possessed was overbearing yet it had a hint of mischief, as though she took pleasure in inflicting and witnessing the fear of her opponents.
Let alone the fact that she didn't appear to be trustworthy, Bai Ruoxi had also gotten the position of CEO through Chairman Bai and this was only her first day in the company. She didn't have any personal connection nor a solid foundation yet. Furthermore, they had talked about how she was just a spoiled stupid heiress.
How... how could Duan Fen trust somebody like her?
"Do I look that unreliable in your eyes, Duan Fen?" Bai Ruoxi asked as though she had seen through his thoughts. She crossed her arms on her chest and raised a brow, inwardly assessing her face. "Well, it's not like I care. As long as I can get the money back and throw someone to jail, I don't mind who."
All she needed was somebody related to the case to shoulder the blame. Anyone was fine, but Bai Ruoxi considered it to be a shame if it was Duan Fen. He was timid and a bad liar, somebody like this couldn't possibly have the guts to backstab anyone if he wasn't forced into a corner.
Somebody like this was what Bai Ruoxi wanted in her little team.
When Duan Fen heard the word jail, it was as though his world had crumbled. He tightened his jaw and fist, shifting his priorly averted eyes back to Bai Ruoxi. When he looked straight into her eyes and saw that they bore nothing but patience, his heart trembled.
"Do you promise to help me, CEO Bai?" He spoke after contemplating for so long.
Bai Ruoxi chuckled, "I don't make promises, Duan Fen. But I do believe that once said, words can't be taken back."
Promises are made to be broken, that's what she thought. Promises were nothing but honey-coated lies.
"Sit down."
Duan Fen nodded and went to sit in front of Bai Ruoxi. From this close, he could see her flawless features even clearer. It caused him to lower his face in embarrassment.
"Who is it?" One of her hand was propping the side of her face, while the other tapped the glass table.
"It's... it's ex-CEO Zhao, Zhao Mingkun."
"Hmm," Bai Ruoxi hummed and looked unsurprised, which intrigued Duan Fen.
"Did you suspect him from the start?"
Bai Ruoxi shrugged lazily, "More or less. And he threatened you?"
Duan Fen nodded and gulped, "Yes."
No wonder that dog bastard ignored those sorely obvious mistakes in the proposal. Turned out he wasn't incompetent, but awfully cunning instead. He already prepared a scapegoat from the start.
Bai Ruoxi proceeded to ask how had Zhao Mingkun threatened Duan Fen. The man admitted that his sister was a starlet in the film industry and she had used Zhao Mingkun's influence to get some major roles. Zhao Mingkun then threatened to expose her if Duan Fen didn't do as he said.
The old cliché, she jeered.
Bai Ruoxi thought that there would be something more, something that could entertain her further. But this was just utterly disappointing.
"Show me a picture of your sister." Bai Ruoxi asked lazily. She had more or less lost half of her interest.
Duan Fen immediately took out his phone and searched for the picture of his sister before showing it over to Bai Ruoxi. "Her name is Duan Mi, they call her Mimi in the industry."
Bai Ruoxi glanced at the picture and hummed. "She's pretty." But it wasn't captivating or breathtaking in any way. Just pretty enough to survive as a C grade celebrity.
Bai Ruoxi was just about to ask another question when she seemed to realize something. She looked at the picture again and narrowed her eyes. This brat... wasn't this Mimi present at Bai Ruoxi's birthday party? She had been wondering how a few celebrities she didn't invite manage to get in, so that's how. But Bai Ruoxi distinctly remembered that Zhao Mingkun didn't attend the event.
"Does your sister know you're being threatened?"
Duan Fen nervously shook his head. "Ex-CEO Zhao strictly forbade me from saying anything to anyone."
Did Mr. Zhao have a hand in as well?
Bai Ruoxi glanced at Duan Fen back and forth with lack of interest. Her fingers seemed to be typing something on the keyboard, but her movement was too fast, it appeared as though she was only randomly pressing the keys out of boredom.
"Alright, I'll help you figure something out." Bai Ruoxi smiled sweetly. "You may leave now." She waved one of her hands as the other was still making those annoying clicking sounds.
Duan Fen stood up and slightly bowed towards her before finally excusing himself. The instant the door closed, Bai Ruoxi stopped her hand and her gaze turned cold. She seemed to be lost in thought until the ringing of her phone woke her from her stupor.
"I just saw your message. Why would you want to check a Duan Mi's bank account? From what I see she's just an insignificant starlet."
Bai Ruoxi giggled, "You'll know. Just check it out for me, will you? I'll send the payment later."
"Fine." He grumbled. "Did something happen? Why do you sound so excited?"
"Oh, you can tell?" Bai Ruoxi spun her chair around until it reached the edge of the glass wall. A smile bloomed on her lips, a sinister one. "Someone just caused me to lose face."
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