Chapter 14: 014 Declares His Desire for Monopoly_1
Jiang Xi saw the girl's full face clearly, her complexion deathly pale as she froze in place, staring straight at her, feeling wave after wave of coldness in her heart.
Because the girl before her had grown up to be the spitting image of Bai Wanwan from those years ago.
Bai Mengmeng saw the shock in Jiang Xi's eyes, her red lips curved slightly as she stood up gracefully and walked towards her.
She stopped in front of Jiang Xi, her deliberately lowered voice carrying a hint of intimacy, "I heard you were sick, I was just thinking of asking my brother-in-law to take me to see you."
Jiang Xi clenched her hands into fists, her fingernails digging into her palms, not even feeling the pain.
Bai Mengmeng, seeing her face turn even whiter, leaned in closer, her voice gleeful with malice, "I heard you tried to commit suicide last night, what a pity, even like that, you couldn't keep my brother-in-law."
Jiang Xi's breath tightened, a persistent pain emerging in her chest, she bit her lower lip, "How do you know about that?"
"Brother-in-law told me, we were together last night, didn't he send you a photo? How about that, was the photo interesting?" Bai Mengmeng's eyes were full of triumph.
She tugged at her neckline, revealing a bright kiss mark on her collarbone, "Brother-in-law is so passionate, he couldn't wait to find me as soon as I returned to the country."
Jiang Xi looked at the kiss mark on her collarbone, feeling a surge of nausea.
Bai Mengmeng was very close, the sweet cloying scent of her perfume invading Jiang Xi's breath, seeing Jiang Xi's sickly face, she gloated, "Brother-in-law is so naughty, always likes to leave marks on someone, declaring his possessiveness..."
"Ugh..."
Jiang Xi couldn't hold back and retched.
Bai Mengmeng's face changed drastically, immediately stepping back several paces, putting distance between herself and Jiang Xi, her face an array of vivid expressions, "Jiang Xi, are you doing this on purpose?"
Jiang Xi covered her mouth, barely suppressing the strong urge to vomit, and walked past Bai Mengmeng back to her own desk.
Bai Mengmeng, unwilling to be ignored, chased after her in a few steps and said indignantly, "Jiang Xi, you probably don't know yet, but brother-in-law invited me back as his secretary. In the future, you'll often see us together."
Jiang Xi ignored her.
Bai Mengmeng's desire to flaunt was unsatisfied, venting her growing frustration, "Just keep pretending to be high and mighty here, from now on, I won't let you off easy."
With anger boiling within her, Bai Mengmeng stormed off, leaving Jiang Xi whose shoulders had been tensely braced, to slump down. She stared at the reflection of her face on the computer screen, a bitter smile working its way through.
After what happened last night, she thought her heart had already been so numb with pain that it would never hurt again.
But Bai Mengmeng's arrival still inflicted upon her a piercing heartache.
Gu Bichen...
He was too cruel!
He always knew how to humiliate her.
Zhang Yaqi leaned over and whispered to her, "Jiang Xi, do you know Secretary Bai? This morning, President Gu took her around the company, both of them laughing and chatting. I've never seen President Gu smile so happily before. She couldn't be President Gu's mysterious married wife that no one's ever seen, could she?"
"I don't know," Jiang Xi said.
Bai Mengmeng had spoken very softly just before, audible only to the two of them, which was no surprise that Zhang Yaqi would think this way.
Zhang Yaqi speculated on her own, "I heard President Gu's first love's surname is Bai, that must be right, Mrs. Gu is really beautiful."
Jiang Xi bit her lower lip tightly, nearly breaking the skin as Zhang Yaqi's relentless prattle reached her ears.
"Mrs. Gu is beautiful and sweet-talking, and yet so magnanimous—a true role model for socialites. Jiang Xi, do you think she knows about President Gu's mistresses popping up everywhere?"
"I don't know."
Zhang Yaqi, hearing her impatient tone, turned to see her face contorted with ugliness, and sullenly said, "Jiang Xi, I've wanted to ask for a long time—are you and President Gu having an affair?"
Jiang Xi frowned, "What do you mean?"
"After you returned from President Gu's office yesterday, there were ambiguous marks on your neck. Do you dare to say your relationship with President Gu is innocent? If you're so innocent, why would Mrs. Gu be the first one to come looking for you?" Zhang Yaqi's voice was so loud that nearly the entire marketing department could hear.
Others had already perked up their ears to listen to the gossip.
Jiang Xi felt the odd looks from her colleagues, a burning discomfort in her chest—despite truly being Mrs. Gu, at that moment, she had become the mistress who couldn't see the light of day.
She clenched her fists, "Zhang Yaqi, don't talk nonsense without evidence."
Zhang Yaqi had long disliked Jiang Xi's aloof demeanor. Blushing and turning pale with embarrassment after being rebuked, she sarcastically said, "Then tell me, why did Mrs. Gu come to the marketing department to look for you?"
Hearing her refer to Bai Mengmeng as Mrs. Gu, rage surged within Jiang Xi, and she couldn't help but retort, "I am the..."
Fortunately, reason returned just in time to capture the rush of her impulses. She swallowed the words "Mrs. Gu" back down and said sternly, "It's working hours now. Instead of gossiping, you should focus on doing your job well and avoid working overtime."
Zhang Yaqi's face changed unpredictably, her voice rose even louder, "Don't think just because you slept with President Gu a few times, you can start acting like Mrs. Gu, ordering people around. In front of the legitimate Mrs. Gu, you're nothing but a shameful mistress."
"You!"
Jiang Xi clenched her teeth tightly to hold back from slapping Zhang Yaqi's face.
"Jiang Xi, if you have the mood to worry about whether I work overtime or not, you might as well think about how to keep your status as a lover, hmph!" Zhang Yaqi snorted coldly and turned back to her desk.
With the commotion between them, the marketing department was abuzz with idle chatter, and Jiang Xi overheard people calling her a mistress behind her back in the restroom.
She very much wanted to rush out and set things straight, but rumors are started by one loose tongue, and it takes running a thousand legs to squash them.
Unless she came forward with her marriage certificate with Gu Bichen, the rumors would always haunt her.
Yet she didn't want anything to do with Gu Bichen anymore.
Jiang Xi returned to her desk, only to see Director Zhang standing next to it with a document in hand. As soon as she approached, he handed her the document, "Jiang Xi, deliver this document to the General Manager's office, President Gu is waiting for it."
Jiang Xi felt a strong resistance internally.
But Director Zhang didn't give her a chance to refuse, placing the document on her desk and returning to his office.
Jiang Xi glared at the document as if it were an enemy. Zhang Yaqi's mockery echoed in her ears, "Director Zhang is giving you an opportunity here, don't waste it, go quickly."
At her words, the other people in the office snickered and lowered their heads.
Jiang Xi glared at Zhang Yaqi through gritted teeth and, with a document in hand, stormed out of the marketing department.
Jiang Xi took the elevator up, intending to hand the document to Gu Bichen's secretary and immediately go back downstairs. But when she reached the General Manager's office, there was no one around.
She bit her lip and walked to the office door.
The door was ajar, and from inside came ambiguous sounds.
Jiang Xi was frozen on the spot, her pupils trembling. Reason urged her to leave quickly, but her emotions tugged at her to peek through the gap in the door.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone