Chương 33: Face to Face

"Ma'am, Sir has agreed to meet you. You can take the elevator to the 15th floor" the receptionist informs her politely.

"He agreed? Thank you!" she thanks her with excitement.

Shi Lian's eyes are beaming with hope. She thought she will go back without hearing anything but the news surprised her. She takes the elevator and taps on the 15th floor; the elevator door closes and she waits anxiously to meet him.

She reaches the main office on the 15th floor. The area is isolated with no one but two men standing outside the big door. The surrounding gives chill that runs down her spine as if she is entering a devil's den.

The two men bow down to her and open the door for her. She steps inside, carefully watching her steps to not mess things up.

The office is huge; the first half is like a living room, there go low stairs that lead to where Fu Zichen is sitting. Big plants are placed at the corner of the room. The big windows give the office a modern sleek touch. She realizes that the interior is up to her taste; she would decide the same design if she ever renovates her office or something.

She looks to where the Chairman is sitting but she cannot see her face. The chair is turned opposite to her direction.

"Mr. Fu?" she asks making sure he is in the room and not some other person.

"Miss Mo" he responds in his dark husky voice.

"Shi Lian, please" she politely suggests.

'Shi Lian….beautiful name' Zichen muses, a smile playing on his lips. The moment he heard her voice, he felt some relief in his heart and a smile on his face.

"What brings you here, Miss Mo?" he asks, without facing her.

"You must be knowing about the plagiarism scandal. I am here to discuss something about it" she says with a professional tone.

"Oh, what do you want to discuss?" he asks, smirking.

"About that….can you please turn around so we can discuss it more smoothly?" she asks hesitantly.

She can sense the cold aura around the room from him. Most importantly, she finds his voice oddly familiar; she thinks she has heard his voice but she cannot reciprocate where.

"You sure?" he asks smirking.

"Um…Yes?" she replies with confusion. He turns his chair back to where she is standing. He looks up at her face and at that moment everything stopped for him.

Those long wavy brown hair which he longed to touch, those enchanting hazel brown eyes with long eyelashes are something to admire, her hearty full lips, that are sensual enough to make his heart go wild and that body….that body, those curves…it's pure divine for him. The peach color blouse and the skirt suit her.How can someone be this beautiful? The more he thinks of looking at her, his imagination goes wild and he cannot help but blush.

He feels her eyes on him and then he realizes that he is staring at her.

"Ahem!" he regains his composure and gets up from his chair.

He walks to where Shi Lian is standing and asks her to take a seat, "Have a seat."

As mesmerized as Zichen was, Shi Lian is too. The moment he turned to face her, and their eyes meet, her heart fluttered. She felt it as a familiar gaze but she is sure as hell that she never met him.

'But why does he feels so familiar to me?' she thinks again, taking a glance at him. She realizes that his voice is as smooth as silk and as dark as chocolate and that's what attracted her to him more.

"Can I ask something?" she hesitantly questions. He nods, his eyes fixed at her.

'Damn! His eyes are attractive as hell! Stop looking at me like that!' she blushes.

"Hav-Have we met before?"

Zichen frowns and his anger starts to rise. She doesn't remember him. What does she take him for?

"Why do you ask?" he asks gloomily.

"I felt your presence familiar so I thought we might have met before but I was wrong. I apologize for asking such a stupid question" she apologizes slightly bowing to him.

'This damn woman doesn't recognize me? Good! Very good!' the more he thinks, the more his anger rises.

"Indeed it was a stupid question. I have only ten minutes, make it fast whatever you want to discuss" he says rudely, like Fu Zichen, the Chairman.

"Yes, pardon me." she excuses to take out some documents,"You must be thinking that we imitate your design. "

"Yes, I do think"

"It's reasonable for you to think like that but our company did not copy yours. Our Mo company never believes in these kinds of lowly tricks. Your company released the design first in the market so it makes sense that we plagiarised yours because we released ours later."

"Come to the point," he says stubbornly with arrogance.

"There's a traitor in our company that has been selling out the blueprints of our design to yours," she says confidently.

"Miss Mo, do you know what you are saying?" he sneers at her.

"I do know. I may sound it like I am accusing your company, which I am not. I wanted to catch this traitor and for that, I need your help"

"My help?"

'Is this woman a fool or is she too bold?' he contemplates, raising his left eyebrow.

"Yes," she answers looking straight into his eyes.

'Why….Why do I have this strong feeling that I seen these eyes….heard this voice?' she cannot figure it nor can she ask about it to anyone.

"Why do you think I would agree to that?" he asks.

"Because I think you don't want these kinds of people in your company, right?" she smiles.

Fu Zichen blushes and instantly turns his head to his right side,

'Damn!' He controls himself and says,

"Quite impressive but I can do it by myself. Why would I need your company's help for that?"

'Sure enough, he is difficult to deal with.'

"Because I, I mean our company needs your help. And besides our Mo company is not an inferior company. The other reason I came to you is to have a collaboration with your company" she articulates.

Fu Zichen smirks hearing her proposal. In the past, he ignored the Mo company's proposals many times but this time, it's different.

"Mo corp is on the verge of going bankrupt. Why do I work with such a company?" he questions like a Chairman. He has this cold aura that makes Shi Lian shiver back to her spine.

'What an arrogant lad! If it wasn't for the sake of company, I won't be here listening to you!' she badmouths him in her mind.

"I know but who knows when it will reach the top? We can't predict the future, Mr. Fu" she says with elegance.

'This woman is so charming…..Why can't you just remember me!?' he pouts hiding his face with his big broad hand, sitting on the black leather couch.

"Well said…but right now it is no position or has no eligibility to have a collaboration with me," he says coldly.

"You!...." Shi Lian controls her anger and stops midway before she says something inappropriate.

"Mr. Fu, our Mo corp comes second in the whole continent. Even though we are having a bad time but it won't be long when the black clouds will be gone. I heard Mr. Fu is a reasonable man with high morals…so please consider it" she speaks with a forceful tone.

She can say more than that but she restraint herself from doing it.

"You are good at negotiating" he praises with a mild clap. "I will consider it" he pronounces. Hearing she has persuaded him is a great joy for her.

"Thank you so much sir!" she thanks him with a bright smile.

Zichen then smirks and scoots closer to her, leaving some distance between them.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Please do" she answers politely.

Getting a little more closer to her, her whispers in her ears, "You don't remember me?"

Shi Lian instantly backs away. Her face is red like a tomato and she flustered. Her heart is beating super fast and she is confused why did he ask such a question.

"Wh-What do you mean?" she asks with embarrassment.

"Nothing. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Mo" he smiles, scooting back to where he was sitting earlier.

'This jerk!' she can't even ask him because it will be too awkward and embarrassing.

"I hope to get a piece of good news from you. Good day sir!" she says gritting her teeth to control her temper.

Shi Lian gets on her heels and turns to make her exit. Fu Zichen cannot help but smile because she was looking cute when she was angry.

"You have to pay the price, wild kitty" he sneers looking at the documents she left on the table.