"It must be really hard for you, Qiyan," Lu Xinyi said with sympathy, "I would love to help Starlight Collection, but I couldn't. I accepted Xia Yuhan's favor because she asked me as her friend. What kind of person I am if I'll throw away our friendship because of money?"
Help Starlight? Lu Xinyi mentally rolled her eyes. While it was true that she was already filthy rich because of Shen Yi, Flair Apparel's profits lately had added hundreds of thousands on her personal account.
"Qiyan, we'll give you a month to cut the loss of Starlight Collections. If it still persists, you better hand it back to Feiyan," Chairman Sun said with finality, without giving Sun Qiyan a chance to retort.
Sun Qiyan lowered her head and refused to meet everyone's gaze.
"Yes, Chairman. I understand," she answered politely to the old man.
Beside her, Sun Ruying furrowed her brows as she looked between Lu Xinyi and her eldest daughter. Lu Xinyi wasn't an assertive type of person before. What caused the change in her behavior? Was it because she got the confidence from being with President Shen?
The meeting continued and ended after two hours of discussion. Sun Qiyan was the first one to leave the conference room while the other investors and shareholders form a crowd around Lu Xinyi to ask about President Shen. It was known that it was hard to make a connection with the aloof president of the Shen Group.
Lu Xinyi answered each of the questions politely, saying President Shen wasn't as bad as everyone thought of him. It was just he always considered all the options available, making sure the decision he'd make wouldn't cause losses for the Shen Group.
When Chairman Sun saw how her granddaughter was received well by these people, he sighed in relief. He remained seated at the head of the long table, with Sun Feiyan reviewing the notes of the meeting.
"I can rest assured now that Xin'er is here." He then turned to look at his other granddaughter Sun Feiyan, "I also know it was hard for you, Feiyan. You've no siblings, and yet you also have to look after your other cousins."
"It's not a problem for me, Grandpa. Xinxin has a lot to learn about running the Sun Corps, giving her exposure like this will help her in the future." It was her, after all, who convinced Chairman Sun to ask Lu Xinyi to join this board meeting.
"Feiyan, I'm already old. I know I've wasted years and chances to make up to you and Xin'er. You two aren't also getting younger. Xin'er already has President Shen on her side. I'm not against it if she chooses to marry him… but you…"
Sun Feiyan slightly turned her head to the old man, not understanding why he's suddenly talking about their marriages.
"If you have someone in mind to marry, I'll allow you to marry him, whoever it is. No matter what family he comes from, I'll accept it." He patted Sun Feiyan's hand that was lying on top of the table.
Sun Feiyan couldn't help but sneer in her heart. Allow her to marry anyone she wished to? Why didn't he allow her father to marry her birth mother then? Wasn't he the one who told Sun Weijun how Liao Qiu would bring shame to the whole family if he married a maid?
She'd already thrown her chance to be with Ye Xingjie when she came home from abroad. Yet, he followed her back and chose to stay by her side as her bodyguard.
She also thought about how this old man was the biggest hypocrite she'd known in her life and an idiot on top of that.
Chairman Sun hadn't tried to seek the truth behind the death of her father and Sun Meixiu. He wasn't even aware that one of her granddaughters, Sun Qiushan, had died because of her evil sister.
If it wasn't for the fact that she adapted well and used her brain while living with her murderer aunts and cousin, Sun Feiyan believed she would be dead by now. Lu Xinyi being cast out from the family had saved her from more troubles. However, now that she was back, not only will Sun Mingai target Feiyan but also Xinxin.
---
When Lu Xinyi was done talking to the other shareholders, she stepped out of the conference room, only to find herself being dragged to the corner by Sun Ruying. Lu Xinyi held up her hand to gesture her bodyguards not to make a move and let Sun Ruying talk to her.
"Oh, Aunt Ruying. Do you miss me that much? Is there something I can help you with?" Lu Xinyi asked and smiled too sweet to the older woman's liking.
"What are you up to, Lu Xinyi? Isn't it enough that you'd cause the downfall of my company, and now you are targeting Qiyan? What did she do for you to do this?" Sun Ruying gritted her teeth, her grasp on Lu Xinyi's arm tightening.
"Oh, Aunt Ruying. Qiyan is perfectly aware of what she'd done against me, but are you?"
The old woman stared back on her with confusion.
"Aunt Ruying, I have to commend you for raising a daughter like Qiyan," Lu Xinyi said mockingly, "I didn't know the idiom 'like mother, like daughter' will fit you well."
Sun Ruying's face suddenly turned pale.
"W-what… what nonsense are you talking about Lu Xinyi?!"
It was then Lu Xinyi chose to wipe the smile off of her face and invaded the old woman's private space.
"Oh, Aunty. Ignorance is surely bliss for a person like you. However, it has been eight months since Qiushan's disappearance. What kind of mother are you, huh? Even a dog will find her lost puppy."
Sun Ruying could barely guess what Lu Xinyi was talking about, but her brain refused to believe that her eldest daughter would do something bad to Qiushan. In fact, what Lu Xinyi had said was true. It had been eight months, but she hadn't seen or heard Qiushan since then.
"Where's my daughter?! What did you do to my Qiushan?!" Sun Ruying demanded to Lu Xinyi.
"Calm down, Aunty. You wouldn't like people to believe that you still have some sort of mental illnesses," Lu Xinyi whispered lowly. "But you see, Aunty, you are asking the wrong person here. I didn't do anything to Qiushan. How about you ask your eldest daughter about her little sister?"
"Qiyan said she was busy and wouldn't come back soon…"
"Oh, and you believe her? That's so unlikely of Qiushan, Aunty." Lu Xinyi paused as a thought crossed her mind, "Tell you what, I'll tell you where Qiushan is if you can find out what Qiyan did wrong to me and Qiushan, deal?"
The old woman was shocked by Lu Xinyi's words. If her eldest daughter was hiding something from her, then Qiushan might not really be living abroad for the past months!
'Like mother, like daughter…'
Fear started to fill her entirety. What was it supposed to mean?
A seed of doubt engraved itself in her heart, and that was enough for Lu Xinyi.
Lu Xinyi pulled away from Sun Ruying and left the old woman deep in her thoughts.
"Call me at once when you're ready to see Qiushan… although I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be able to see you." Those were Lu Xinyi's parting words before leaving the Sun Corp with her bodyguards.
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