The sound of footsteps reverberated along the wide corridor of a building complex.
The walls were smooth because of the perfect scridding done by a craftsman, and a milk-coloured paints adorned the walls.
The tiles that decorated the floor along its path had a mixture of white and black which readily suited the white ambiance.
Walking on the quiet path of this hallway was a woman with a stack of papers in her hands. A light pink lipstick smeared accurately on her lips.
A pair of reading glasses shielded her weak eyes from the bright lights along her path.
On her face stood a serious expression as she walked ahead.
She only came to a stop in front of a door with a tag, 'Assistant Bolin'
Without wasting time, she clenched her hand into a fist before bringing it up to knock on the door.
"Come in." A curt reply from the owner of the office reached her ears from the inside.
Bringing her hand to the door handle, the woman in her early 30's bent it slightly before pushing the door open and stepping inside.
Her gaze met straight Bolin and a small appeared at the corner of her lips as she bowed her head slightly.
"Mr. Bolin," she greeted before closing the door behind her and proceeded to step forward.
"Yes, Manager Choi." Bolin said raising his head from his desk with a look of curiousity.
Manager Choi quickly went ahead to state the reason she came to find him.
"I headed the interview for the newbies that were selected. Everyone was here except for one Miss Zhang Liling. I just thought that I shouldet you know about it since the Boss selected these people."
'Ah...right...' Bolin exclaimed in his head. He had almost forgotten about this.
Managing a smile, he quickly said to her, "Thank you for the report, I will inform Mr. Fang about this."
"Alright," The woman said before passing him the stack of papers before continuing, "These are the details of all the candidates that were accepted today. There were a total of 9 of them."
Although Fang Group had selected a number of people from thousands out there that applied to them, and offered them a place, they still had to be interviewed before their primary aassignment would be given to them.
Zhang Liling was indeed offered a place, but she still had an interview to attend befire she would be officially accepted, given her work ID and work desk.
Since she didn't attend the interview, everything was gone now.
Placing his hand on the new set of files that made their way on his desk, he said to her, "I will look at them later and take care of the rest."
"Thank you," the woman said. Then proceeding to bow slightly, she said, "Then I will take my leave now."
Bolin nodded at her and watched her turn to leave. He only retracted his gaze when she shut the door.
A soft sigh fell of his lips before his right hand reached for the black telephone on his desk. Pressing just one number on the pad, he placed the phone on his ear.
Two rings after, the person at other end answered.
"Mr. Fang, about Miss Zhang's interview that was supposed to take place 2 hours ago, a written report should be sent. Should I write one myself or ask Miss Zhang to do it herself?"
It could ruin Zhang Liling's future prospect of working in Fang Group if there was no statement from her.
It was only right for her to leave a statement behind stating the reason she was absent from the interview.
In the future if she still had plans of coming to work in Fang Group, she would still be considered.
There was only a short moment of silence before Mr. Fang's response came.
"I will take care of Zhang Liling's mater myself." Mr. Fang said and immediately out down the phone before shifting his serious attention back to the screen of his laptop
He was currently looking at new set of products in the market.
After what seemed like a minute later he sighed and leaned his back to the backrest of his chair as his gaze wandered off.
Mr. Fang could remember what Zhang Liling told him while giving him the last hug.
FLASHBACK BEGINS...
"Mr. Fang, I will miss you so much." Zhang Liling said with the side of her face resting on his chest as her lashes fluttered close.
There was a silence from Fang Bingwen's end, but his actions spoke volumes.
To her statement, he moved the hands lying limply at his sides to her back to return the hug.
This was a silent response that spoke more volumes than the one voiced from the throat.
The corners of Zhang Liling's curled as three streaks of wrinkles appeared at the corner of her eyes.
"I Love you Mr. Fang." She confessed from the deepest part of her heart.
Her current predicament had taught and showed her that Mr. Fang indeed liked her and was already reciprocating to the feelings she heard for him.
All this while that he has been indulging her just proved that he indeed felt something for her, and that was what gave her the courage to behave the way she did, while living in his villa.
He, Fang Bingwen, gave her the audacity.
Only if he knew this, he wouldn't have bothered wasting his breath to always ask her what gives her the guts to act the way she does.
It was only because he had a soft spot for her that made him ignore her excesses.
A soft sigh escaped Mr. Fang's lips as they slowly parted to bring forth words. "You don't know what love is, don't confess it."
In response, she replied enthusiastically. "Mr. Fang I just know that I would never be at peace if I don't end up with you. I never want anything bad to come your way."
Without waiting for his response which she thought she didn't need, she continued.
"Mr. Fang, what are you going to do now that I'm leaving? How will you cope after getting used to the relief my scent brings to you?" She asked as she raised her head to meet his gaze.
To that question, Mr. Fang wasn't sure if what response to give.
The reply he wanted to give was already at the tip of his tongue, but at the end, he just swallowed them up and released a long sigh.
He had wanted to say, 'I can manage like I have been doing before you came into my world' but something told him that it wouldn't be so who was true.
And this is the reason he held back from saying things that were not true.
"That is why you must come back." He said as something, an emotion flashed past his eyes.
In that split second, Zhang Liling saw it, but refused to doubt that she saw wrongly.
She felt like kissing him on the lips, but in order not to make things difficult for him since they were in a public place, she placed the side of her face back on his chest and rubbed it.
"Mr. Fang, you have to wait for me, I will be back." Her soft voice echoed in his ears.
FLASHBACK ENDS...
Letting out a long sigh, he slowly moved his gaze back to his laptop screen.
*******
"What?!" Shi Wenqian exclaimed in shock as she rose to her feet in lightening speed.
"What do you mean you didn't see her?!" She shouted over the phone as her entire face contoured in a frown.
The person over the phone let out a soft sigh that transmitted his restlessness before his shocked tone came up.
"Ma'am, we didn't see Zhang Liling today. We have been waiting outside the Fang tower since 7 in the morning, but we are yet to catch sight of her."
"What kind of nonsense is that?! Would that girl who had been going on about entering Fang Group miss her interview?! The Zhang Liling I know would never do that!"
The way Shi Wenqian spoke with confidence, showed that she had indeed studied Zhang Liling, and was sure that she would never miss her interview.
"Ma'am, it's likely that she skipped today. My men are stationed at every corner of the building, including the underground parking lot. We will never miss her if she had indeed showed up."
Shi Wenqian was almost going crazy and immediately placed the blame on her minion. "You must have missed her you idiot!!"
The man on the other end was almost going crazy too. He was professional and refused to believe that he and his men would miss that tiny familiar figure.
After much contemplation he had to admit that he must have mistakenly missed her.
"Ma'am, give us till the end of work hours to bring her to you."
It was only then that Shi Wenqian seemed to calm down, but she didn't forget to scold the hell out of him before dropping the call.
"You morons! Make sure to bring her to the basement as soon as you get a hold of her."
At night, Shi Wenqian received the worst news ever. Zhang Liling never showed up for her interview, and it was confirmed after one of the gangster went inside to check things out.
After going hysterical and spewing cursed words, one thought remained in her mind as she calmed down.
Where could Zhang Liling be?
Unknown to her, her stepdaughter had left for a place thousands of miles away from her evil clutches.
And she would never set her eyes on her till her attention had moved elsewhere in utter defeat.
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