Obviously, Lu Qingfeng wasn't the only one who was confused with the sudden turn of events. Inside her own office, Xiao Yunyao threw everything that was within reach in her rage.
"Yao'er, calm down. This isn't the right time for you to act like this. We must control the situation as soon as possible before your father loses his trust in you." Her mother said in a gentle voice, but her eyes hid the menacing rage that couldn't wait to be unleashed.
The one who should be criticized right now should be Xiao Rufeng and not her daughter, but how did the situation turn out this way?
"Mom! How could I calm down when it's like this? More people are coming out, claiming that I've ruined their faces! Mr. Wan wouldn't even dare to pick up my calls and explain himself!" Xiao Yunyao exclaimed, her eyes red from crying.
"Damn it. It should be Xiao Rufeng filling the headlines now, not me. How did she manage to escape? Did Mr. Wan lie to us last night when he said that all was well on his side?"
The man was supposed to convince those customers to backout from the lawsuits, not to bring the issue into the spotlight! Now, none of them were able to reach Mr. Wan after collecting the favor for her request, which infuriated Xiao Yunyao further.
"I've already called the news outlets and bribed them to shut the articles down, but they refused." Her mother replied in confusion. "I don't understand. We are offering them a hefty amount of money, but none of them would agree. Is there someone targeting our company?"
Xiao Yunyao bit her thumb and continued to pace around her office. She also considered that, but the news was specifically focused towards her and not their company. She couldn't remember anyone she offended recently except for Xiao Rufeng.
Was her elder sister the one responsible for all of these then?
Xiao Yunyao shook her head. She knew very well what Xiao Rufeng was capable of and the latter was lacking not only with resources, but also influence. Xiao Rufeng couldn't possibly bribe those news outlets to attack her reputation fiercely like this.
Much to her irritation, someone had pushed and revealed that she was Xiao Rufeng's younger sister and many netizens had come forward to compare her with her elder sister. They were surprised to know that Xiao Rufeng came from a decent and wealthy family and hadn't used it to her advantage in the showbiz industry.
'I used to work on the same project with Xiao Rufeng before this and she was extremely professional. She's a very down to earth person and was willing to listen to others, unlike this younger sister of hers who's trying to bribe her detractors for speaking the truth.'
'I heard they were born from different mothers. It's obvious who got the better upbringing between the two.'
These not only infuriated Xiao Yunyao, but also her mother. Even in the Xiao household, they had house servants who were loyal to the former madam and favoring Xiao Rufeng over Xiao Yunyao. Many still thought that Xiao Rufeng should be the one to succeed the family business and not the younger sister.
A knock on the door took the mother and daughter's attention. Xiao Yunyao's assistant came in nervously and said, "Miss Xiao, you are being summoned by your father in his office."
Xiao Yunyao's face was twisted in an ugly grimace, but she willed herself to calm down just as her mother told her to. She cannot act recklessly in front of her father, or else she would lose everything to Xiao Rufeng.
What Xiao Yunyao didn't understand was that her older sister had no interest in running their business and would rather focus on acting than joining their company. However, Xiao Yunyao still perceived her sister as a threat for her inheritance.
"See? I told you to calm down. We wouldn't be able to fix the problem if you are acting silly like this." Her mother scolded her. "Now go and explain to your father."
Xiao Yunyao grimaced, but said no more. She hated that her mother kept harping about what to do and what not. She was already old enough to decide for herself, but her mother still treated her like a child, not taking her words seriously.
She went to see her father at once and lowered her head upon seeing him.
"Dad, what they are saying isn't true. You should know that I'm not capable of it." She said in a pitiful tone, as if she was about to burst into tears at any given moment.
However, her father's reaction was far from her expectation. If it was in the past, her father would only give her a disappointed look and shake his head, telling her not to worry about it anymore as he would deal with the problem himself, but not this time.
"Dad?" Xiao Yunyao called out, but it only made her father give her a displeased look.
"Mr. Yan's personal assistant has just called me to inform us that they are pulling out our products from their malls and department stores. Do you know how many problems you've given us this time?"
Xiao Yunyao's eyes widened. Yan Prime Holdings was the owner of a massive chain of shopping malls and hotels around the country. For them to pull out their brand and products from their outlets meant a massive sales loss for their company.
"I… I…" Xiao Yunyao didn't know what to say now.
If the Yan Prime Holdings blacklisted their products, other retail stores would surely follow. This was far from what Xiao Yunyao expected to happen when she made the deal with that unreliable Mr. Wan.
"I'm trying to give President Yan a call, but he won't accept any of it. You say that what the news were saying isn't true, but they came with proof, Yao'er. How do you explain that?"
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