An Xiulan went to her mother’s office. She saw Shen Yue talking with someone in the reception area. Although her entire family worked here, the number of times she had been to this office, she could not recall. It was just too little. Many people did not even know that she was An Qinyan’s daughter.
“Miss, who do you want to meet?” The receptionist politely asked.
“I am here to meet Lu Xuan, “An Xiulan answered. “If he is in a meeting, I can wait.”
She did not know what was wrong with her brother but lately, he had been burying himself with so much work that the family almost didn’t see him. Today, she decided to come to the office and ask him why he had been acting like a sad man whose life had been destroyed. If he was having a problem, he could have talked to her but instead, he was using work as an excuse to avoid people.
It was not hidden from anyone that Lu Xuan was ignoring people but the question was why he was doing so. What was his reason for behaving like that? They all had been worried sick about him.
“I am sorry, Miss. But we can’t let you meet Mr. Lu, “The receptionist said. “It is clear from his orders that he does not like to meet anyone.”
What the receptionist wanted to say was that Lu Xuan had said in crystal clear words that if any woman came to meet him, they should not be let inside. Lately, there was not even a single dating incident associated with his name. Each day a new girl would come to meet him but they would be sent away from him.
The oblivious receptionist was of the view that An Xiulan was one of the same women. She must have been here to meet Lu Xuan but he had strictly told them not to let any woman come near him.
“You can leave your message. We will try to communicate it to him, “The receptionist said with a smile. All the women that Lu Xuan dated were high profile and they could not offend even a single of them. The woman standing in front of him in a lemon pantsuit was a gorgeous one. Perhaps, the prettiest of all the women that came here but it seemed like her beauty was not enough.
“Leave a message?” An Xiulan scoffed. “He just wants to be beaten by me!”
With this said, she marched ahead angrily. The receptionist was horrified by her words and attitude and moved quickly to hold An Xiulan but the guards gestured to her to let her go.
It was at this time Shen Yue’s attention turned to An Xiulan who just commanded the attention of the entire place with her entry. She was surprised to find An Xiulan here as the latter rarely came here.
“Xiuxiu, how come you are here today?” Shen Yue asked as she excused the people she was talking to.
An Xiulan looked at her bestie and explained the crisis that she was going through, “My brother had been acting like an ass. If I won’t come, who will? Do you know he doesn’t even take my calls these days?”
It started from the time when Lu Xuan stopped coming home or attending calls from both family and friends. Earlier, they all thought that Lu Xuan was just upset because he had been scolded by his mother for his ways of non-serious approach to life but later when they found from Gu Shangyan that the man had not been in touch with him as well did An Xiulan started feeling that something was out of ordinary.
Shen Yue paused. She knew what An Xiulan was talking about. Well, it was not just her. The entire office knew about it. Director Lu Xuan had been possessed by a ghost. There had been a lot of rumors floating in the office and one of them was that he began getting serious with his work because of the arrival of Gu Shangyan who was another heir in the race for inheritance. Orchard group of hotels was a huge hotel chain whose worth was billions. Lu Xuan would be stupid to let the company go to someone else when he worked hard for his position.
If it was the only rumor, it would have been better but many more forms of rumors had taken birth in a couple of days. These days Lu Xuan was the topic of every gossip in the office.
There were other rumors that said that Shen Yue, who used to work closely with Director Lu had been snatched by Gu Shangyan. Shen Yue did not even know why when she was pulled into this mess where she had no part in it.
Lu Xuan has been very silent these days. Even though he had been the topic of gossip, he had not uttered a word about this matter yet. It was not like he did not know what was going on around him. It was just that he felt it was completely ridiculous and relevant or somewhere these matters were trivial to him that did not need any kind of attention at all.
Under him, his entire staff was tortured and scared. Those people felt like they were on pins and needles all the time. They were even afraid to talk to him or ask questions. Many employers have been fired and shifted to other departments because they could not bear with his department. He had been tiring and overworking his staff like a demon lord. Yes, demon lord was the name given to him these days because of the way he had been acting.
“Odd?” Shen Yue asked. “Lately, everything has been a mess. There have been different kinds of rumors affecting Lu Xuan and Gu Shangyan. I don’t know if it has reached President An yet or not.”
“What kind of rumors?” An Xiulan asked her. If she knew that these rumors were exactly what she hated, she was going to be very angry.
“That Lu Xuan and Gu Shangyan are fighting for inheritance.”
“What the hell? Does it even make sense?” An Xiulan asked, barely controlling her anger.
“It may not make sense to us but it makes complete sense to the people who don’t know the dynamics of your family, “Shen Yue said. “They have been stretching these rumors and to be honest, it has been getting on my nerves now. I want to correct everyone but Gu Shangyan and Lu Xuan are silent and I can’t speak on their matter. And these days Lu Xuan is scared that you can’t even mention anything to him. You don’t know when he will end up bursting out.”
“I want to see Lu Xuan, “An Xiulan suddenly said. “Take me to him.”
“Currently, he is in a conference, “Shen Yue said. “You cannot meet him yet. Come with me. You can wait in my office.”
“No, I am fine here, “An Xiulan said. “You must be busy. Carry on with your work.”
“Don’t worry about my work, “Shen Yue said, taking a seat with her in the waiting area.
“Aren’t you going to meet your mom?” Shen Yue asked.
“I will see her at home, “An Xiulan said. “We are pretending that the problem with Lu Xuan is not that big. Seeing her here would mean that we are accepting that Lu Xuan is in big trouble.”
Shen Yue could only sympathize with An Xiulan.
“What is going on in the office?” An Xiulan asked. “It seems that the conference is important.”
“It is actually important, “Shen Yue answered. “When President An shifted to China, her post in America was handled by the executive that she chose herself but now that executive is retiring and someone needs to fill that post. She is not ready to promote someone from that office and so she is sending someone from here. The meeting is to choose a person from here. And since there are so many people eyeing that position, I don’t think that this matter will be resolved in just one conference.”
“The matter sounds important, “An Xiulan commented. “It is so easy to practice law than work in the family business.”
Shen Yue smiled. “Well, I don’t think that would be this easy.”
“Where is Yan Ge?” An Xiulan asked.
“He is also in the meeting, “Shen Yue answered. “He might not be holding a top executive position in the office yet but he is still a shareholder. He has to attend the conference.”
“Oh, does it mean I can also join?” An Xiulan asked.
“Do you want to join?” Shen Yue raised her brow in return.
“Troublesome, “An Xiulan muttered.