“Morning, Mr. Gu!”
“Morning, Mr. Gu!”
Lu Yue nodded in greeting, a faint dry smile squeezed onto his pale face. The tall assistant followed respectfully behind him, his serious face giving off an intimidating vibe.
Inside the elevator, Lu Yue seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief, leaning his weight against the elevator wall, the pain in his ankle finally subsided.
The golden metal surface of the elevator wall reflected clearly the slightly breathless and pale expression of the young man behind, if it were before, He Lang would definitely rush to embrace the young man and comfort him softly. Unfortunately…
With a “ding” sound, the elevator door opened, and Lu Yue reverted back to a calm demeanor. Fortunately, the CEO’s office was not far, and they arrived in less than a minute.
“Please pour me a cup of coffee.” Lu Yue spoke to his assistant.
The tall assistant nodded and turned to leave.
Thinking back to the breakfast this morning when Lu Yue made it vomit, he didn’t eat much and vomited everything out.
001: [Host, are you still feeling sorry for yourself?]
Lu Yue, holding his hungry stomach, said: [Yeah, my beloved died, so of course, I’m too sad to eat.]
001 sympathetically said: [Host, if all hosts work as hard as you do, I believe the world would eventually be harmonious!]
Lu Yue: [Don’t say these beautiful words, when this world’s task is over, I’m going to apply for a three-day vacation to travel to a non-task world.]
001: [Well, I’ll go and apply with the main system, it shouldn’t be a problem. Host, keep it up!]
Having received the desired promise, Lu Yue finally stopped complaining and then proceeded to open the file in front of him.
Previously, he had learned from the system that Hongzhi Group had been in a long-term cooperative relationship with their company. But ever since Deng Hui took over as the person in charge of Hongzhi, his attitude had been unclear. It wasn’t until Gu An received a call from Deng Hui that he realized Deng Hui was plotting against him.
Gu An had no choice but to deal with him, hoping that the company could secure the investment for the next quarter by pleasing Deng Hui.
Unfortunately, before he could resolve this matter, He Lang had an accident.
And today was the day both of their companies were supposed to negotiate.
“Mr. Gu, here’s your coffee.” Long slender fingers touched the dark rim of the cup, and the steamy aromatic liquid, due to a slight vibration, settled back into calmness.
Lu Yue lifted the coffee, and the scent that reached his nose unexpectedly carried a hint of familiarity. For a moment, he thought He Lang had returned.
Seeing Lu Yue staring at the coffee in a daze, the assistant beside him gently reminded, “Mr. Gu, is it not to your liking?”
Lu Yue snapped out of his daze and took a sip from the coffee. At this moment, touching upon memories would only remind him of the cruel reality, the fact that He Lang was already dead would make it difficult for him to breathe.
“No, let’s go to the meeting first.” At last, Lu Yue ignored the coffee and hurriedly walked out of the almost suffocating room.
The assistant behind him remained silent as usual, his dim eyes slightly lowered, lips pressed into a tight curve.
No one knew what he was thinking at the moment, but after he left, the coffee cup behind him was already empty.
001: [Host, let me tell you something, just now the male lead poured hot coffee over the cactus on your desk, I reckon your cactus won’t survive for long.]
Lu Yue automatically replaced the cactus with himself, feeling a secret relief about his upcoming next action.
Inside the meeting room, there were two rows of eight seats around a rectangular table. As soon as Lu Yue walked in, he felt the gaze from across the table, while at the same time, he distinctly sensed a surge of strong anger emanating from behind him.
“Why is it just Mr. Gu here? Where’s Mr. He?” Deng Hui, leaning back leisurely, with a faint smile on his lips, looked at Lu Yue’s eyes as if he were a hawk capturing its prey, making Lu Yue feel uncomfortable all over.
Suppressing his inner disgust, Lu Yue calmly explained, “Mr. He has some business to attend to and won’t be available these days. I’m in charge of the company’s affairs in his absence.”
Deng Hui stroked his chin with one hand and chuckled softly, “Is that so? Well, let’s begin then.”
Next, both sides started reporting on the earnings from the previous quarter and their intentions regarding renewal and investment.
“We’ve been cooperating with your company all along. Naturally, we believe in your strength, but of course, I trust Mr. Gu even more.” Deng Hui’s tone shifted, his eyes ambiguously glanced at the restrained Lu Yue across the table.
“But as for the investment, we still need to discuss it further. After all, the company’s affairs are not decided by me alone.”
Lu Yue looked at Deng Hui’s irritating smile, feeling like his heart was on fire, his eyes burning red.
What’s the point of saying such hypocritical words to someone who doesn’t know that Deng Hui alone has the final say in Hongzhi? Yet he still puts on this pretense of not having the final say!
Lu Yue wished he could get closer and tear off that hateful face of his.
After leaving the meeting room, Lu Yue walked straight back, despite the injuries to his feet and legs. He hurried back, eager to get away from Deng Hui.
But unfortunately, before he could take a few steps, he was grabbed by someone from behind.
“Mr. Gu, why are you in such a hurry? We haven’t seen each other for several days. Won’t you invite me to your office for a chat?” Deng Hui’s malicious face was uncomfortably close, and Lu Yue shook him off as if he had been infected with a virus.
“It’s work hours now, I don’t have time to entertain Mr. Deng. Please leave, Mr. Deng.”
Deng Hui, who was pushed away, looked very unpleasant. He sneered, “So, you don’t want my investment anymore?”
“You!” Lu Yue stared at him, “How can there be such shameless people in the world like you?”
Once again hitting the young man’s sore spot, Deng Hui approached recklessly, gently placing his hand on Lu Yue’s slender waist, and ambiguously caressing up and down.
“Am I shameless? Haven’t you known that for a long time?” Deng Hui whispered hotly in Lu Yue’s ear, even trying to kiss him!
He Lang, who witnessed all this, almost went mad with rage. His clenched fists turned blue and white with anger. The pain and hatred of being betrayed by his lover once again filled his mind, like countless entangled threads, exploding with a bang.
Gu An, you did betray me after all…
Sensing the intense fluctuation in the male lead’s anger, 001 immediately alerted Lu Yue: [Host, oh no! The male lead is about to turn evil again! Be careful!]
Lu Yue felt like crying inside. Why did the male lead always turn evil at the drop of a hat? But it’s okay. He could use this opportunity to let the male lead see how serious he was about resisting.
Unable to bear Deng Hui’s advances any longer, Lu Yue finally pushed him away and shouted, “Security!”
It wasn’t until Deng Hui left with a livid face that Lu Yue breathed a deep sigh of relief.
He knew there would be consequences for angering Deng Hui this time, but even if the company faced more difficulties, he didn’t want to yield to that man anymore. He Lang was gone, and he couldn’t betray him again, absolutely not…
“Mr. Gu, are you okay?” The assistant behind him approached, his formulaic voice without any warmth, reminding Lu Yue of his lover’s cold body.
“I’m fine.” Lu Yue straightened his shirt, which had been messed up by Deng Hui, and then walked slowly towards the elevator.
“Are Mr. Gu and Mr. Deng in that kind of relationship?” The usually silent man suddenly spoke in the quiet elevator.
Lu Yue was surprised at first, then heard him say, “Sorry, that’s your private matter, I shouldn’t have asked.”
In an instant, Lu Yue felt as if he heard his lover sulking in front of him. He was so familiar with He Lang. They had lived together for over a decade, and he knew his tone, demeanor, the curve of his lips, and his habitual gestures inside out.
Upon closer thought, his assistant did seem different lately. But how could Zhou He be He Lang? His He Lang was still lying alone in bed.
After a silent bitter smile, Lu Yue calmly replied, “No.” They had no relationship at all.
In the afternoon, Lu Zixi finally called regarding the situation at the accident site today. Unfortunately, they didn’t discover any other factors there, meaning it was undoubtedly just an accident.
An accident?
Was He Lang’s death just an accident?
Lu Yue knew it wasn’t an accident. If it weren’t for that banquet that day, if he hadn’t agreed to Deng Hui’s request, if he had confessed to He Lang earlier, or if he had patiently explained to him at the time, none of this would have happened.
He was the one who killed He Lang!
It was him who caused his lover to endure the fear of death alone in the darkness, and finally died with resentment!
That’s right! ——It’s all his fault!
It’s you who killed him!
It’s you!
It’s me…