By the time Yue Ling returned from An Qing, the sky above Imperial slowly began to lose its light as night gradually took over. She steps out from the back seat of her assistant's car and looks back at the man in the driver's seat.
"If you don't have much to do in your office, you can leave. I'll see you tomorrow."
Liu Shan was just about to turn the car off when he heard his boss. He looks over his shoulder and meets her eyes.
"Are you leaving for the day, too?"
Yue Ling shook her head while grabbing her work bag. She takes a step back but doesn't close the door.
"I still have some things to go over with the design team."
She had taken longer than she had thought during her visit to An Qing. Now that she is back at De L'amour, she has to discuss the matter regarding her engagement dress.
Liu Shan knew that his boss was busy with the new release of De L'amour's children's apparel and that she was working on a new engagement dress. However, being her assistant, he couldn't bring himself to leave while she stayed behind.
"I'll stay, too. I can be of help to you and everyone else."
He turned the key to shut off the car but was stopped by Yue Ling before he could do so.
"It's alright, Shan."
Yue Ling gives him a reassuring smile. She wanted to know that everything was going to be alright.
"You still need to look at your new place with Uncle Luo. Don't keep him waiting too long, or the place won't be available anymore."
Liu Shan could only sigh inside. She was right.
He had asked Uncle Luo for help with his move, but being so preoccupied with other people's matters, he forgot his own.
"Alright. I'll look at the place again. Call me if anything comes up. I'll rush right back."
Yue Ling didn't have to think twice about his words. She gives him a slight nod and closes the door.
Without looking back, she makes her way to the entrance of De L'amour.
Liu Shan didn't leave right away. He watched his boss leave until her figure disappeared inside the building.
Once he confirmed she was safe inside, he was able to drive away without worry.
All her employees had left for the day inside the building, leaving only minimal light. She calmly walks past the empty receptionist desk and enters the elevator.
The elevator chimes upon arrival as the door slides open. She steps out and proceeds towards the design room.
As she approached the room, she could hear a commotion coming from within. Despite this, her expression remained calm, and she entered the room without hesitation.
Upon seeing her, the people in the room fell silent. She surveyed each individual as she set her work bag on one of the many tables.
"Give me a report on what you have so far."
Everyone stared at her in silence. Each person couldn't help but hold in their breath. It wasn't until a minute had passed that Qi Li broke the silence.
"We didn't get much done."
His bluntness flabbergasted each individual in the room.
Ju Suo threw daggers at the man with her eyes. She had always been aware that he was blunt, but she didn't think he would throw them all under the bus .
However, she heaves a long and devasting sigh after revealing the truth.
"It's true. We really tried."
She picks up her tablet on the table and walks over to Yue Ling, handing it over to her.
"This is what we have so far."
After Yue Ling left for An Qing, she and the others exhausted their brains together. They thought combining their designs would be much easier than when they worked as Alpha Team. However, they thought wrong.
For some reason, this was more complicated than dealing with bad people.
Yue Ling wasn't disappointed by her subordinates' words. She takes the tablet from Ju Suo and looks at the designs.
Her eyebrows furrowed with pursing lips occasionally, but she didn't speak.
Unbeknownst to her, her expression alone was so intimidating that sweat began to form on each of her design team.
Reaching the last design, she looks up at her team. Upon seeing their nervous faces, she was dumbfounded but sounds a laugh.
"Everyone can relax. I was the one who asked for your help. I never expected a perfect design."
She walks over to a chair and places the tablet on the table as she sits.
"As the designer, I am negligent for not being here to help."
Her bluish-green eyes glance at each person in the room, and she gestures with a slight nod.
"Let's use this remaining time to work together."
Her words of encouragement sparked fireworks in everyone's eyes. All seven people in the room quickly gathered to sit beside her and voice their ideas.
The chattering began with Yue Ling attentively listening. She never interrupted the ideas her design team had come up with.
It was hectic at first due to a few disagreements, but once everyone was on the same page, they began to work together in unity.
Yue Ling also got to work but didn't forget to message Lu Tian that she would be coming home late.
In another part of Imperial, Lu Tian never stepped out of the study room. However, his fingers that were once gliding over the keyboard had ceased.
He sat unmovingly and appeared calm, but his eyes staring at the monitor screen had darkened. The air around the room also seemed to have turned viciously cold.
His finger on the armrest taps every so often in a slow gesture.
Ever since he had received the notification that the user "Toosexyformyshirt" had started moving again, he acted fast and began the hunt.
He ensured that all his steps went unnoticed as if he was a ghost following the other person's movements.
When he saw that the other person had made a small mistake, he took the opening and hacked into the person's system.
He quickly mirrored the person's monitor and transferred all the activity onto his laptop, ensuring that the other person remained unaware of his actions and that no trace could be linked to him.
However, like the other person had detected something was amiss, all movements ceased again.
The room was enveloped in silence, and his jaw tightened as he continued to stare at the unmoving screen.
After a long minute, his dark eyes leisurely flutter. He glances at the laptop. If the person made a move, he could see it from his side. However, seeing that there were also no movements there, he narrowed his eyes.
He had a gut feeling that he knew who the other person was, but he needed more evidence before confronting the person.
Coming to this decision, he picks up his phone only to see his wife's message.
The intimidating aura that once wrapped around him dispersed into thin air and was replaced with a smile.
Once he finished reading it, he let out a deep sigh. His wife was going to be late, and it seemed like she had forgotten her promise from the afternoon.
He stares at her message and wants to tell her to come home because he misses her, but after careful thinking, he replies with 'Okay. I'll wait for you at home.'
So what if his wife forgot about what she had promised in the afternoon, once she gets home, he can just remind her.
Thinking this, he felt a little better. He scrolls through his contact list and calls his assistant.
He didn't allow the man to speak, and his deep voice sounded before ending the call.
Xu Long had just stepped out of Lu Corps when he received a call from his boss. He stared down at the phone in his hand and wanted to cry.
The moment Lu Tian decided to work from home, all the work left at Lu Corps seemed to have increased. As his assistant, Xu Long had been running back and forth trying to decrease the workload, but every time he stepped inside his boss's office, it was as if nothing had been done.
By the time he finished one task, another would appear.
Now that he was finally off the clock, he had hoped to go home, and maybe he'd run into his pretty neighbor.
However, knowing that he can no longer do that, he drags his feet in the direction of his car.
Even if he didn't want to go to his boss's house, he knew that Lu Tian wasn't just working from home for no reason. They were still searching for Choi Li Sun and the other mysterious person.
The only person who could help his boss was him.
He sobs inside and swears that once all of this is over, he will put in a request for a very long vacation.