Chapter 26: :: The CEO's secrets ::
In Shengyi Corporation's office
Monday 9:00 a.m.
In the early hours of the morning, a young woman by the name of Mandy was scurrying around the office in a panic. In another corner of the office, another young woman close to Mandy's age, 19-year old Alyssa was not any calmer.
Both girls were already sweating from the emergency meeting that their CEO, Lu Shengyi had called for without giving any prior notice. The two girls were junior executives and had just passed their internships a few weeks ago.
What concerned them was the question of the agenda of the meeting.
Was someone about to be fired?
Was there something Lu Shengyi wanted to change about their system or practice?
Because Lu Shengyi was so unpredictable, nobody knew what was on her mind. Of course, there was Dewey, Shengyi's partner and the Chief Operations Officer, but Dewey hardly shared anything with anyone except his secretary, Mila and Shengyi herself. Shengyi was a total myth to the executives!
"But one person might know something!" Mandy suddenly beamed with excitement. She was of medium height, a bit on the chubby side to be called a beauty. Working at Shengyi Corporation was her first ever job. Her goal in joining the corporation other than to garner experience working was also, to meet her knight in shining armour, an unrealistic goal.
Alyssa stared at her comrade in confusion. Like Mandy, Alyssa was another fresh graduate, although she was more fit than Mandy. Both girls had graduated from the same major and in other words, were juniors of Shengyi in Nexonia. Alyssa was fond of working out but Mandy was more of a gamer. They were so different and yet they were always together in the office.
"I meant the accounts guy, Shan Hanyu! He might have an idea of what today's meeting is about!"
Alyssa put down the cup of coffee she was making. "Shan Hanyu is our senior and is the CEO's classmate. However, to join as an entry-level employee, is too demeaning for him, isn't it?" she whispered loudly. Mandy looked down at the files she was supposed to carry to the meeting room. These were files that Hanyu had asked her to pull out for the meeting. She had no idea, and she could not open the files either. The files were secured with a four-digit lock, one like those you put on luggages to prevent others from opening at the airport.
"You sound a bit too concerned for the guy, aren't you, Miss Ally?" Mandy teased. It had been months since they first entered the doors of the corporation. They remembered how they, as the curious teenagers they were, had been curious about how the corporation had evolved from one existing of merely two members to become a well-known market player now. This had all occurred in just a few months. Up till now, any knowledge of the female CEO Lu Shengyi was still very obscure. None of the employees knew how she was like behind closed doors or if she even believed in love.
All everyone saw was a tough woman who was still, rather a mystery. Though the girls hardly saw Lu Shengyi now, dubbing her a 'shadow walker' (one moment there, the next moment not), every appearance the CEO made was enough to captivate them, men and women alike, leaving them all breathless. Mandy recalled one moment where she had arrived at work really early. She had arrived earlier than usual due to a last-minute assignment that needed to be handed in first thing in the morning.
There, Lu Shengyi was standing in the conference room like an ice queen, cool and perfect. She was not unemotional, but she was more like the role model an intern would have: who would not worship a 22-year old successful entrepreneur? Furthermore, being 19, Mandy and Alyssa had a long way to go.
"I hope your discussion was fruitful," a gentle male voice was heard in the pantry. One girl was lugging along a box of files, another carrying a tray of mugs filled with coffee. Both were required for the meeting later.
Shan Hanyu's presence before the girls was totally unexpected. Alyssa looked up with pleasure to recognise Shan Hanyu, who now, compared to a year ago, had matured from the 'sunshine boy' he was into the 22-year old confident employee who carried himself with much charisma. As the 'accounts guy' of Shengyi Corporation, Mila had foreseen that he would climb the corporate ladder and achieve competence as the corporation's future accountant. His mentor, Yang Xi, had joined around the same time as him.
He was a budding talent, yet the CEO did not put much trust in him. Rumours told that he had once attempted to pursue a relationship with the loveless CEO, yet she only treated him with coldness. In his desperation, he could only fall back to pursue Lu Shengyi's best friend, who was now a top model. His bad choices had now left him single, although he was the man Alyssa and many single female executives fantasised after.
How would Lu Shengyi even consider being with her subordinate? Mandy chewed on a stick of gum as she contemplated the rumours and what she thought sounded valid.
A whiff of masculine cologne hit the air as Shan Hanyu stepped closer to the women and took the box of files from Mandy. Alyssa dreamily stared at the man, probably imagining herself on a date with him. She was hopeless, Mandy thought silently.
But on a second look, the man didn't look at all that bad. Even if he was their senior, he was no more than three years older than they were. At least, he did not have like five younger siblings or was an unattainable target unlike Cullen Fu who was every woman's dream right now. Cullen Fu, who changed lovers like slippers, would never even cast a second look at rookies like them.
Another rumour said that Cullen had made things difficult for Shengyi Corporation in the beginning, then laid low so that he could obtain Lu Shengyi's attention. Mandy wondered if this was true. If that was so, he was a step closer in attaining his goal, because Lu Shengyi definitely had her eyes on Fu Technologies. Except for today's meeting, which agenda was unknown, she had been planning very hard to predict Cullen's next step of action. After all the planning she had done, Cullen had still not performed his next move.
"The meeting," Alyssa gasped, as there was less than a metre's space from her face to Shan Hanyu's.
Shan Hanyu smiled. "It won't be necessary anymore. Miss Lu has made her decision."
"And what is Miss Lu's decision?" Mandy found the courage to ask.
"It is that she will be accepting the offer to work with Fu Technologies."
"Whatttttttt?" Mandy almost choked on her chewing gum. Alyssa hurriedly patted her colleague on the back with concern. Mandy could not absorb the fact that Lu Shengyi was so keen on battling against Fu Technologies as she was adamant that Cullen Fu was after the downfall of Shengyi Corporation, so what had happened to the CEO that changed her mind entirely about working with Fu Technologies?
As expected, Shan Hanyu's lips were sealed. He would not say a single word about Shengyi's growing interest in Cullen Fu, despite how he knew about it! He was in denial that the woman he loved had someone else on her mind. Yet nobody was able to tell that a charismatic man like him had this issue, because he kept everything hidden so well!
The two young women knew it was pointless to get anything out of the man, so they went about doing their work. They returned to their individual workstations and began their daily routines. Mandy's eyes darted about the place, hoping that there would be a sudden notification that Lu Shengyi had changed her mind and that she decided to still have the meeting. But there was none. All they heard was the frequent movements of Shan Hanyu's Oxfords as he pranced around the office, going about his regular duties. He had much liaising to do today with the various departments.
"If only he wasn't so busy…" Alyssa whispered to Mandy. Their cubicles were separated from each other by a corner. Mandy glared at Alyssa.
"You know he isn't interested in us, Ally. Let's just go back to work," she said with a sigh.
"What's it about Miss CEO that he has kept himself single for more than a year for?" Alyssa whispered back after a long pause. "Perhaps if we can discover her mystery, we will know why everyone is after Miss CEO… Shan Hanyu, Cullen Fu, Miss CEO's former male secretary, and…"
A solemn voice cut off their conversation. "Misses, you don't wish to know our CEO's secrets, don't you?"
The faces of the two gossipers looked as pale as a sheet as they looked up at the source of the voice.
"Miss Mila," they both gasped in unison.
Mila hummed a tune, standing coolly on the tiled floor before the two ladies. In the blink of an eye, she had walked away after giving the girls a prompt warning.
Lu Shengyi's secrets would always remain unknown.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone