Chapter 402 - Signature

The next day.

"This is an odd... interview. I didn’t think you were one of my candidates?" Zhao Lifei glanced down at the profile in her hands and then back at the person sitting in front of her. Her lips trembled to hide the amused smile threatening to break her face. After going through multiple group interviews that spanned until two in the afternoon, she found herself hungry and ready to bite the next person’s head off. She had ordered delivery and the food hadn’t arrived for an hour now.

"Well, here I am." Su Meixiu strained her smile, glancing around the room.

"This is such a weird turn of events, I hope you know that." Zhao Lifei sighed, placing the folder down onto the glass table in front of her. She momentarily glanced at Huo Qiudong with disdain. "Aren’t you going to ask questions?"

"This is a waste of time." He deadpanned, with the list of round two interviewees in his hands. Everyone was excused to go home to prepare for the next round.

"Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for my damn food." Zhao Lifei muttered, checking her watch. Right on time, the telephone buzzed and her eyes lit up. She ushered with her hands, as one would shoo someone away, for Huo Qiudong to pick up the call. Disgruntledly, he placed the folder down and walked to the phone, pressing a button.

A stoic, but semi-chirpy voice spoke up, "President Zhao, your delivery has arrived. It’s being sent upstairs as we speak—"

"Have the delivery man bring it up himself."

Huo Qiudong nodded his head. "The President wants him to come up. And if he doesn’t comply, have the reinforcements ready."

"Right away, Sir."

Huo Qiudong checked his watch and then glanced at the calendar on his phone. He wondered how his Boss was able to have the time to wait around for food to come first. He had seen her work miracles and because he trusted her abilities, he couldn’t bring himself to question her.

His gaze traveled back to the sophisticatedly-dressed woman on the couch. Something about her was different. He could see it in the way she carried herself with much more confidence than before. Her shoulders were laid back and she seemed very relaxed in her environment.

Huo Qiudong walked to the coffee table, glancing at the security cameras outside of the halls and the reflective mirror. He adjusted his collar and cleared his throat. "Here comes your food."

Zhao Lifei straightened up and Su Meixiu began to pull out the files from her purse. In walked a man dragged by multiple security guards. The glass door locked behind him and no matter how many times the delivery man kicked the door, it didn’t react to him. Of course, it didn’t. He was the one who ordered the glass to be bullet-proof.

"Have a seat, why don’t you, Wei Hantao." Zhao Lifei briefly glanced at the ragged-appearance Wei Hantao. A dirty jacket with questionably black stains covered the arms the way his well-tailored suits used to do. His shoulders were hunched and he didn’t look like the man she was familiar with. A twinge of remembrance sliced through her heart when she thought back to their high school days. Where did it all go wrong?

Her lips tilted into a frown as she let out a heavy sigh. She pitied and trusted him at the same time, prompting her decision to make him the Vice President. He had never done her wrong until recently. And maybe he could’ve crawled back to her saving grace if he had just told her the truth. She understood it was hard to withstand a parent’s pressure, especially when one couldn’t live up to their expectations. His betrayal of siding with the enemy was something she could never understand.

Wei Hantao’s angered eyes snapped to Su Meixiu. "You conniving whore—"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You’re the one who wanted to collaborate with a ’conniving whore.’" Su Meixiu shrugged her shoulders, crossing her arms. "I think it’s best for you to beg and grovel instead of spurring out insults."

"Beg and grovel?" He let out a bark of laughter, "Who the hell do you think I am?"

"A delivery man." Su Meixiu deadpanned, "One whose about to get fired because he brought the food an hour late on purpose."

Wei Hantao opened his mouth and then closed it. "You—"

"We’re not here to exchange insults." Zhao Lifei coldly said, "Now sit down."

Wei Hantao stiffened at her commanding voice, spinning on his heels to face the woman who saved his life and then ruined it. "Is this how you’re going to treat me? After all I have done for you—"

"It’s not my fault you decided to waste the compensation money on drugs, hookers, and alcohol." Zhao Lifei raised her brow.

Wei Hantao flinched as if he had been slapped in the face. Seeing her today, he questioned what he saw in this woman. She had become the type of woman he despised the most. She reminded him of his mother, who was stuck in crossroads of feelings until his father placed the account books in her hands.

At the end of the day, money talked. Wei Hantao believed Zhao Lifei only chose Yang Feng because the latter was considerably wealthier in all sorts of aspects. "Maybe if you hadn’t fired me, I wouldn’t have become like this—"

"I’m not the one siding with the enemy." Zhao Lifei let out a disappointed sigh. "I would have forgiven you."

His head snapped up, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Don’t lie—"

"You’ve been by my side for so long, enough for you to know I’m quite a generous person. I help those who help me. And you, who presumed my position for two years, would’ve received the most help I could’ve given." Zhao Lifei sighed, "And maybe I can still forgive you if you own up to your mistakes."

"My mistakes?! I was trying to help the company—"

"By what? Funding a project doomed to fail? Or was it smuggling money out of Feili’s funds so that it can help Weida Law? Wait wait, is it by doing under-the-table deals with Zheng Tianyi?"

"You knew?" Wei Hantao’s voice dropped an octave when he realized he was caught red-handed. He thought the reason why she fired him was only for a simple error and that maybe she’d crawl back to him upon realizing she couldn’t function without him.

"Oh, trust me. I know a lot more than that." Zhao Lifei glanced at the stacks of papers in Su Meixiu’s hands. Taking it in her hand, she placed it in front of Wei Hantao. "I’m sure you know what these are?"

Wei Hantao’s face blanched at the papers in her hands. These could be used against him in every way possible. He would not be the only person going down.

"You were trying to frame me for all of the crimes you did. Money laundering, bribery, oh the list goes on. And just look at all of these NDAs..." She sighed, shaking her head. "Stealing from loan sharks isn’t good you know, and then to snitch on them to the authorities, I hope you know the bounty on your head is quite high."

"What the hell do you want?"

"Nothing you can give." Zhao Lifei mused, "You’re going to go to jail."

"You think I’m the only one going down?" He hissed, "Everything you have just accused me of was not signed by me. They’re not attached to my name at all. In fact, it’s signed under your name with your signature—"

"You forged my signature?"

"So what if I did? What are you going to do about it, huh? Take me to jail with documents that incriminate you? Yeah right. I’d like to see you try."

"You don’t have to see me try. I’m doing it right now." Zhao Lifei took the voice recording button from the leg of the coffee table. "Thanks for the confession."