C16 Woman You Are Playing Hard to Get!(7)

As she moved barely three feet away, the man behind her spoke again, his tone commanding like a king's decree: "Stop right there."

Qiao Youyou clung to a sliver of hope, convincing herself, 'He can't be talking to me. He must not be talking to me,' while her feet kept inching forward.

"Don't make me say it again." This time, it was a blatant threat. A chill ran down Qiao Youyou's spine, freezing her in place, too scared to move.

She felt like crying without tears. How could she be so unlucky? She thought today was her lucky day, breezing through the interview so effortlessly. If only she'd checked her horoscope, she might have known today was not her day. Now, having offended the boss, she was sure her job was on the line.

"Night, this new secretary of yours is spouting nonsense, blocking me from seeing you. You should teach her a lesson. Better yet, just fire her. Having a woman like that as your secretary tarnishes your company's image," Xue Jiamin complained, adding fuel to the fire.

Qiao Youyou felt wronged, on the verge of tears. She really shouldn't have crossed a woman, especially not the boss's woman, given Xue Jiamin's arrogant tone and the boss's ambiguous attitude towards her.

Qiao Youyou was almost certain that Xue Jiamin was the boss's woman. She couldn't help but regret her naivety in listening to that secretary. Now, she found herself in a real predicament.

"Who gave you the nerve to turn your back on your own boss?" The man's voice was tinged with impatience. Qiao Youyou braced herself, thinking, "Well, if I'm going down, might as well face it head-on." She adjusted her glasses, plastered a fake, ingratiating smile on her face, and turned around. "Sir, you've got it all wrong, I—"

Her words stopped abruptly when she saw the man's face. At first glance, he was handsome. On the second, he looked familiar, like she'd seen him somewhere before.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out, wide-eyed. This was the same man she'd nearly fallen into at the company entrance that morning, the one she'd bumped into in the elevator about an hour ago, and whom she'd accidentally stepped on.

The man looked at her with a blank expression. When he recognized her, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, quickly replaced by disdain and contempt. "What are you doing here? Aren't you the cleaning lady? Who gave you the nerve to pretend to be my secretary?"

Qiao Youyou snapped back to reality, hurriedly tidying her appearance. She nervously adjusted her glasses and respectfully introduced herself. "Sir... hello, I'm... your secretary. My name is Qiao Youyou... um... I just started today. I'm not pretending..."

Her heart raced, making her words come out in a stutter. She glanced nervously at the man with the stern expression and asked, somewhat stubbornly, "Are you really the CEO of the Hades Group, Yiming? How many CEOs does the Hades Group have? Is it a company run by two brothers, so there are two CEOs?"

She looked at the man in front of her with hopeful eyes, silently praying that she was mistaken. Maybe he wasn't the CEO, perhaps just a friend who happened to be visiting today.

How could the CEO of the Hades Group be so young and strikingly handsome? Despite the cool aura he exuded, his commanding presence and noble demeanor were undeniable.