Before she could properly think about what the 'special gift' was, she heard her assistant looking for her outside. She instantly pushed the problem at hand in her mind and went out.

"Just put it on the pantry then we can eat together there.

" Xiu Mei uttered as she passed by her assistant while walking over to her table.

"O~kay!

"

After watching her assistant now focusing on preparing their lunch, she immediately grabbed the letter lying carelessly on her table. She held it by the edges to avoid touching the written words since she hasn't really confirmed whether the ink was really blood or just a prank that the sender did to frighten her.

She hid it under the drawers to keep it away from her sight.

Xiu Mei's eyes lingered at her drawer before striding towards the pantry.

President Lu and Lu Shao returned an hour just before the word ended. Xiu Mei didn't immediately bring up the mail that she received and focused on her work in front of her. She was reviewing the employee profiles that the investigation department shortlisted for people with questionable backgrounds.

It was the same file that was sent to her email a few weeks back. She had been updating it according to the reports being sent to her email regarding the movements of these people. So far, all of the shortlisted people have no suspicious movements yet.

A man with an untraceable past. Another with a blood connection to one of their rival companies. Then another who entered the company through connections, and that connection was one of the people they fired for leaking restricted company data and bribery.

All three had pretty high positions within the company. Since leaking company secrets is a pretty big issue, they were being more cautious than usual hence it almost looked like they were a bit discriminating when shortlisting the people they find suspicious.

Xiu Mei interacts with these three people quite often given their positions. So she also makes her own assumptions based on what she's seeing in front of her.

As she reached on Albert's profile, her hands paused momentarily as she pondered about this person.

Among those three, Albert Chen actually had the least chance of betraying the Lu Corporation. Having an untraceable past is undoubtedly not normal, but Xiu Mei thought that maybe he was just living off in the streets when he was young until he came to the orphanage. Or it could also be a different reason.

He also has the best personality out of the three—nice, friendly, good attitude and work performance, and popular. He is a very likable guy that everyone can hang out with, but somehow, Xiu Mei couldn't get herself to completely get comfortable with this person.

Was it because of how they first met?

It was that night, back at the hotel...eh?

Wait. That… That's strange.

Xiu Mei realized that something didn't add up at all after recalling how she first met Albert on the night of their batch party.

Why did she meet him there that night?

She read his file again and his profile clearly shows that he wasn't even her schoolmate. And the floor where they handled the party was not a private floor. So other visitors of the hotel wouldn't even loiter around that place since there are no amenities there aside from the ballroom hall.

But she… met Albert Chen there. A lot of people actually recognize her since she would often appear on television from time to time as Lu Chen's secretary or as the daughter of a politician. She didn't find it strange when he recognized her back then.

Xiu Mei did her best to remember how she bumped into him and then he recognized her. His attire... he was wearing formal attire similar to how her classmates dressed up.

Yeah, that's right. That's why she wasn't bothered by it since Albert Chen didn't look out of place. She thought he was a schoolmate who attended the party but apparently, he actually isn't.

Xiu Mei had a hunch in her heart, but she still wanted to confirm it with facts before drawing her conclusions. She picked up her phone and called the investigation department to confirm whether, on the day and night of their middle school gathering party, she wanted to check if there was any other party happening in that same hotel.

It wasn't difficult to check so a few minutes later, she got a confirmation that there was no other event that happened on that day.

"Good job. Thank you.

" She murmured before cutting off the call. She took a deep breath as she slowly digested and organized her thoughts.

If Albert Chen's goal was to meet her that night, then what is his reason? This action alone made her even more suspicious and uncomfortable.

It seems like her gut instincts are still working properly. Thankfully, she kept drawing the line every time she sees him so she doesn't feel betrayed at all. They're not even close enough to begin with. At most, a colleague, a superior, and an acquaintance.

It's really strange.

What was his purpose of meeting her beforehand? Especially since it'll just make her wary of him if she finds out about it, which she did.

Xiu Mei scratched her head as she tried to piece everything together in her head.

At least now, among all the three people, Albert Chen who is supposed to be the least suspicious rose up the ranks and now became the person of interest for further investigation.

And he's also one of the people who knew very well about the hacking incident so there's a possibility that he could also be the point person of Wan Wan for the news.

But… it's not like she already confirmed that those two knew each other. Since this a bit too complicated for the investigation department, she'll just pass it on to Lu Shao instead. It would be hard for them to enter the Ying Mansion or snooping without catching their attention.

Xiu Mei noted down all these facts and added her own conclusion before passing it to Lu Shao.

"Then I'll leave this to you.

"

"I'll do my best.

" Lu Shao gladly accepted the file and hid it inside his bag. Because it also involves Ying Wan Wan, this investigation couldn't be considered a company case anymore.

After her assistant and Lu Shao got off work, Xiu Mei visited her husband in his office. She glanced at her watch and chuckled.

This time, he must have been quite busy to notice that it was already past five.

Lu Chen had been consistently preventing her from working overtime these days so she was quite surprised that he didn't come out of his office even though it was already half an hour past working hours.

She didn't forget to grab the envelope that she hid inside her drawer, hid it inside her purse, and walked over to Lu Chen's office. After knocking, she entered the office and saw him still looking at something on his computer.

She didn't say anything and just stood by the door, watching him with mirth in her eyes.

Lu Chen heard her knock and sensed her presence as soon as she entered his office, so he was waiting for her to say something but she kept silent throughout. From where he was, he could see how she was enjoying watching himself working.

"I'll be done in a minute.

" He raised his head and looked at his wife.

"Mhm. It's alright.

"

While waiting for him to finish up, Xiu Mei decided to briefly organize the papers on his table. She was too focused on returning the books back on the shelves that she didn't notice Lu Chen already standing behind her.

As soon as she finished putting back the last book, her back was suddenly covered with warmth, and an arm looped around her waist.

She almost jumped in surprise.

"Mrs.Lu, let's go home.

" Lu Chen whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck causing her to unconsciously tilt her head on the opposite side.

Her action gave Lu Chen a good view of her white and smooth neck. Because she covered up the marks he left last night with a concealer, he couldn't see the traces he left on her. He somehow felt frustrated, not seeing those marks on her.

It was like a switch was pressed in him and he was very attracted to this unblemished neck in front of him.

Hmm…

His body instantly moved on its own. Lowering his head, he bit her clavicle and focused on s.u.c.k.i.n.g her skin there.

Before Xiu Mei could understand what was happening, a shudder ran throughout her body as she felt an electrifying feeling from her husband's sudden attack on her clavicle. She admittedly felt aroused by his actions but she didn't lose her mind yet and was aware of where they are at the moment.

"W-We're in the office. Don—a-ah!

" She couldn't suppress her m.o.a.n as soon as she felt his wet tongue l.i.c.k.i.n.g her ears. Her knees were almost giving up with the sudden stimulation, so she immediately grabbed the nearest thing she could hold onto which was the bookshelf.

The emperor CEO seductively whispered in his secretary's ear.

"Mrs.Lu, why don't we do some office play this time?

"