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"Haaaaah….

" Xiu Mei sighed in defeat as she stared at the flashing digital clock on her desk that read seven eighteen in the evening.

nWhat addressing the engagement problem? She wasn't even able to finish any of her work today at all. She really had tons of things she had to catch up on work.

nLooking at the stack of clipboards on her desk and other doc.u.ments on the table, she felt like lighting a candle sympathizing for herself. It seems like this pile won't disappear for awhile.

nAs Xiu Mei lamented on her work for the next days, she fixed all her things on the desk and prepared to go home.

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"I'll go first.

" Xiu Mei stated to Lu Shao who was still looking over something on his work. Lu Shao raised his head then glanced at Lu Chen's door before returning his attention to Xiu Mei.

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"Should I call for the president?

"

nUnderstanding what he was implying, Xiu Mei quickly shook her head.

"No need.

" Both of them are still at not that stage yet. Right now, Lu Chen's the boss and she's a secretary. Not Lu Chen and Xiu Mei themselves. She knows where she should draw the line.

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"Are you sure?

" Lu Shao asked her once more. Should he inform the boss that Xiu Mei will be getting off work now?

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"Yep, bye.

" Xiu Mei waved goodbye at him and before Lu Shao calls on Lu Chen, she quickly strode towards the elevator.

nA few minutes later, she finally arrived in the underground parking lot.

nKA-CHAK

nUpon arriving at her parking spot, Xiu Mei halted on her steps. Her eyes stopped onto the nearest pillar in front of her and she slowly made her way towards it.

nAs she walked towards the pillar, her grip on her bag tightened as she tried to examine her surroundings through her peripheral vision but yielded no results.

nSeconds ago, even though it was very faint, she heard a familiar sound.

nIt sounded so familiar that she definitely won't be wrong at her assumptions. Yet, she hoped that her gut feeling was actually wrong because that sound, she shouldn't be hearing it here in this kind of place.

nIt was the sound of someone c.o.c.king a gun.

nSince she grew up in a military family, inadvertently she was brought by her grandparents and mother in the military camps.

nThere, she had witnessed a lot of soldiers in training especially in gun training. She even had the opportunity to shoot every kind of gun that the soldiers were using at that time thus, she had enough knowledge about firearms.

nAnd that faint sound she heard, it was the sound of someone preparing to pull the trigger.

nAnd now that she's hearing it here in the parking lot where it's already late at night and she was supposed to be alone down here, that sounded like a warning sign.

nShe has to go and hide real quick. But it's not like Xiu Mei can just run away without alerting the shooter. That would be very obvious.

nShe instantly refreshed her mind on the self-defense courses that her eldest brother had pulled her into years before. Since it's a gun and she didn't know where it's coming from, her priority as of the moment is to find some cover where she can shield herself from the raining bullets.

nHer main priority is to protect herself first before escaping. She's in an enclosed wide area where the shooter could be anywhere behind or in front of her.

nIn her mind, Xiu Mei prayed to the gods repeatedly as her heart raced faster in nervousness. Despite her legs being slightly shaken up, she did her best to arrive at the pillar.

nJust a few more steps. Xiu Mei chanted in her mind.

nHer other hand gripped on her phone as she repeatedly pressed on a button on it. Her phone may look the same as the other phone models but what most people didn't know was that her family got it customized for her.

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nHer phone was designed to be used for cases of emergency, where she might need help or need to be tracked or in case something happens to her. This was a precaution that her family had specially made for her after that kidnapping incident.

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"Brother, help.

" She mouthed as she continued pressing on that button.

nWhen she was just a few steps away from the pillar, she unconsciously briskly walked towards it when the first bullet barely missed her.

nBANG!

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"Shit.

" She cursed as she rushed towards the pillar and crouched down. What followed was continues gunfire aimed at her. Crouching down behind the pillar, she pulled out her phone and pressed on her emergency contacts.

nAs she waited for her phone to connect on the other line, she heard another set of gunfire that was quite different from the first one. It seemed like the other one was shooting back at the first shooter.

nBut Xiu Mei didn't really have the time to bother about that at the moment. All she knew was that she has to prioritize her safety.

nWhen she almost felt like she was just tapping on some random number on her emergency contacts, she felt a hand grab her elbow pulling her to the side causing her to slight lose balance.

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"Miss Xiu.

"

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"Let go!

"

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