'As soon as I get out of here, I'll call Xiaoxiao or Leiting to help me settle the room charge,' Zuo Aiai thought to herself.
'Getting drunk only makes things worse!'
Meanwhile...
In the Hilton Hotel's video surveillance room, a tall man was standing in front of an LCD screen.
On the screen, he saw a woman running a hand through her messy hair and carrying two high heels in one hand. She was running down the fire escape two stairs at a time, all the while looking back vigilantly to make sure nobody was chasing her.
Danil couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't expect the number one socialite in Binhai City to have a side like this..."
Jin Di's face went dark, and he remained silent. Danil immediately stopped laughing and stood aside, not daring to say anything else.
The woman ran from the seventeenth floor all the way down to the first. Last night, her fair and slender legs had been so tired they were trembling. Danil, unable to stop himself, finally said,
"President, do we need to inform the security guards on the first floor? This young lady hasn't paid for the presidential suite yet."
The man raised his eyebrows slightly. "No need. Let's keep the account in mind."
What did he mean?
"Then..." Danil ventured.
But Jin Di cut him off. "Danil, go and look for information on the business cooperation between King's Group and the Zuo family. Send it to me in five minutes."
---
Zuo Aiai had already guessed that her not coming home at all last night would have caused a commotion at home.
But when she saw that there were four black cars parked in the courtyard outside the Zuo family's villa, she could not help but be shocked. Stealthily, she cracked open the front door and listened to the voices of the people gathered there.
"Tianhao, we still have to take a long-term view on this matter," a deep and old voice said. It was obvious from this exchange that the Chen family was the one in charge.
The voice belonged to Chen Ziyi's grandfather, Chen Jihong.
Zuo Tianhao had married into the family. His mother had been chased out of the Mo family in order to help him move funds. They even cut off all ties.
The Zuo family's economy had once been in dire straits, but Chen Jihnong had gotten them out of it. It was also thanks to his connections and help that they were promoted to where they were today.
But now that the Zuo family's accountant had absconded with the money, the Zuo family was in an unprecedented crisis.
The Chens were still polite to the Zuo family. But considering the debt he owed them, it was no wonder that Zuo Tianhao didn't even dare to breathe loudly in front of Chen Jihong.
"You're right of course, sir," responded Zuo Tianhao. "My two children are so disappointing...they've ruined everything for you."
"Brother Tianhao, what are you talking about?" Chen Zhenhua, Chen Ziyi's father, abruptly broke in. "I raised a disappointing son. Chen Ziyi is every bit as responsible for what happened as your two daughters. I regret that we've had to come see you under such circumstances." He shook his head and sighed.
She hadn't expected that she and Ziyi breaking off the engagement would have brought the Chen family here so quickly. Standing outside the open door of her family home, she began to feel hesitant about going in.
But before she could make a decision, she heard a new voice behind her.
"Oh? So the eldest daughter of the Zuo family, who couldn't even be bothered to come home last night, is finally here?"
Chen Ziyi's voice was sharp and bitter.
She didn't even need to look behind her to know precisely what expression was on his face.
She didn't want to argue with him here. She just wanted to go back to her room and change her clothes as soon as possible.
But before walk through the door, Chen Ziyi had a hand on her arm, gripping her tightly.
She took a deep breath, trying to control the anger that had flared up the moment he laid his hand on her. By the time she turned around, she'd managed to arrange her face into a calm smile. "Ziyi, now that we have broken off the engagement and all of Binhai City knows about it, is it really any of your business whether I come home or not?"
Annoyance flashed across Chen Ziyi's face, but Zuo Aiai continued to gaze at him with the same placid smile.
He wished he could peel off the mask of her face and look beneath, to see if she was really as cold-blooded and heartless as she seemed.
"Zuo Aiai, you really don't know what's good for you!"
"Chen Ziyi, we're just the same."