Xiong Miao was on edge, managing to slip out of his grasp like a slippery fish and spinning to open the door.
However, Zhang Huansheng was one step ahead of her, blocking the exit. "What are you so shy about? When you're sleeping with other men, you're in your element, aren't you? As long as you're with me, you'll have my protection in the company."
"Who wants to be with you, you pervert! Get out of the way!" Xiong Miao was so angry that her face turned red.
It was now after work hours, and the company was nearly empty. There was no one to help her. She would have to handle this situation herself.
"Ashamed of your actions?" Zhang Huansheng said, reaching towards her chin.
"Ah!" Before Zhang Huansheng's hand could reach her, it was caught and bitten hard. He screamed in pain.
Xiong Miao let go of his filthy hand and took the opportunity to run while he was still in shock.
"Trying to escape, are you? Stop right there!"
Xiong Miao, being a woman, didn't have the stamina of a man. After running just a few steps, she was caught up to.
Since they were still in the company, Zhang Huansheng dared not go too far. He gripped her hand tightly, self-righteously saying, "It's your good fortune that I'm interested in you, don't be ungrateful!"
"Nonsense, you trash!" Xiong Miao was out of breath, a mix of anger and helplessness visible on her face.
"How dare you insult me." Zhang Huansheng raised his hand, intending to slap her across the face.
Xiong Miao held her chin high, a defiant look on her face.
The hand that should have landed on her face was stopped mid-air by a larger hand.
Xiong Miao was shocked, and upon seeing the stern face of the man who had intervened, she quickly broke free and moved several steps away.
"Zhan, President Zhan, she... she made a mistake, and I was punishing her." Seeing Zhan Yeling, Zhang Huansheng's arrogance deflated like a balloon that had been let out of air. He was compliant but still tried to make excuses for his actions.
"Treating the company like it's your own personal playground? Don't bother coming in tomorrow!" The booming voice held an authoritative tone that didn't allow for any argument.
Zhang Huansheng couldn't believe it, and didn't want to. But the words had come from the CEO himself, and he had no choice but to obey.
He hadn't expected his eight-year career to be destroyed in an instant.
Just a moment of indiscretion had ruined everything.
Within a minute, Zhang Huan had gathered his things and left.
Xiong Miao was so shocked that she sat at her workstation, trying to calm her racing heart.
Suddenly, the temperature around her seemed to drop. Looking up, she found herself staring into the man's deep eyes. She quickly started packing up the drawings on her desk, "I'll leave right away."
"Are these all your designs?"
Pausing her work, she noticed his gaze resting on the designs she had sketched throughout the day.
"It's my first day at work, and I wasn't given any tasks, so I drew these out of boredom," Xiong Miao answered truthfully.
Over the years, no matter how tired or hard things got, she had always managed to get by on her own.
So, no matter how wronged she felt now, she maintained her composure. She knew that tears were worthless in the public eye, even damaging to her dignity.
"Starting tomorrow, you'll be the manager of the design department. Gu Yi, get it sorted," Zhan Yeling finished saying, his hands in his pockets as he walked away.
Xiong Miao couldn't believe her own ears, "I...I got promoted?"
"Yes, Miss Xiong, you heard right. Tomorrow, I'll take you to HR to process the paperwork," Gu Yi stepped forward, answering her doubts.
"But I've just graduated not long ago, and just started at the company...," she said, unsure whether her experience or ability was sufficient.
"Our President Zhan values design, and your design talent is extraordinary, Miss Xiong. You're the best candidate to save our new products for the next quarter," Gu Yi explained. He had been with Zhan Yeling for many years, and naturally understood his style.
Zhang Huansheng was a spent force, leading a team that had seen disastrous product launches for several quarters in a row.
A change in the design department was urgently needed.
Luckily, today, President Zhan had witnessed Xiong Miao's exceptional design talent.
"But I want to resign, I don't want to work here anymore." She never imagined that this company was the design department of the Rich Corporation, otherwise, she would never have come.
"Once President Zhan has spoken, you don't have the right to resign. Also, if you upset President Zhan, the consequences can be severe," Gu Yi left her with these cryptic words to ponder over.
On her way home, Xiong Miao felt like a lost soul, devoid of any joy from the promotion.
People around her pointed and whispered, their strange looks making her feel as if she was under attack.
"It's her..."
"Yes, that's her, the famous homewrecker who beat up the wife."
"How can she still show her face in public, walking on the street like this?"
"After being a mistress for so long, her face is all bruised from being beaten. Serves her right."
"She has no shame..."
Xiong Miao was inexplicably subjected to these insults, and as the crowd got more hostile, they surrounded her, incessantly hurling abuse and even throwing things at her.
She had almost been violated today, her mood already at its worst. Now she was being treated like a pest, hated by everyone.
Feeling wronged, in pain, under pressure, and on the brink of collapse, all her emotions teetered on the edge amidst the endless accusations from the crowd.
Xiong Miao couldn't take it anymore, she shouted back defiantly, "All of you, get lost! I'm not a mistress! It was someone else who had improper thoughts about me, am I wrong to refuse? You so-called righteous people, twisting the facts and attacking me personally! I will sue you!"
Those who were there for the spectacle, seeing her break down in a fit of madness, feared getting involved and quickly dispersed.
Once the floodgates of her emotions were opened, they couldn't be shut again. Xiong Miao crouched down and sobbed loudly, "Why, what have I done wrong!"
A black Rolls-Royce stopped by the roadside. Without even switching on the hazard lights, the stoic man inside watched everything unfold.
Seeing the woman crying bitterly, the sound of her voice, a voice he recognized, stirred something within him.
However, the thought of her seducing someone else's husband, even being beaten by his wife, ignited an unnamed anger in his heart.
"President Zhan, when I went to deal with the media, I checked. Yesterday, you were found sleeping on the roadside and the police took you away. Xiong Miao is the woman who appeared in the news with you, she is also the designer you took interest in," Gu Yi, who was driving, reported while they were stopped at a red light.
"What are you trying to say?" His thin lips moved, revealing no emotional fluctuation.
"I think she's having a hard time. She's probably not as the internet portrays her." Gu Yi, of course, didn't want to see their stoic boss' newfound feelings misunderstood and strangled in the cradle.
"If you spout nonsense again, you can get lost."
Gu Yi shut up, hastily driving the car away, unsure of what he said wrong that angered President Zhan.
Once Xiong Miao had vented enough, she found a place to wash her face, washing away all signs of her distress.
When she returned home, she was once again a warm and smiling mother.
"Mommy, milk."
"Mommy, baby is hungry."
"Mommy, tummy is so hungry."
"Mommy, milk."
"Mommy, milk."
"Mommy, baby six is hungry."
As soon as she opened the door, six little ones were energetically waving their short legs, rolling towards her like six fluffy balls.
Hearing her children's voices, softened by obvious hunger, Xiong Miao's nose tingled. The tears she had barely suppressed were threatening to surge forth again.
"Be good, my little treasures, stand still. Mommy is going to make you some milk."
The little ones obediently lined up, six pairs of innocent eyes looking expectantly at Xiong Miao.