Dai Shiya stood there in a daze. Wei Qing's words were like a slap in the face, and it hurt like a fire. She was confused as to why her close friends suddenly turned against each other and even spoke ill of each other. Was their friendship so fragile that it could not withstand a single blow? No, she would never believe it! Dai Shiya clenched her fists, believing that there must be a reason for Wei Qing's abnormality. With a firm light in her eyes, she was determined to find out the truth and help Wei Qing.
In the following days, Dai Shiya deliberately approached Wei Qing, trying to find clues. However, Wei Qing seemed to have changed, always avoiding her, with evasive eyes and cold tone.
"Wei Qing, let's go to the library. I remember you said you like the books there very much." That day, Dai Shiya stopped Wei Qing and tried to ease the relationship.
"No need," Wei Qing refused coldly, "You go by yourself, I have something else to do."
"What's the matter? I'll go with you." Dai Shiya asked persistently.
Wei Qing took a deep breath, suppressed her fear and pain, and said impatiently with a straight face: "Dai Shiya, can you please stop pestering me? I've already said that we don't want to meet again in the future!"
Dai Shiya's heart felt like it was stabbed by a needle. She didn't understand why Wei Qing was so resistant. Was it really as she said, that there was no friendship between them anymore?
"Wei Qing, I know you must have your reasons," Dai Shiya's voice trembled. "Tell me, what happened? Who is threatening you?"
Wei Qing's body trembled visibly, but she quickly calmed down and replied calmly, "No one is threatening me. I just don't want to be friends with you anymore. Is that okay?"
"I don't believe it!" Dai Shiya's eyes were red, unable to accept such a perfunctory explanation.
Wei Qing turned her head away, not daring to look into Dai Shiya's eyes, fearing that she would collapse in front of her. Zhao Lei's warning was still ringing in her ears, if she dared to tell the truth, her family would suffer.
"Believe it or not," Wei Qing took a deep breath and tried hard to control her emotions. "Anyway, stay away from me from now on!" After that, she ran away without looking back, leaving Dai Shiya standing there, upset.
Dai Shiya looked at Wei Qing's departing back, feeling mixed emotions. She could sense Wei Qing's deliberate distance, but she didn't understand why Wei Qing was so scared that she even wanted to hurt their relationship.
"No, I must find out!" Dai Shiya clenched her fists, a hint of determination flashing in her eyes.
Just then, a figure blocked her way. "Shiya, are you looking for Wei Qing?"
Dai Shiya looked up and saw the person coming, her expression suddenly became complicated...
"Shiya, are you looking for Wei Qing?" Zhao Lei stood in front of Dai Shiya with an ambiguous smile on his face.
Dai Shiya took a step back calmly, keeping a distance from Zhao Lei, and said in a flat tone: "It has nothing to do with you."
"How come it's none of my business?" Zhao Lei continued to talk to himself, "You and Wei Qing have been friends for so many years, and it's such a pity to break up just like that."
Dai Shiya gave him a cold look and turned away. She knew Zhao Lei had bad intentions and deliberately mentioned Wei Qing in front of her just to make fun of her.
"Shiya, don't get me wrong, I'm just worried about you." Zhao Lei quickly followed Dai Shiya, with a false concern on his face, "Look, you just came to our house and you had a falling out with Wei Qing, how will others see you?"
Dai Shiya stopped and looked at Zhao Lei coldly: "I don't care what others think of me. You don't need to interfere in the matter between Wei Qing and me."
Zhao Lei felt uneasy at Dai Shiya's cold eyes, but when he thought of what Wei Qing had promised him, he mustered up the courage to continue, "Shiya, don't be so stubborn. I know you feel bad. Wei Qing is just like that. On the surface, she has a good relationship with you, but behind your back..."
"Shut up!" Dai Shiya interrupted Zhao Lei harshly. She didn't want to listen to his nonsense anymore.
Zhao Lei was startled by Dai Shiya's reaction and shut his mouth awkwardly.
Dai Shiya took a deep breath, tried to suppress her inner anger, and turned to leave. She knew that now was not the time to conflict with Zhao Lei, she had to find Wei Qing as soon as possible and find out the truth of the matter.
However, Wei Qing seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, and no matter how hard Dai Shiya looked, she couldn't find her.
At the family gathering, Dai Shiya was alone and looked particularly lonely. Some people who usually disliked her began to ridicule her.
"Hey, isn't this the eldest daughter of our Dai family? Why are you sitting alone? Where's Wei Qing? Why isn't she accompanying you?"
"That's right. I thought they had such a good relationship and would be inseparable. It seems that the friendship among the rich is just like this."
"That's right. Some people just like to pretend, thinking that they can become a phoenix just by climbing up a high branch. They don't even look at what they are like, or take a piss to look at themselves..."
The sarcastic words, like poisonous thorns, pierced Dai Shiya's heart.
She tightly grasped the wine glass in her hand, her nails dug deep into her flesh, but she felt no pain. She glanced at those who mocked her, her heart filled with anger and powerlessness.
At this moment, the door of the banquet hall was pushed open, and a familiar figure walked in...
Wei Qing's appearance instantly quieted the originally noisy banquet hall. She lowered her head and walked slowly to Dai Shiya, placing a document on the table. She said in a weak voice: "Shiya, this is... some project information I have sorted out. Take a look. If you have any questions, I..."
"What's wrong with you?" Dai Shiya stood up suddenly and interrupted Wei Qing before she could finish. "Where have you been these days? Why didn't you answer my calls?"
Wei Qing shrank back, her eyes flickering, not daring to look directly into Dai Shiya's eyes: "I...something happened at home, and I lost my phone, so..."
"Lost your phone?" Dai Shiya sneered, "I think you are deliberately avoiding me!"
"I didn't!" Wei Qing raised her head suddenly, but her tone was still unconfident.
"Then tell me, what's going on with this document?" Dai Shiya pointed at the document on the table and asked sternly.
She knew that this document was a very important cooperation project of the company, and was originally jointly responsible for by her and Wei Qing. However, now Wei Qing crossed out her name without authorization and replaced it with Zhao Lei's name.
"I..." Wei Qing was speechless and couldn't speak for a long time.
"Wei Qing, you disappoint me so much!" Dai Shiya looked at Wei Qing, her eyes full of disappointment and heartache. "I think I treated you well, why did you treat me like this?"
Wei Qing bit her lip, tears welled up in her eyes, but she never opened her mouth to explain.
People around began to point fingers at Dai Shiya and whisper.
"I told you, there is no such thing as true friendship among the rich and powerful. They all put profit first!"
"That's right. Look at Wei Qing. She climbed up the big tree of Zhao Lei and kicked Dai Shiya away!"
"Dai Shiya is so pitiful. She was sold but still helped others count money!"
…
Dai Shiya ignored the comments of the people around her. She knew that the most important thing now was not to hold Wei Qing responsible, but to find out the truth of the matter. She took a deep breath, tried to suppress her anger, and turned to leave the banquet hall.
She wanted to find Zhao Lei. She wanted to know what he had done to Wei Qing that made her so afraid of him that she was even willing to betray their friendship.
After many twists and turns, Dai Shiya finally found Zhao Lei. He was sitting in the study, sipping red wine leisurely, and seemed to be unaware of what happened in the banquet hall.
"Zhao Lei, what exactly do you want to do?" Dai Shiya asked straight to the point.
Zhao Lei put down the wine glass in his hand, raised his head, and a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "I have said it before, you can't beat me."
"What did you do to Wei Qing?" Dai Shiya stared into Zhao Lei's eyes and asked word by word.
"Do you want to know?" Zhao Lei stood up, walked to Dai Shiya, and whispered, "Then beg me, maybe I will be merciful and tell you."
Dai Shiya didn't say anything, but just looked at Zhao Lei coldly, with a firm light in her eyes. She would not compromise with him, nor would she give up Wei Qing. She secretly swore in her heart that she must find out the truth, protect Wei Qing, and never let Zhao Lei succeed.
Suddenly, Dai Shiya's eyes fell on the bookshelf behind Zhao Lei, where there was a photo album with a photo of Zhao Lei and a woman on the cover...
Dai Shiya's eyes were fixed on the photo album. The woman in the photo frame had a gentle temperament, but there was a trace of unrelieved sadness between her eyebrows. Her intuition told her that this photo album was related to Zhao Lei's threat to Wei Qing.
She calmly withdrew her gaze, but her heart was already in turmoil. "Zhao Lei, what do you want me to do?" Dai Shiya looked straight at him, her tone calm, as if the tension just now was just an illusion.
Zhao Lei was a little surprised by Dai Shiya's transformation. He chuckled and played with the goblet in his hand, saying nonchalantly, "It's simple. Leave the company, leave here, and don't show up in front of me again."
Dai Shiya didn't say anything, but just looked at him quietly, her eyes were deep and unfathomable.
In the banquet hall, Wei Qing was restless. After Dai Shiya left, the voices of gossip pierced her heart like needles. She knew that what she did was wrong, but Zhao Lei...
"Secretary Wei, what's wrong with you?" A greasy voice sounded in her ears. Wei Qing turned around and saw Zhao Lei's assistant looking at her with a lewd expression.
Wei Qing suppressed her nausea and coldly avoided his gaze: "Nothing."
The assistant did not intend to let her go. He approached her step by step, saying frivolously: "Don't be afraid. Mr. Zhao said that you will be his from now on..."
"That's enough!" Wei Qing pushed him away and fled from the banquet hall. She hid in the bathroom, unable to hold back her tears. She hated her cowardice, her powerlessness, and even more so, she hated herself for hurting Dai Shiya again and again.
At this time, Dai Shiya had already left Zhao Lei's study. She strolled in the garden, replaying the photo she had just seen in her mind. Why did Zhao Lei put that photo in such a prominent position? Who was that woman? What was the relationship between them?
Questions entangled her like vines, making her feel suffocated. She had to figure it all out as soon as possible. Only in this way could she help Wei Qing and break the current deadlock.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated. It was a text message from an unknown number: "If you want to save your friend, come to XXXXX Cafe. Remember, come alone."
Dai Shiya held the phone, a cold light flashed in her eyes. Is it Zhao Lei? What on earth does he want to do?
After a moment, she deleted the text message, sneered, and walked straight to the garage. Some things must always be faced.
The lights in the coffee shop were dim at night, and the air was filled with a faint bitter smell. Dai Shiya pushed the door open and saw the man sitting in the corner at a glance.
He had his back to her, and although he was tall, his stature could not conceal the cold aura emanating from him.
"You're here." The man turned around slowly, his deep eyes looked even darker under the dim light.
"Who are you?" Dai Shiya looked at him directly with a cold tone.
The man did not answer her question. He just pushed a document in front of her and said in a low voice: "Everything you want to know is in it."
Dai Shiya picked up the file and slowly opened it. When she saw the contents inside, her pupils suddenly shrank...