The ambience outside was warm through the yellow brightness of sunshine, but the room felt wintery in the inside.
"Mom, I don't want to be Cory Luo's mistress. There are other ways..." Melissa Wen begged but was cut short.
"Other ways?" Mrs. Wen screamed, "You mean other ways that rely on you?
Do you know how your father started his company? Every single ounce of that startup came from my parents' money!" Mrs. Wen's sharp nails pointed at her daughter's face. It was as if the malice and disgust in the former's heart had burst out in one single load.
"Mom..." Melissa Wen continued to beg, though her voice was lost to her crying. Her heart was stung deeply. Trying to hold back her tears, she looked straight into Mrs. Wen's eyes.
'Her dislike for me has reached a point where we are totally incompatible. I am in a fine pickle now!
On one hand, Dad's company is in danger, and on the other, Mom is being extremely unreasonable.
What do I do?'
With a mocking smile, Mrs. Wen looked at Melissa Wen, as if measuring her up.
The hatred she had in her heart had only grown from the day poor Melissa Wen was born, and it had become unreasonable levels after seeing that the latter was growing up to be more and more beautiful every day.
"You'd better be ready for that." And with that final injury, Mrs. Wen left with her limited edition bag slung her shoulder.
As soon the mother had left, Melissa Wen couldn't hold on any longer and fell to the ground, sobbing in anguish.
It was the same night that she came up with an astonishing decision.
Sitting in the reception room of the Ren Group building, Melissa Wen held on to a kraft paper folder and gazed at the clock on the wall with a nervous glance. As time went by, her fear and uneasiness grew.
She had no way of knowing whether what she was about to do was right to wrong.
But she had to do it, because it was the only way out she could think of.
She knew that the current CEO of Ren Group was Charles Ren, who was also the brother of her best friend, Elisabeth Ren. Melissa's acquaintances were limited, and Charles Ren was also the only rich and powerful man she knew.
If she hadn't been pushed into such a desperate situation, she wouldn't have come up with this impossible idea of running to the Ren Group.
"Miss Melissa, I'm so sorry. It's time for us to get off work." The secretary suddenly came over in high heels with an apologetic look on her face.
"No, that's okay! I was being too abrupt. I should have made an appointment first." Melissa shook her head with a bitter smile on her face. 'How can I see Charles without an appointment?
I mean I only meet him just a few times when I came to the Ren mansion.'
Melissa put the kraft paper folder into her backpack and was about to leave.
"Miss Melissa."
The elevator door suddenly opened and a slender man in a custom-fit tailor-made suit walked out with a hand in his pocket. He called out her name at first sight.
"Mr. Charles." Melissa stood aside. She had never even imagined that Charles Ren wouldn't be in the building the whole afternoon and would arrive now.
And she had not expected to see him just when she was about to give up.
She was a little surprised at this turn of fate.
"Please. Come in with me." Charles Ren untied his suit jacket and loosened the tie. The secretary had already pushed the office door open.
"Yes, sir." Melissa followed him quickly.
"Tell me, how can I help you?" The secretary had informed Charles Ren of Melissa's arrival as soon as the latter had come to visit.
Otherwise, there was no way she could have stayed in the reception room of the Ren Group building an entire afternoon.
Melissa brought out the documents she had spent the whole night preparing and put it on his desk. She then bowed her head and stepped aside with an expectant look on her face.