"CEO . " She bowed . "Thank you for your help . My husband and I will forever be grateful . "

Verdan Zhou nodded . "Are you here to report back?"

Mich.e.l.le Park had a surprised look on her face .

Indeed, she was only on an indefinite leave . She was never dismissed from work .

However, her absence lasted for several weeks . A normal employer would have replaced her by then .

She composed herself . "CEO, though I am still the same on the scope of the work requiring intellect, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to run errands right now . I am actually here today to confirm if I'm still part of ZFC . "

"You are . " He did not even think twice or hesitated before answering . He continued to browse through his files . Then he stopped and briefly stared at his shut office door as if he thought of something .

Mich.e.l.le was relieved, but then could not help but follow his gaze . She furrowed her brows when it revealed nothing . She looked back at him, confused .

"Don't worry . The guy you saw earlier will be your a.s.sistant . "

Her eyes widened . Is she not an a.s.sistant? How can she suddenly get one?

Before she could react, he continued speaking .

"You could report back tomorrow . Tell your husband that he is free to come and go here if he needs to take you . You can go now . " He had a barely discernable smile on his face .

"Ah, yes! Thank you CEO!" She hurriedly bowed down, straining her injured lower back a bit .

She bit her lip to endure the pain and flashed a professional smile when she straightened up to face him before leaving .

___________________

"Mom! How can you allow this?!" Masaichi was furious when Midori did not say anything regarding her baby b.u.mp .

"She is still the same baby girl that I gave birth to and raised . Why would I not allow this?" Aoi Xiu decided to play with him for awhile .

Midori shot her mother a questioning look .

Aoi shrugged her shoulders at her, as if leaving the explanation to her .

Midori frowned and was about to retaliate . She is married for pity's sake!

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang from across the hall .

"Masaichi Xiu, how dare you raise your voice towards your mother?"

Everyone followed the voice . A pair of cozy slippers came walking towards them .

"O-otousan . . . " the siblings chorused .

"Sorry for being away for a long time . " Xiu Jin had a warm smile, which he turned into a teasing frown . "However, that does not mean that you could verbally harra.s.s your mother and sister . " He eyed his son .

"But she did not even deny that she is pregnant!" Masaichi replied in defense .

"So? Why did you a.s.sume that she's carrying a child out of wedlock?"

"What? You secretly married someone?!" His interrogation was back to his sister .

"Don't say it as if I'm underaged! I had a wedding!" Midori got her strong presence back .

"You knew about this?!" He looked at his parents, hoping not to get confirmation .

"We knew for some time now . " Aoi nonchalantly answered . "She did not invite us . " She raised a brow towards Midori .

The atmosphere became even less serious when Xiu Jin laughed .

"Otousan . . . what's so funny now?!" Midori was irritated because she was in a predicament on revealing everything .

"I . . . " Xiu Jin continued to laugh until everyone was annoyed of it . "I just . . . remembered something . " He could not help laughing more .

"You weird old man! Spill it out instead of looking like an idiot!" Aoi Xiu scolded him . She knew this habit of him laughing when recalling memories . However, at this point, she was curious what he was laughing about .

Wiping some tears at the corners of his eyes, Xiu Jin finally composed himself . "Maskun didn't know, but someone really close to him had the right to know . I guess he was indeed the bigger man!" He laughed again .

Masaichi's furrowed brows even became closer together . He does not have a brother . He does not even have a bestfriend! Who was the man who knew this before him?

Just then, something was tugging his pants .

He looked down and realized the answer .

"Tousan, when did you come back?" Manta was rubbing his still sleepy eyes .