And so they b.u.mped into each other again on the wedding anniversary celebration of Janice Chen and her husband, Fa Zhang. Just like on their wedding day, the couple still purchased their celebration shoes from XCG's wedding shoe brand, Bixiu.

Midori Xiu clapped along with the crowd to congratulate the couple.

Just then, a soothing deep voice rang over her left ear, tickling her pinna with the warm air from the breath.

"Good thing I did not pa.s.s this one to my a.s.sistant."

At that point, Midori thought, 'The voice belongs to my husband.'

However, she turned from him, who was only inches away, and sped off in her own pair of blush satin tied heels from Bixiu, as if she had not noticed him.

He chuckled as he discretely chased after her.

"Miss Xiu, are you trying to avoid me?" With his long legs and large strides, he was able to catch up to her, and soon his face appeared before her, with his signature pearly whites.

Midori gasped as he suddenly appeared to her face, the tip of their noses almost touching.

"Were you looking for me?" She sounded a little flirtatious compared to her usual aloof tone.

He chuckled. "Maybe..."

"Is that so?" Her eyes were challenging him.

"Well, I had treated you to several meals already. Isn't it time for your payback?"

She snickered. "Do you have the time to eat in your office?"

"Hmmm...I can make some..."

She smiled. "Alright. Lunch time tomorrow."

"Wh? Really?!"

"It's payback. I'll kick you if you think there's something about it. We appreciate that you were willing to collaborate with XCG for several projects. The boost in our finances are more than negligible."

"Well, you deserve it."

.

The next day, Verdan Zhou was more smartly dressed than his usual black office ensemble. He donned a khaki suit and pants with olive green s.h.i.+rt and green-white striped tie. There was probably an extra layer of setting wax on his dark locks and an added spray of perfume on his collar. He smiled as he signed the papers his a.s.sistant brought in as he arrived in the morning.

The a.s.sistant is a new one, a fresh-graduate finance major who had yet to fully immerse herself in going about with the affairs of the company and its people. When she was hired, her boss was not grumpy, but it was as if he was lost in his own world so he was rather indifferent. Seeing him in such a good mood sent s.h.i.+vers down her spine.

Her fingers were subconsciously doing the movements for "itsy bitsy spider" as her eyes darted around the room, while she anxiously await for her boss to finish with the papers and for further instructions.

"You can have your break now." His oddly soft voice startled her.

"What? Uhm...excuse me Sir?" Even though she heard him, she could not properly process the statement.

"Go have your lunch break. Just be back in four hours." He gave her a subtle smile while his brows and eyes were commanding her to get lost.

"Oh...uhm, then please excuse me." She hurriedly took off with the doc.u.ments, afraid that she might get fired if she spout further nonsense. What a smart girl.

Verdan Zhou straightened his tie and suit as he glaced at the clock. It was a minimalist, all lines, black and white clock, and it told him that it was only 11 am.

He chuckled as he realized how silly he was. It might be too early to antic.i.p.ate her arrival.

Midori Xiu took a deep breath as she held onto the bento boxes packed in a thermal lunch bag. She woke up early to cook for everyone in the house. However, n.o.body knew that the packed lunch she made that she was bringing to the office was different from what she served to them, or so she thought.

The sound of the elevator brought her back to her objective and her heels started clicking against the floor.

When she arrived at the CEO's door. The a.s.sistant, who was usually greeting her was not behind her desk.

She had a slight frown as she proceeded to knock on the door.

Verdan Zhou hurriedly flipped open a random file on his desk and pretended to be working when he replied to the person at the door to come in.

Midori Xiu then slowly entered with a subtle smile. She slightly raised the bag to indicate that she brought lunch.

"Ah..." pretending that he had just remembered, Verdan Zhou hurriedly stood from his swivel chair and gestured towards the sofa and coffee table.

Midori placed all the contents of the bento box as well as the thermal tumbler full of hot tea.

"Oh...I'll get cups." Verdan Zhou volunteered.

While waiting, Midori walked around the office. Though his personality was almost the same, the decór of the room seemed to have subtly changed but she could not quite put her finger on what was the difference.

Without her knowing, she had arrived at his desk. As her eyes fell on the doc.u.ment he was previously reading, she chuckled.

Verdan Zhou had just walked in to find her reaction puzzling.