CEO and his Empress…

Meilin, who was not supposed to be present here, at the moment walked in with her usual stoic and elegant gait. She had donned herself in a pure white blouse and black wide pants paired with her usual 3-inch heels, all her hair was put up in a smart bun and her bangs were held by a hair clip; her lips were tinted with a peach rogue and she had a minimal to light make-up still, the aura she had didn't fade nor lose to the king walking in front, in contrast, even though they didn't deliberately match their outfits, somehow they looked to be in pair, maybe it was the intimidating and noble aura around them or maybe the tacit understanding between them, well, in all everything was so perfect around them and so, Xun Luli, who thought she deserved the place beside him, was stung hard by the scene.

Chairman Xun, whose back was facing the door finally stood up and turned around to welcome his future 'son-in-law', but the moment he saw the person beside him his brows scrunched down.

Qin Meilin, the fallen heiress of the Qins, was not supposed to be present here nor was she welcomed.

He deeply frowned, but before he could say anything, he heard him speak, "it's a bit early, but since you are here, we can start the meeting", he was very formal with his speech, he didn't sound like he was talking to an elder, but it was just enough for a man with a higher position than him, in a way his net worth was incomparably higher than Chairman Xun, but ZiXuan who grew up beside Qin Mo knew better.

When he first took the position, many were offended when he didn't respect them considering he was just a young fledgeling and needed their so-called 'support', but as time passed and he slapped everyone with his achievement and results, everyone accepted him as an equal even though he was not even half their age, Chairman Xun was one such man, he thought that being at the helm of the country's economy, Qin ZiXuan needed to have that pride.

Taking his eyes off of Meilin, who was intruding, he laughed, "hahaha....well, let's start! We haven't placed the order yet, Luli, this child said that she would like to wait for you to place the order...."

"Papa!", Luli who was still in a daze was brought back by this sudden mention and softly rebuked as she deeply blushed, she was acting like a wife who was teased by her father to have forgotten about family in front of her husband.

The Qin duo, who had no interest in their bickering, "..........."

After a while, Xun Luli, who finally regained her composure, shyly nodded to him, "It's been a while...".....she didn't dare say the following, 'I've missed you, ZiXuan. Did you miss me, too?"

She was too scared to know the answer.

ZiXuan didn't say anything and just nodded.

Meilin, who was standing behind him, spoke for the first time, "I'll place the order for you, sir."

ZiXuan softly nodded, "hmm"

It was an awkward moment for both the father and daughter.

The rectangular dining table had two chairs on either side of its breadth, it wasn't known if it was intentional, but both of them sat facing each other leaving one chair on each side.

ZiXuan without batting an eyelid sat beside Chairman Xun, which led Meilin to sit beside Luli.

There was cold silence after this, Luli was too shocked to say anything and Chairman Xun gave a nasty glare towards Meilin...well, according to his logic, if she wasn't here then, ZiXuan would definitely sit beside his daughter, the awkward air stagnated until the waiter came to take their order.

"The both of us will have Salade Nicoise, Flamiche, Ratatouille and tarte Tatin for dessert....no wine", putting their order she turned towards Chairman Xun, "Please help yourselves"....if ZiXuan was borderline 'disrespectful', this totally sounded like an 'order' from over the head than a request, well, again it was her character default, she wasn't going to change it anytime soon.

Chairman Xun who was already ticked because of her presence was about to explode when a soft voice interrupted him, "um....", she acted like she didn't know what to call her, but wanted to say something.

"You can call me, Secretary Qin, Miss Xun", Meilin stated in a straight voice.

"yes...umm....Secretary Qin, ZiXuan is not very fond of vegetables so,...", she trailed off. All the dishes that Meilin ordered were packed with veggies except for the salad, Luli had borderline-stalked him so, her knowing it or guessing such a small thing was not difficult plus, talking about his preferences she wanted Meilin to know their positions.

Hearing his daughter, Chairman Xun almost had a smug face,..... almost.

"You don't need to care about that, Miss Xun", he put emphasis on how he called her and then continued, "I have a slight infection in my eyes and Meilin is just taking that into consideration."

Xun Luli blanked out as her face went pale.....

Chairman Xun, who knew about Qin ZiXuan's nature more than her daughter, finally saw that Qin ZiXuan was actually not interested in her daughter, but that didn't stop him from dreaming big, even if it was a loveless marriage, it was very common in their world, no matter what, Luli had to be the next Mrs Qin....

Qin ZiXuan was very rigid, he knew that this man was very business-oriented, just like him and didn't need love in his life, they were very similar or so, Chairman Xun thought.... He was now more adamant to make him his future son-in-law, Luli could love even this cold iceberg and will probably continue loving him...it was best of both world for his daughter and his family.....

"ah, is that so? Then you should take care of yourself, CEO Qin", saying this he put his own order and the waiter who had been neglected and had a cold sweat because of the tension, bowed and instantly left the place.

Meilin was still in a daze, it was very unusual for him to call her by her name....' What did he mean by that?'

A thought crossed her mind, but it went away just as fast as it came....it can't be true after all.

She looked up only to see him give him what she thought was a seductive smile....

BOOM

The thought that had escaped came back and hammered down on to her, as his husky voice from this evening reverberated inside her head, '...be ready by then.....'

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