The silence following Zhenting’s question was thick and suffocating. Belle’s face was a mask of sheer disbelief as she scanned Xia’s cheap, sensible flats against the opulence of the 88th floor. A hysterical laugh bubbled up her throat before she spat out the truth: Xia was her 'half-sister,' the daughter of a woman her father was forced to deal with, and a disgrace who had no place in such a prestigious office.
Xia’s nails bit into her palms, the cruel mention of her mother feeling like a physical strike. She steeled herself for the inevitable—expecting Zhenting to point toward the elevator and cast her out. Instead, Zhenting stepped forward, completely ignoring Belle’s outrage to focus his predatory, unreadable gaze solely on Xia, tracing the visible tension in her jaw.
Zhenting’s voice remained smooth and devoid of warmth as he countered Belle’s claims. He pointed out the discrepancy in their stories, noting that Xia’s resume mentioned no sisterly ties and only listed her mother. In a cold dismissal of Belle’s tantrum, he made it clear that since Xia had no official ties to the Lin family, she was strictly a Lu Group employee under his protection.
The power dynamic shifted instantly as Zhenting’s eyes turned back to ice, directed at his fiancée. He firmly established that on the 88th floor, his professional judgment was absolute, effectively stripping Belle of her status and prioritizing his new clerk over the personal drama of the Lin family.
Belle froze, her face flushing a deep, ugly red as she tried to protest, but Zhenting interrupted her with a voice that dropped to a dangerous, low pitch. He coldly reminded her that she was merely his fiancée, not his wife, and delivered a cutting blow: if it weren't for the incident at the hotel two weeks ago, she wouldn't even have the privilege of speaking to him.