Love Bet - Chapter 8 - Torment

Night had long fallen, and hours had passed since the official end of the workday. The dark, silent office building was so quiet that only the ticking of the clock could be heard. Qiao Shuqi was slumped over her assistant’s desk on the 19th floor. Rubbing her drowsy eyes, she straightened up and forced herself to focus once again on proofreading the towering pile of documents in front of her.

She had never imagined that Mo Tianchen could be so cruel. Since the start of the afternoon shift, he had dumped a heap of documents on her desk as soon as the regular work hours were over, instructing her to proofread them word by word against the computer. At first, she thought he was just trying to mess with her, so she skimmed through the documents and handed them back. Less than a minute later, double the amount of files was tossed onto her desk. The first set of documents was marked with several mistakes every five or six lines, all circled in black ink. Gritting her teeth, Qiao Shuqi finally realized that he had indeed handed her a stack of error-filled documents. Looking at his icy, emotionless face, she strongly suspected that the mistakes were intentionally planted just to torment her.

Hours later, after meticulously proofreading every single page, the pile was finally covered in corrections. Exhausted, Qiao Shuqi yawned and glanced at the digital clock in the corner of her computer screen-it was already 12:30 a.m. Stretching her arms, she prepared to stand up and call it a night.

“Bang.” Another thick stack of documents landed heavily on her desk.

“Type up all of these,” said the cold and emotionless voice above her. Mo Tianchen’s tone was as frosty as ever. Staring at the densely packed text on the white sheets, Qiao Shuqi’s anger boiled over.

“Hey, it’s already half-past midnight! There’re only a few hours left till work starts again. Even Ms. Chu is done for the day and has gone home. Why am I still working, without any overtime pay?” Qiao Shuqi grabbed her phone from the desk and shoved the screen displaying the glaringly obvious digital clock in front of him.

Glancing down at Qiao Shuqi’s infuriated face, Mo Tianchen snatched the phone out of her hand without a change in his expression.

“When you’re on the clock, focus on your work. Constantly checking the time-what kind of behavior is that?” he said coolly as he turned off the screen. “Finish typing these documents, proofread them, and then come to me to retrieve your phone.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.

“Slave driver!” Qiao Shuqi seethed through gritted teeth as she stared at his retreating figure. Furious, she slammed the documents against the desk, the sound echoing sharply in the silent office. But in the end, she could only sigh in resignation, sit back down, and start typing furiously.

Not a wink of sleep all night.

By the time Mo Tianchen emerged from the private bedroom inside his office, the clock hands pointed to 6 a.m. Outside, Qiao Shuqi was slumped over her desk, eyes tightly shut, deeply asleep.

Her long black hair was simply tied back, with her bangs slightly disheveled. Her serene and familiar sleeping face evoked a fleeting sense of nostalgia. The room was quiet, save for the steady sound of her breathing. For a brief moment, Mo Tianchen froze in place. Almost instinctively, he reached out, his slender fingers gently brushing aside the messy strands of her hair. Her familiar features filled his view, but in an instant, his pupils turned icy cold. He raised his hand and gave her face a couple of light pats, his movements calculated and controlled.

“Hey, wake up!”

Feeling a tingling sensation on her face, Qiao Shuqi furrowed her brows and rubbed her swollen eyes. With great effort, she opened them, only to see Mo Tianchen’s eternally frosty face staring back at her.

In an instant, Qiao Shuqi straightened her posture and sat upright. She hurriedly gathered the scattered documents on the desk and swallowed nervously.

“I… I’ve input everything. Can I clock out now?”

Mo Tianchen cast a glance at the disorganized stack of documents and cleared his throat lightly.

“Once your tasks are finished, you can clock out. However…” He tapped the screen of his phone to light it up and held it in front of her. “It is now 6:10 a.m., and as per company policy, the president assistant is required to begin work at 6 a.m., taking care of the president’s daily needs. So, Miss Qiao, you are already ten minutes late.” Placing the phone back on his desk, he continued, his tone devoid of warmth.

“I’ll overlook these ten minutes this time. Now, go to Zhang Ji Breakfast Shop in the west area and get me some breakfast. Then head to Lidu to pick up the custom-made suit I’ll need for this afternoon’s meeting. After that, make a reservation for a private room at Xingyuan Hotel for tonight’s client dinner. But before all of that, brew me a cup of charcoal-roasted coffee.”

Qiao Shuqi closed her eyes, took a deep breath to calm herself, and then met Mo Tianchen’s cold, mocking gaze with clenched teeth.

“Fine. Just you wait!” she spat before storming off toward the pantry. Still sporting heavy dark circles under her eyes, she angrily scooped out two heaping spoonfuls of coffee powder, poured in water, and mixed it with an aggressive clinking of the spoon against the cup. After finishing, she marched into the president office and dropped the coffee onto his desk.

She splashed her face with cool water in the restroom to clear her head before grabbing her bag and leaving the company at a brisk pace. It took her forty minutes by cab to reach the west area, where she endured a painfully long wait before finally securing Mo Tianchen’s excessively elaborate breakfast-an effort comparable to preparing a royal banquet. With the breakfast in hand, she hailed another cab and headed back toward the office.

“Why aren’t we moving?” she asked the driver anxiously after sitting idle in the motionless car for nearly twenty minutes.

“It’s rush hour right now. The traffic jam is pretty bad-this is normal,” the driver replied.

“Can you take another route? I’m in a hurry!” Qiao Shuqi pleaded, casting a frantic glance at her phone. It was already past 8 a.m. She was doomed; she hadn’t even clocked in yet.

“Miss, just take a look yourself. Cars are completely backed up both ahead and behind. Even if we take a different route, there’s no way to turn back,” the taxi driver responded helplessly.

Glancing at her phone to check the time, Qiao Shuqi furrowed her brows and took a deep breath. She opened the car door, tossed down some cash, tucked the breakfast box back into her bag, and dashed toward the company.

The journey to the office required her to cross three main streets. Considering how much time she’d spend waiting in the car for the traffic to clear, she figured she’d be better off running. Wiping the sweat from her face, she quickened her pace.

Along the way, Qiao Shuqi removed her bag from her shoulder and clutched it tightly to her chest, making sure the zipper was secure. By now, the food inside the box was probably no longer hot, she realized, pressing her lips into a thin line. She remembered that his stomach was weak and couldn’t handle food that was too cold. What’s more, earlier that morning, she had added two full spoonfuls of coffee powder to his coffee-and had purposely skipped the sugar. That much caffeine was certain to be hard on his stomach. Feeling a pang of guilt, she hugged her bag tighter to her chest, silently regretting her petty act of revenge earlier.

She ran non-stop all the way back to the office, quickly clocked in, and headed up to the 19th floor. The hallway was eerily quiet. Qiao Shuqi swiftly pulled the still-somewhat-warm breakfast box out of her bag, set her bag down on her desk, and walked into the president office, holding the box with both hands.

“Here’s your breakfast,” she said, panting as she placed the box on the desk in front of Mo Tianchen. Finally letting out a sigh of relief, she felt utterly drained from sprinting across three full streets. It was exhausting.

Mo Tianchen put down the document and pen he’d been holding, glancing at the breakfast box on the desk before casting his gaze coldly at Qiao Shuqi, who was still trying to catch her breath. His voice was as icy as ever.

“Miss Qiao, it’s now 9:30 a.m. It took you three hours to buy breakfast. Even if you’d been preparing an imperial Manchu-Han feast in ancient times, the dishes would have been served and cleared by now. Also, I have a 10 a.m. meeting with a client-half an hour from now. Where are the custom clothes from Lidu?” His tone was devoid of the slightest trace of warmth, his eyes never wandering from his computer screen as he moved the mouse.

Qiao Shuqi bit her lip, embarrassed.

“There was traffic… so I-”

“I’m not looking for employees who always have excuses. I expect an assistant who gets things done efficiently. Chu Mu has already picked up my clothes, so now your next job is to head to Xingyuan Hotel and secure the venue for tonight’s banquet. Don’t say I didn’t warn you-if you get there too late and the venue is no longer available, that’s a responsibility you won’t be able to bear.”

Mo Tianchen stood from his chair, removed his black-rimmed glasses, and casually picked up the breakfast box from his desk. Without so much as opening it, he discarded it into the trash can beside him. Then, without another word, he turned around and walked into the dressing room.

Qiao Shuqi remained frozen in place, her eyes locked on the breakfast box lying untouched in the trash can, its packaging still perfectly intact. A faint mist clouded her vision as her throat tightened, unable to make a sound. A wave of bitterness and frustration rose up from deep within her, spreading through her chest.

She had tried her hardest-she truly had. She had rushed non-stop to buy his breakfast, running across three streets until her legs were nearly giving out to make it back in time. She had carefully placed the breakfast box in her bag, holding it tightly to her chest so it wouldn’t get cold. And now, in less than ten minutes, the breakfast she’d painstakingly fetched was tossed into the trash, untouched. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face, dripping onto the ground one by one.

“Why are you still here?” Mo Tianchen, now changed into a fresh suit and tying his tie, walked out of the dressing room. Seeing Qiao Shuqi still sitting silently with her head bowed, he frowned deeply, his face full of displeasure. “I have to tell you, as of now, you’re three hours late, and on top of that, you’ve utterly botched your tasks. Your pay will be docked for today. And if this happens more than three times in a single month, you can head to the Finance Department to collect your severance package. Don’t think for a moment that walking out of here will be easy. For anyone fired by the Mo Family, no company in all of Z City would dare to hire them. And let me be clear-I won’t let you leave Z City so easily. Don’t even think about it.”

With that, Mo Tianchen ignored the tears on her face. Without another glance, he walked straight out of the office.

As the sound of his steady footsteps receded into the distance, Qiao Shuqi sniffled, raised her hand to wipe the tears from her face, and brushed away the fine beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead from all the running. Then, without another word, she turned and exited the office.

She called for a taxi and headed to Xingyuan Hotel. By the time she stepped through the doors into the hall, exhaustion had overwhelmed her to the point where she could barely keep her eyes open.

“Our banquet venue will be set up near the back garden’s poolside hall. Please ensure that the food and beverages are of the highest quality. If possible, you can start setting up now.”

Suddenly, Qiao Shuqi was drawn to a polite, distant, and familiar voice. Instinctively, she turned her gaze toward the source of the sound.

Near the front desk, Chu Mu, dressed in a sleek black suit, was smiling warmly as she shook hands with another woman, who was also dressed in a formal suit.

“OK. It’s an honor to collaborate with your company. Looking forward to working together,” the other woman said.

“Thank you, Manager Chen. See you tonight,” Chu Mu replied courteously before stepping back with a formal nod. She turned and made her way toward the main doors, seemingly ready to leave the hotel.

“Ms. Chu…” Qiao Shuqi hesitated slightly before calling out to her. Chu Mu turned around, and upon seeing Qiao Shuqi, her calm demeanor betrayed no surprise. She gave a polite smile.

“Miss Qiao.”

“You… have already booked the venue?” Qiao Shuqi asked awkwardly. Wasn’t this the task Mo Tianchen had sent her to do? How had Chu Mu already taken care of it?

“The president instructed me to book and arrange the venue if you didn’t arrive by 10:30,” Chu Mu replied with a faint smile. She raised her wrist to check her watch. “It’s already 11 o’clock now. The president is probably meeting with the client at this moment. By the time he heads back to the company, it’ll almost be time to clock out. Miss Qiao, you can leave for the day-there’s nothing else that requires your attention at the company.”

“Oh, thank you!” Qiao Shuqi pursed her lips and forced a smile as she expressed her gratitude to Chu Mu.

“You’re welcome. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave as well,” Chu Mu replied with her usual composed smile.

“Ah, no, that’s all. Goodbye,” Qiao Shuqi said, politely thanking her again before walking out of the hotel. She tilted her head back to look at the scorching sky above and let out a long exhale of relief.

From the moment she reported to the company yesterday morning until now, she hadn’t had the chance to visit her mother in the hospital-or even set foot in her assigned apartment. Shaking her pounding head, Qiao Shuqi hailed a taxi and headed straight to the hospital.