Beside him, the female employee's eyes bulged. Mo Qingchen seemed to have forgotten she existed.

She scurried out when her floor came and Mo Qingchen finally remembered she was there. He watched her run away like a scared rat dispassionately and concentrated back on the call.

"If I call you daddy, it won't be related to my father," she scoffed. And then she paused. "This conversation took an abnormal turn." The honking slowly stopped. "I'll hang up now. The traffic is moving. I'll see you once we are done with work," she chirped.

Mo Qingchen stared at the phone and knew that she had hung up. His floor had arrived and he stepped out and made his way to the office. He didn't even pay attention to Gu Rong, who tried to stand up to greet him, but he rushed past her so fast that she couldn't even get her butt off her chair.

She planted herself back down and shrugged. Mr. Mo would call her if he needed to plan something new.

Once in his office, Mo Qingchen went through all his contacts to find his politician uncle. He had never called this person willingly, but now he was doing it without reserve.

The phone rang a couple of times before the elderly man picked up the call.

"Mo Qingchen?" he said, sounding surprised.

Mo Qingchen hummed. "Uncle, I have a question to ask of you," he began.

"Go ahead!" the elder said nervously. This young man in their family was a recluse and just his voice was scary. Much like his father, he too had an aura that demanded people keep away. What did he have to do with an old man like him? "Why did you call? Did you face some problem?"

Mo Qingchen froze. "I wanted to ask you to return the favor," he said firmly.

The elder was bewildered. "Favor? What favor are you referring to?" How couldn't he remember taking help from Mo Qingchen?

"You pleaded with me to go to that show and take your side about the housing bill," he reminded calmly.

The elder jolted. "I pleaded?" he asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes." There was finality in the way he said it. "I need a criminal investigation pushed forward immediately. It's an urgent matter. The suspect is from a rich family and has been gambling and extorting money for a while but they are also threatening others. Can you do something?" he asked.

The elder took it more as a challenge than anything. "Qingchen, I am a high-ranking political figure. Of course, I can pull some strings. What case are you talking about? Where is it stuck?" he asked eagerly to show off his authority.

Mo Qingchen smirked. He gave the information lightly and then hung up the phone without ceremony.

The next half an hour was spent making preparations to tighten security. After he was done, he wanted to curse. He was backlogged on a lot of work. And he had pushed the progress meeting to tomorrow.

Did he need to work longer and keep Qian Meng waiting? He hoped not. He rushed out and swore that he would finish the work before six in the evening.

- - - - -

Bai Yu returned home uncharacteristically early that day. It was barely three in the afternoon and he had opened the front door of the house.

He was slipping his shoes off when he heard Chen Yue making her way to him. She had her apron on and she looked excited about something.

"Is the meeting done?" she asked.

Bai Yu looked up, confused, and took in how she looked. "Are you planning on cooking today?" he asked.

Chen Yue looked perplexed for a while before she gave him a warning glare. "Why are you acting like I never cook? Don't you remember how many meals I have cooked for you and your colleagues?" she said.

Bai Yu nodded to placate her. "Why are you cooking today? Don't you have a back problem?" She had stopped cooking altogether stating that it hurt to stand. She was close to his age, nearing her sixties, so it made sense to him.

But what was so special about today that she had disregarded her cramps and pains to cook?

"I just felt like cooking today," she said happily. "How did the meeting go?" she asked.

Bai Yu didn't respond. He could guess that the rotten son of his hadn't spoken to his mother yet and had left him open to attack. At least, he had got a few moments of silence on entering the home.

He looked at Chen Yue carefully. "Did you know something?" he asked calmly.

Her smile dropped. She looked away guiltily. "How would I know anything? I am asking you what happened," she responded in a meeker voice.

"Your good son signed bad deals with some of the shareholders and was pocketing company money. He even tried to collude with them and stop me from voting," he told her. He watched her expression to see any changes. From her reaction, he could guess that she had known the latter would happen, but the first part of his accusation was new information to her.

"Why would he do that?" she asked, her voice rising slightly.

"Don't you know well in your heart why he would do that?" Bai Yu asked her. He shook his head at her silence. "I thought I indulged him, but now I can see the problem runs deeper. You've been helping him hatch plans," he accused.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Chen Yue yelled. "Haven't I done everything to make sure my children's futures were bright?" she asked. She clutched at her chest, looking offended at his accusation.

"I just told you that your son was embezzling money from the company and making bad deals and this is your response?" He felt desolate.

The wife who had cried when he left his job but never complained about the hard times when he struggled to build his business. She had become selfish. She didn't care for him. Only for the son who was adamant about ruining the family's work.