Earlston, Scotland, 10:00;

"The software installed in all your devices is one of a kind, Yuan.", Rong Xinghe said, dicing the onions over the wooden chopping board, her technique smooth, "Until and unless someone gave them the direct way into the system, it'd be too risky for the hackers. Don't you think?"

"How would she know my Password?", the man questioned, grabbing the knife from the woman, smiling at her meaningfully. Her eyes would itch, he reminded himself. How could he watch her suffer then, no matter how insignificant it appeared?

"She seems to be an observant woman.", the girl shrugged, walking over to the fridge and picked out a bottle of tomato sauce and cheese with both her hands. She intended to bake the classic American Chop Suey for breakfast. Her Bro Su had taught her the recipe a few years back, and she'd really liked the sumptuous taste of the dish. Why not let her darling enjoy it too then, she thought.

"Even if that's the case, we don't have any evidence against her.", Xi Yuan stated, "Provided that she has a reputation in the business world, we can't point fingers based on nothing but our speculations, you know?"

"Yeah. That's why I haven't done anything to her yet.", the girl nodded. "We are back to square one, aren't we? We don't know the hackers, nor do we have anything against our 'guest'."

"Don't worry too much about this, Xinghe.", the man laughed, peeking at the woman's serious expression, "This loss is no big deal for the Xi Corps." She looked like she was in the middle of a battlefield.

Rong Xinghe turned to look at the man, agitated, "Financially. Of course, it's nothing huge.", she said, "But they are questioning your and Fang's abilities, Yuan. The journalists.

"Come to think of it, even though the 'Soulagement Pharmas file' was of zero importance to you, it still stirred quite the trouble for the Xi family. As if the attacker was trying to make a statement. This incident might seem like a small issue, but the public's opinion is surely swaying due to it. I am afraid that the others would fall for these tricks as well, Baby."

Xi Yuan fixed his eyes upon the woman, finally realizing what she was referring to. He was fairly aware of who these 'others' were, after all. Xi Corporations' shareholders. She was absolutely correct. It was highly possible for that to be the Masterplan; turning the major shareholders against him by insinuating that the acting CEO was no longer capable of managing the empire. Damn... she was a genius at this!

This had occurred to him too, initially. But even then, he felt that there was something amiss in this theory of theirs. That this wasn't what it looked like. He was sure that none of this had anything to do with Xi Chonglin or Luo Youyou. Xi Fang wouldn't have been dragged through the mud alongside him if that were to be the case. Then who else could it be, he cerebrated.

"Let's focus on doing the damage control first.", Rong Xinghe smiled at the man softly, "We need to suppress the news before it becomes a source for unwanted rumors."

At this time, Butler Tang rushed through the doors, breathing heavily. With trembling hands, he passed the phone in his hands to Xi Yuan, "It's your mother, Young Master.", he managed to speak, looking at Rong Xinghe with concern in his eyes.

"Hello, Mom.", the man furrowed his brows, "What is it?"

"Does Xinghe know your Laptop's password?", the woman exacted her question directly, her tone calm.

"Yes.", Xi Yuan replied in a casual manner, "Provided my Emergency Share transfer papers are registered under her name, I am obliged to keep her in the loop, Mom."

"Lord... This is worrisome.", Li Jungah inhaled a sharp breath, "Check the trending headlines on Weibo or Instagram right now. Someone with a fake account is claiming that your systems were hacked through and that Xiao Xinghe was the one to do it, hence, causing the whole turmoil."

Despite the fact that the phone wasn't on speaker, Rong Xinghe could listen to what the person on the other end was saying, by the dint of her extraordinarily alert senses. Subconsciously, the woman reached for her phone next to the jar of sugar and scrolled through her personal Weibo page.

"I knew it! How could the Big Boss lose without even stepping into the fight? It wasn't his fault from the beginning.", someone had commented.

"Exactly. And Vice-President Fang could never let his brother down. He is excellent with negotiations. As it turns out, there was a backstabber amongst them. Rong Xinghe knew his system's Passcode!"

"It's hard to believe the Military Chief would do that, though. Don't they love each other?"

"A lot of women admire President Xi for his powerful financial and family background! And from what I know, she's lived in South Korea for months during her training years. She must've made some sort of deal with the Jeong family. Who knows?"

"If that's the case, she is definitely a two-faced woman. The Big Boss doesn't lack money. If she wanted it so bad, she could've just asked him to step back from the competition."

"Yeah. He loves her too much to not fulfill her wishes. And if she wanted to do favors to the Jeongs, why didn't she drain her own brothers' money? They are incredibly wealthy too, right?"

"She must be using Big Boss."

"How nefarious that bi*ch is! And she has the nerve to speak for the other 'weaker' girls after this?! It's because of golddiggers like her that women around the world are blamed and wronged."

"Rong Xinghe is so hateful."

"Leave our Big Boss, you sl*t!"

"How could she do this to him?"

"Justice for the Xi Family!"

Never in her entire life had Rong Xinghe ever been subjected to such rash and rude remarks. But then again, the person on the other end was Xi Yuan. People around the world admired him, and loved him, and feared him. But above everything else, they were curious about him. As he preferred to maintain a low profile, everyone wanted to have a say in his life.

And although most of the comments were from Xi Corporations' employees, the foreigners and Country X's citizens were getting involved now, as well. This... just who did it?!