America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

"The location and decoration of this new company are quite nice."

Five days later, on Saturday night, a faint, mocking voice echoed from an empty floor of a high-rise building twenty miles from Princeton University. The echoes went back and forth several times before gradually fading away.

After a long while, the office lady walking in front of the young man finished her final check, put the last checkmark on the folder in her hand, and then turned around and handed the file over.

"I think it's almost all packed up, so please sign here."

“Is it so expensive?”

Looking at the amount in the document in his hand, Li Xiaoen exclaimed in surprise and looked up.

"With the financing completed and such a large sum of money secured, I signed two more contracts and upgraded all the renovation materials to the best, which naturally increased the price."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine gave a snort of annoyance, "You're the actual helmsman of a company worth billions, an internet upstart, can you stop making such a fuss?"

“These custom-made decorations and materials were arranged by someone I asked to help me. You can’t buy them anywhere else on the market, and you still think they’re too expensive.”

As she said this, she stepped back, leaned against the office desk, and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Let's keep things separate."

Li Xiaoen shrugged, not paying much attention, and casually signed his name on the document. "This office is yours, right?"

There wasn't much people around when he arrived. He had used his [Eye of Insight] to observe the entire company beforehand and discovered that this office was the second largest in the company, located between the administrative and human resources offices. Because his large office was quite far away, it was a layout reminiscent of a "regional governor."

"Yes what's the matter?"

Nodding casually, Catherine answered frankly, "It's not just me; several colleagues who manage different areas also have their own private offices. As the company grows and expands, other colleagues will gradually be promoted and take charge of a small module..."

"It's nothing, congratulations."

Li Xiaoen chuckled, "Finally, I have my own office. I don't have to take mine anymore..."

"What a great favor! I, the secretary, will definitely do my best to serve the company and Mr. Li from now on."

With a forced smile, Catherine said sarcastically, "It's like the starting salary I got after graduating from university..."

"You can't compare it like that; this is your own business."

Pretending not to understand Catherine's complaints, Sean Lee solemnly corrected her, "Achieving this much on your own is certainly better than inheriting the family business, isn't it?"

Catherine did not answer this and turned away to face elsewhere.

Sean Lee shrugged, glanced at the view outside the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, and was about to turn around to visit his room when Catherine finally spoke.

"Sean..."

Li Xiaoen turned around and saw Catherine holding an exquisite square box, silently looking at him.

"..."

Didn't you say you wanted to buy a watch?

Catherine pursed her lips, opened the box, and handed it over. "This is one I picked out for you. It's a gift for you."

Wow...that's really good?

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow, picked up the watch, put it on his wrist, and rotated his arm. Both the style and the comfort of the watch were impeccable, and it must be very valuable. "It's rare that you still remember. I've been too busy lately and forgot about it."

"As long as you like it."

With the box in her hand empty, and seeing that Li Xiaoen casually put it on, Catherine had no choice but to close it again and put it back in her bag.

"Tell me, what do you want in return?"

Li Xiaoen leaned closer, smiling as he raised his chin.

"If you develop BanYan well, that's better than anything else."

Catherine rolled her eyes. The young man's close proximity and faint warmth and breath made her body tense up involuntarily, and she subconsciously took a half step back.

"Then... I'll give you another 10% of the company's shares?"

Li Xiaoen tentatively spoke.

"Really?"

Catherine looked up and stared wide-eyed.

"nature."

Li Xiaoen nodded. This was already part of his plan. As the company grows, the issue of shares will definitely be made public. Since the goal is to motivate employees, the incentive shares will naturally be allocated to all employees, based on their respective positions and responsibilities. Catherine, who is the second-in-command in both public and private terms, will naturally receive more.

"Well, you know what's going on."

Nodding, Catherine gave a soft hum, and couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips into a smile.

"Hey hey hey..."

Li Xiaoen narrowed his eyes slightly. "If anyone else heard this reward, wouldn't they be moved to tears and promise to work hard and contribute to the company? Is this your attitude?"

"This attitude is already very good for you."

With a chuckle, Catherine retorted, but before she could finish speaking, Sean Lee immediately pushed her against the desk behind him, exclaiming in surprise, "Sean..."

"You...what are you going to do?"

Catherine suddenly panicked and quickly raised her hand to push away the young man who was pressing down on her, but she couldn't budge him at all.

"Of course... we should punish that rude and unruly secretary properly."

Li Xiaoen said fiercely, raised his hand and lifted Catherine up, letting her sit on the table behind him. Just as she looked up with trembling eyes, he lowered his head and kissed her alluring red lips.

"Humph……"

With a soft hum, Catherine's hand, which had been resting on Lee Shawn's chest, tightened and loosened repeatedly before finally rising up to wrap tightly around the young man's neck...

The following day, all BanYan employees relocated. With the expansion of the company's area, more resources and departments were finally clearly categorized and distributed.

Time flies, and due to the launch and maturation of new businesses and features during this period, BanYan's user base has surged again, and its market value has exceeded that of many listed companies.

One prosperous day after another, on a weekend morning, Li Xiaoen took a deep breath and woke up from his sleep. He subconsciously looked at the blanket covering him—the girl who always liked to sleep on top of him was not there today.

Turning his head to look at the side of the bed, he saw Suffer lying on her side with her back to him. He couldn't help but turn around and move his body to hug her from behind, burying his head in her fragrant golden hair.

"Are you hungry?"

Li Xiaoen said softly, "I'll go make you breakfast."

Since the day he brought the girl home for dinner and then brought her back, Suffer has been living with him in this villa. This can be considered an unprecedented development in their relationship. Even so, Li Xiaoen's words today still carried a hint of nervous probing.

Suffer did not reply, and perhaps she was still half asleep. She turned over, broke free from the young man's embrace, and spun around on the spacious bed.

"..."

Li Xiaoen was both amused and exasperated. He blinked and had no choice but to lean closer again and hug the other person once more.

Sophie rolled over again, and he moved closer. After several rounds of this, the two of them had to get close to the other side of the bed.

"Can you please stop bothering people like this...?"

Suffer pursed her lips, turned around angrily, raised her hand to push away the young man in front of her, sat up and glared at him.

"Oh, you're awake." Li Xiaoen chuckled, sat up quickly, got out of bed, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. "Go wash up first, I'll make breakfast..."

Breakfast didn't take much time. When Li Xiaoen brought up two plates of exquisitely prepared sandwiches and fruit coffee, he exchanged a glance with Su Feier, who was sitting on the bed looking at him with a resentful gaze, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"What's wrong? Are you done washing up?"

After placing a plate on the table, Li Xiaoen tentatively asked a question, only to be met with a pillow flying at him, which he had no choice but to grab.

"You're very happy and proud, aren't you?"

With her eyes narrowed, Sophie let out a huff.

"Um……"

Li Xiaoen placed the pillow back on the bedside table, considered her words carefully, and then smiled as she spoke, "Actually, it's alright..."

Back in England, Prince Philip had already discussed with his family that Victoria could move back to Princeton to study. His plan for today was to go there and pick Victoria up—because of previous reasons, Victoria would also be moving into this villa.

"come over……"

After staring intently at the young man for a while, Suffer took a deep breath and began to speak while tidying her hair.

"what happened?"

Li Xiaoen hesitated, and just as the thought of carrying Su Feier to the washroom crossed his mind, his arm was grabbed by the other person and pulled away.

As Li Xiaoen collapsed onto the bed, before he could even react, Su Feier sat on him, looking down at him with a cold smile, her hands busy as she quickly unbuttoned his shirt, which only had a few buttons fastened.

"Sufeil..."

Li Xiaoen exclaimed in surprise...

"Mr. Li, due to the flight's delayed departure time, this is the fastest we can go. Please forgive us."

At a small airport in London, England, the door of a private jet that had just landed opened, and a middle-aged man in a dark blue uniform solemnly nodded to Li Xiaoen, who was about to disembark, and said, "If you rush over now, you should still be able to make it to the banquet."

"It's alright, it's alright. The flight delay is my fault."

Li Xiaoen quickly raised his hand, awkwardly explained, and got off the plane. He immediately got into a car that had been waiting for him and sped away.

In a sprawling, expansive estate on the outskirts of London, the ancient castle in the center is bustling with activity.

On the lawn outside the castle, many men and women in formal attire were already raising their glasses and chatting enthusiastically. Inside the castle, the banquet hall and kitchen were filled with men and women in uniforms, busily managing the arrangements and facilities for the banquet.

Serafina and Mary, who had arrived in England early that morning, were unusually not with Victoria. Instead, they were making cocktails in a corner outside the kitchen.

Serafina, her heart pounding and her body tense, glanced at Mary out of the corner of her eye before taking a small bottle from her pocket and dripping a few drops of liquid into one of the decanters. When she turned back, she saw Mary also quietly pouring a powder into a glass. Her heart, which was already pounding in her chest, trembled even more violently.

“Mary, you…”

Serafina instinctively spoke, but before she could finish, she saw Mary shudder, hide the item in her hand behind her back, and turn around to look.

What did you take out and put in the cup?

Serafina finally managed to clear her tongue and asked the question again.

"Um...it's nothing."

With an awkward smile on her face, Mary forced a smile and answered, only to be met with a look of disbelief from Serafina.

"You weren't planning to give that drink to Sean, were you?"

Feeling a little guilty, Serafina pretended to remain calm and tentatively opened her mouth.

"how about you?"

Mary pursed her lips, her head thrashing anxiously from side to side, before finally raising her voice to ask, "What did you put in the decanter for Sean to drink this time?"

"You...you know?"

Serafina asked in surprise.

"Oh...so you do things like that too."

Mary shouted, switching sides, and silently watched Serafina sneer, "You do the same thing yourself, and you still criticize me?"

"..."

Serafina opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a word, so she could only look to her left and right in frustration.

"Hey, Serafina, did Catherine say something to you?"

When Serafina didn't answer, Mary's big eyes darted around as she tentatively leaned closer. This made Serafina's eyes widen.

Did she... say anything to you?

"Yes, it seems so."

Upon hearing this, Mary took a deep breath in exasperation, gritting her teeth. "That woman did it on purpose, wanting us to take action first, to let Sophie and the others know, so that she can confess without any hindrance or burden..."

"Um……"

Seraphina quickly aligned herself with Mary, nodding solemnly, "If she hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have known she was so close to Sean..."

After these words were spoken, the two exchanged a glance and remained silent.

The two women had undoubtedly known Sean Lee much longer, and no one expected Catherine to get ahead of them.

What are you going to give Sean?

After a long while, Mary finally moved closer and peered at the wine dispenser behind Serafina.

"It's... some drugs that make people's temperaments soar, or even cause them to lose their senses."

Serafina stammered as she finished speaking, then quickly asked, "And what about yours?"

"Oh, they're just some potent sleeping pills that make you sleep very soundly."

Mary wasn't embarrassed at all and immediately replied, "Victoria's here, and Sean might go to see Victoria. Mine is better, and with yours, it's like having two weapons at once..."

"How about I go first tonight?"

As she said this, Mary gestured with her chin toward Serafina.

"no!"

Serafina was momentarily stunned, then quickly shook her head in protest.

"My medicine played a crucial role..."

While the two were still arguing, Li Xiaoen, who possessed superhuman sense of smell and could easily detect abnormal odors in alcohol, finally arrived at the manor gate.

……

As soon as the car drove through the open bronze gate, a slender figure in a white dress ran up to greet it. Li Xiaoen quickly called for the car to stop, got out, and ran to meet her.

As he approached, Li Xiaoen silently gazed at the radiant young woman before him. Her emerald green eyes, which she looked up at, were already glistening with tears of emotion, and he suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

He had completely forgotten the prepared remarks he had made in his mind, and the usually eloquent man was speechless for a moment, finally only able to show a wistful smile on his face.

"Good evening, beautiful Miss Juliet..." (End of Chapter)