His wife's pregnancy bump disappeared, and Mr. Huo was going crazy missing her.

As Qiao Mian walked to the elevator with this question in mind, she was about to press the button for the staff elevator when Huo Yanbei, who had already entered the private elevator, said in a deep voice, "Come here."

"I……"

She instinctively wanted to refuse, but when she met the man's serious and aloof gaze, she obediently stepped inside.

Before leaving the company, try to avoid upsetting him.

The elevator slowly ascended, and Qiao Mian stood properly in the corner behind him.

She lifted her eyelids and secretly sized him up.

I noticed that his cuffs were messy, his coat was a little wrinkled, and even his trousers weren't as straight as they usually are.

She was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Clearly, he did sleep in the car overnight...

"Come out, to my office." Lost in thought, I realized the elevator had already stopped on the thirty-first floor.

After saying this, Huo Yanbei strode towards his office.

Qiao Mian followed closely behind and asked Chen Ke, "Did President Huo want to see me about something?"

She is now terrified of Huo Yanbei.

It's not that I'm afraid of being scolded by him, but I'm afraid he'll go crazy and pester me.

Seeing her worried expression, Chen Ke reassured her, "President Huo doesn't seem to be in a bad mood. Don't worry, once you go in, just be obedient."

That's as good as saying nothing at all.

Qiao Mian walked into the office with a nervous heart.

"Mr. Huo, please let me know what you need..."

She stood in front of the desk, her eyes lowered, as docile as a little lamb.

However, her tightly clasped hands betrayed her nervousness.

Huo Yanbei looked away, took a contract from the drawer, and pushed it in front of her. "Take a look."

Qiao Mian picked it up with a puzzled look, and after carefully reading it, she looked at Huo Yanbei with surprise, "Mr. Huo, I'm not an employee of Huo's Group, why are you giving me an employment contract?"

Huo Yanbei's tall and slender body sank into the leather seat, his arms crossed, his expression slightly serious. "Your contract with Ronghua expires in six months. If you want to leave, you can come to Huo's."

Qiao Mian's fingers, which were gripping the document, trembled slightly.

Did he know she was leaving Ronghua Law Firm when he suddenly gave her this employment contract?

As you concentrate, the man's deep, magnetic voice comes again, "Leave Ronghua. With your qualifications, even if you work at another law firm, the salary will be far from what Huo's legal department can offer you."

The contract crumpled between her fingers, and Qiao Mian bit her lip.

Compared to the Huo Group, which controls the lifeline of the local economy, even those who climb to the top of the legal profession are still just employees and card players in the capital circle.

She had just looked at the offer carefully; the annual salary offered by Huo's firm was twice as high as that of Tongchen Law Firm, where she was about to join.

This is a multiple-choice question with an obvious answer. Whether for fame or money, anyone would choose to work for the Huo family.

Moreover, at the Huo family, one only comes into contact with large projects in the top capital circles.

For a mediocre lawyer like her, this is an excellent opportunity to improve her skills.

Even an opportunity to change one's career trajectory...

but--

If she weren't hiding from Huo Yanbei, she would have accepted such tempting treatment without hesitation.

Nobody turns down money.

Besides, she's someone who needs to raise three children and is very short of money.

However, if she really took a job at Huo's company and worked by Huo Yanbei's side, she would only become more and more entangled with him.

As the two spend more time together, her true identity will eventually be exposed.

If Huo Yanbei knew that she was Huo Wu, given his crazy and obsessive nature, there was absolutely no way he would let her go.

If he finds out that she has given birth to three children for him, he will not hesitate to take the children away.

But if Old Master Huo found out...

The Huo family, a top-tier family, places great importance on family background and social standing. Even if she gained status through her son, it would be impossible for her to enter the Huo family.

Therefore, her final outcome could only be... to lose her mother and keep her child.

Six years ago, Mr. Huo made this very clear to her.

That was on the eve of Huo Yanbei and Song Man's engagement. Old Master Huo had ordered someone to bring her back to the old house and had a frank and open talk with her.

Even now, she still remembers the scene from that day very clearly.

Grandpa Huo, leaning on his cane, threw a check and a plane ticket to the M country onto the bluestone floor in front of her, his eyes filled with contempt and anger.

"Huo Wu, we brought you back to the Huo family for two reasons: first, to repay your kindness to the Huo family for taking care of Yan Bei; and second, because we saw you were pitiful and helpless, so we gave you the status of a Huo family heiress, ensuring you a life of luxury and comfort. But you, my girl, are far too greedy!"

"You know perfectly well that I oppose your relationship with Yan Bei, yet you still secretly seduce him. You are such an ungrateful wretch!"

"Huo Wu, out of consideration for the fact that you've called me 'Grandpa' for four years, I won't kick you out of the Huo family."

"Let me tell you clearly, even if you become Yan Bei's mistress, you're not qualified. If the media were to expose his relationship with his sister, who is deaf and mute, what would become of the Huo family's reputation?"

"Yan Bei's ambition to inherit the Huo family will also be destroyed by you. Don't forget, back then, it was because of the struggle for succession that he was reduced to the streets and you took him in."

"If you really care about him, leave Beijing and go abroad. Never come back in this lifetime."

"Besides, Yan Bei is getting engaged to Song Man soon. Aren't you embarrassed to stay in the Huo family?"

That day, Mr. Huo used both gentle persuasion and firm pressure to talk to her for a long time.

There was only one purpose: to get her to leave the Huo family and Huo Yanbei.

From that moment on, she understood that even if Huo Yanbei did not betray her, she was destined to have no future with him.

Moreover, even if Old Master Huo didn't look for her, she would still leave.

She and Zhou Jinnan had arranged to go to Shanghai together.

So she didn't take the check or the plane ticket. She kept her pregnancy a secret and assured Grandpa Huo, "Grandpa Huo, don't worry, after I graduate this semester, I will leave the Huo family immediately and disappear completely. I will never see Brother Yanbei again in this lifetime..."

Even though she sincerely promised, Old Master Huo didn't believe her. "Huo Wu, I want you to swear that you will never bother Yan Bei again in this lifetime."

Later, she knelt before Old Master Huo, pointed to the sky, and swore, "In this life, I will never have anything to do with Brother Yanbei again. If I break this oath, may I never have peace for the rest of my life..."

Lost memories flashed through my mind.

Every word she uttered was like a sharp knife, deeply etched into her bones.

Even now, thinking about it still causes me a dull ache in my heart.

A hot tear slid down her cheek.

She lowered her head, wiped her eyes forcefully, composed herself, and gave Huo Yanbei a polite and gentle smile. "Mr. Huo, thank you for your kindness..."