The pristine white walls of the medical room felt like a cold prison, trapping Su Xiaolan's post-crisis exhaustion and boundless fear. The dull thud of the door closing when Li Chenyuan left seemed to strike her heart violently, the reverberations lingering endlessly.
"Please let me go!"
She had actually shouted those words at Li Chenyuan!
Like a rabbit backed to the edge of a cliff, baring its utterly non-threatening claws at a lion.
Her tears had long dried up, leaving only a stinging pain on her cheeks and around her eyes. Her body was still weak, but what overwhelmed her more was the tremor deep in her soul. She didn't know what awaited her. A cold dismissal notice? A new wave of even more vicious office gossip? Or… Li Chenyuan's freezing, utterly indifferent disregard?
Any of those options made her feel a bone-chilling cold.
Secretary-General Wang Jing soon appeared at the door of the medical room, holding a cup of warm water and a small plate of delicate pastries. Her expression remained professionally calm, but her eyes held an indescribable complexity—a mix of sympathy and deep exhaustion.
"Assistant Su, are you feeling better?" Wang Jing's voice was deliberately soft. "Have something to eat and regain some strength. President Li instructed that you rest well today."
"Thank you, Secretary-General Wang." Su Xiaolan's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper grating. She took the cup, her fingertips icy. Li Chenyuan's "instructions" now sounded like nothing but irony and heaviness to her. Was it surveillance? Or another form of "arrangement"?
She didn't touch the pastries. Her stomach felt stuffed with cold stones, heavy and devoid of appetite. After another half hour in the medical room, confirming her body was fine, Su Xiaolan floated back to her now-unrecognizable "luxury workstation" like a ghost, under Wang Jing's complicated gaze.
The massage chair, the tablet stand, the wireless charger, that thermos with the character "Li" printed on it… These things that had once symbolized "special treatment" now felt like silent mockery, glaringly out of place. The stares from her colleagues were like needles against her back. Though their whispers were hushed, their curious, probing, even pitying glances wrapped around her like an invisible net.
She could even clearly catch snippets of conversation:
"Look, she's back… She looks terrible…"
"I heard she fainted in the meeting room, and President Li carried her to the medical room himself!"
"Oh my god, a princess carry! So romantic!"
"Romantic? Look at her—she looks terrified!"
"Shh! Keep it down! Don't let her hear!"
Su Xiaolan kept her head down, her fingers clutching the hem of her clothes so tightly her knuckles turned white. Overwhelming shame and disorienting panic nearly drowned her. She couldn't stay here… not even for another minute!
Back at her desk, she didn't collapse into the comfortable massage chair as usual. Instead, she perched stiffly on the edge of her seat. She turned on her computer and logged into the email system. The screen's glow reflected her pale, lifeless face.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, trembling slightly. Her mind was a mess, but one thought grew clearer and stronger—escape! Leave this place! Leave all of this behind!
She took a deep breath, as if mustering all her strength, and clicked "New Email."
Recipient: Secretary-General Wang Jing (cc: HR Department)
Subject: Resignation Letter – Su Xiaolan
Her fingers began typing, stiff and slow, but with a tragic determination:
text
To Secretary-General Wang Jing and the HR Department, I, Su Xiaolan, currently serving as the Executive Assistant in the President's Office, hereby formally submit my resignation due to personal health reasons and career considerations. I regret to inform you that I am no longer able to fulfill the responsibilities of my current position. I will strictly adhere to the company's resignation procedures and ensure a smooth handover of my duties. I kindly request that the resignation process be expedited as much as possible. Thank you for the guidance and support during my time at the company. Sincerely, Su Xiaolan Date
The email was brief, formal, even deliberately cold. It mentioned no specific reasons, expressed no gratitude for Li Chenyuan's "special treatment," and held no trace of reluctance. It was purely and urgently about escape.
Looking at the emotionless resignation letter on the screen, Su Xiaolan's heart felt clenched by an invisible hand, aching so much she could barely breathe. Her finger hovered over the "Send" button, trembling violently. Once she took this step, there would be no turning back. Her lazy, laid-back life, her dream job with "good pay, little work, and close to home"—all of it would be over.
Fear, reluctance, confusion… A storm of emotions churned inside her. But the suffocating focus in the meeting room, Li Chenyuan's unyielding embrace, his cold silhouette as he left the medical room in silence, and the prying eyes around her now—all of it became the final push she needed.
Click!
The sound of the email sending successfully sounded like a funeral bell to Su Xiaolan. As if all her bones had been removed, she slumped into her chair, gasping for breath, her back soaked in cold sweat. It was sent… She had really resigned…
Almost the second the email was sent, the phone at Lin Xiaomei's desk next to hers rang abruptly! The sharp tone made Su Xiaolan jump.
Lin Xiaomei answered, her face instantly turning respectful and nervous. "Yes! Secretary-General Wang!… Understood!" She hung up and looked at Su Xiaolan with shock and disbelief, her voice strained. "Xiao… Xiaolan! Secretary-General Wang wants you… now! Immediately! In her office!"
Su Xiaolan's heart plummeted. So fast?! Wang Jing must have received the email. Was the storm… about to hit?
She stood up, her steps unsteady as she walked to Wang Jing's office. Every step felt like walking on knives. Pushing open the door, she saw Wang Jing seated behind her desk, her expression graver than ever, even carrying a hint of… anxiety? On the computer screen in front of her was Su Xiaolan's resignation letter!
"Su Xiaolan!" Wang Jing's voice lost its usual calm, laced with suppressed anger and disbelief. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?!" She pointed at the screen. "Resigning?! And at a time like this?!"
Su Xiaolan kept her head down, not daring to meet Wang Jing's eyes, her voice barely audible. "Secretary-General Wang… I… My health isn't good. I might not… be suited for this job anymore…"
"Health?!" Wang Jing stood abruptly, her voice rising. "Su Xiaolan! Look at me! Tell me the truth! Is this because of… because of what happened in the meeting room? Because of President Li?!"
Su Xiaolan trembled violently, biting her lip, silent. Her silence was more telling than any words.
Wang Jing stared at her pale, fragile, yet stubborn face, her chest heaving a few times before she slumped back into her chair, as if drained of energy. She rubbed her temples painfully, pulled open a drawer, and swallowed two quick-acting heart pills.
"You… You really…" Wang Jing's voice was full of helplessness and deep worry. "Do you have any idea what kind of storm your resignation will stir up? President Li, he—"
At the mention of Li Chenyuan, Wang Jing cut herself off, her face flashing with unmistakable fear and apprehension. She took a deep breath, lowered her voice, and spoke almost pleadingly. "Xiaolan, listen to me. Calm down! Withdraw this email! Whatever's wrong, we can talk it through, okay? I'll handle President Li! Acting impulsively will only make things worse!"
"No…" Su Xiaolan lifted her head suddenly, her red-rimmed eyes filled with desperate resolve. Her voice was soft but firm. "Secretary-General Wang, thank you for your kindness. But I've… made up my mind. Please… process my resignation." With that, she bowed deeply to Wang Jing, then turned and fled the office, leaving Wang Jing staring at the resignation letter, her face ashen, her eyes despairing.
Meanwhile, in the president's office.
The heavy bulletproof door blocked out all noise. Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Li Chenyuan's back was turned to the door, his tall frame as imposing as ever, yet radiating an indescribable loneliness and… the oppressive calm before a storm.
On the mahogany desk before him lay a printed copy of an email—Su Xiaolan's resignation letter to Wang Jing and HR.
The email was brief, cold, and formal. Every word felt like an icy needle stabbing into his heart, which had never before been subjected to such intense emotional turmoil.
"…due to personal health reasons and career considerations…"
"…no longer able to fulfill…"
"…request the process be expedited…"
Li Chenyuan's deep-set eyes bore into those lines, the depths of his pupils churning with a tempest! Cold fury, the violent indignation of having his authority challenged, and… a pang of pain and panic he refused to acknowledge—stirred by those tearful, accusing eyes.
How dare she…!
How dare she try to escape him like this?!
With such a cold, detached resignation letter?!
"Let me go"?
Was this what she meant by that?! Disappearing completely from his world, severing all ties?!
An unprecedented, overwhelming rage surged through him! His hands clenched into fists at his sides, his knuckles cracking from the force, veins bulging. His eyes, always in control, now held only a frozen abyss and a storm capable of utter destruction!
The air was so thick it felt solid, the pressure suffocating, as if even the light had dimmed. The phone on his desk rang sharply—Wang Jing's internal line!
Li Chenyuan didn't move. He remained with his back to the door, like a statue carved from ice. The phone rang insistently, each tone like a death knell in the oppressive silence.
After half a minute, the ringing stopped.
The office plunged back into dead silence.
Li Chenyuan slowly turned around. His face was expressionless, terrifyingly calm, yet more unsettling than any outburst. His fathomless eyes were like frozen tundra, devoid of warmth, holding only an endless chill and… a silence so absolute it felt like the precursor to annihilation.
He walked to his desk, his gaze falling once more on the offending resignation letter.
After a long moment.
He reached out with slender, icy fingers and picked up the thin sheet of paper.
Then, in the deathly quiet, the resignation letter that carried all of Su Xiaolan's fear and resolve was torn—slowly, deliberately, with a silent, destructive force—into tiny pieces.
The shreds of paper fluttered down like snowflakes, scattering across the polished mahogany desk and onto his cold hands.
He stared at the remnants in his palm, his lips pressed into a thin line, his jaw taut as if carved from stone. His abyssal eyes churned with a storm capable of swallowing everything whole.
Let her go?
Su Xiaolan, did you really think…
you could escape?
The silent tempest erupted in the top-floor office at that moment! And at the center of the storm, the little lazy fish who just wanted to lie low remained utterly oblivious to the tsunami about to crash down on her.