Because I Cannot Hurt You

Xinyi looked at her in shock. "Liao Yuan?"

"Yes, Mam. Should I send him in?"

"Y-yeah sure…"

Zhiyuan blinked his eyes and seemed puzzled. He narrowed his eyes, observing how Xinyi seemed different and a little…edgy for some reason.

Why am I getting a bad feeling?

They heard footsteps walking in and he saw a tall man, wearing a rich, classy business suit enter the CEO's office. 

Liao Yuan, the CEO of the Liao Corps. Zhiyuan knew him very well as he was the foremost rival in the hotel industry than any other company in the market.

Previously, it was his grandfather Liao Junjie, who challenged Han Huizhong all along their reign and their rivalry successfully passed on to their grandsons too as a form of inheritance. They were always at loggerheads and either sides won or lost deals by a very narrow margin.

Liao Corps was extremely formidable and had given a headache to Han Huizhong and then Zhiyuan a number of times. But statistics proved that in the end, Han Corps always led the race. They always had that edge over them.

Liao Yuan had a light smile on his lips. His skin was slightly tanned, which kind of gave him a rugged handsomeness.

But the thing that bothered Zhiyuan the most was the bouquet he was holding in his arms with that irking smile on his face.

Liao Yuan stood before Xinyi and smiled. "Greetings, CEO of the Han Corps. Nice to meet you. Please accept this as my token of our reunion."

Zhiyuan choked.

What reunion is he talking about?

Xinyi smiled. She cleared her throat as she looked at the bouquet in front of her. "You didn't have to bring flowers…"

"How could I not bring them for meeting you after four years now?"

"Thank you…" she was about to take the bouquet but they suddenly disappeared from her sight.

It landed into Zhiyuan's arms and he smiled as he looked at him. "What a pleasant surprise, Liao Yuan."

Xinyi's mouth slightly twitched, seeing the hostile expression on his face. His gaze was suddenly cold and distant.

"What work might you have in the Han Corps, I wonder?"

Liao Yuan narrowed his eyes. "Oh, I didn't see you there, ex-CEO of the Han Corps. How are you here today? Helping your wife with the work? Seems like you are out of your 'phase.'"

Xinyi choked.

That was brutal.

But Zhiyuan was unaffected. Liao Yuan exactly knew all about his history and depression and the tough situation he had gone through. They weren't business rivals for nothing and so they more or less also had a fair idea of each other's family and personal situations in general.

Zhiyuan chuckled. "Yes. I am helping my wife. She is the CEO and I am her capable assistant. My job profile includes assisting her in work and preventing her from doing menial jobs such as holding a bothersome bouquet."

She widened her eyes at his comeback. But then again, it was always like that.

Just like Han Huizhong and Liao Junjie, Zhiyuan and Liao Yuan were always at each other's throats.

"You sure don't welcome your guests all that nicely, Han Zhiyuan," Liao Yuan said in a pointed voice.

"I don't have to because you don't come in the guest category, Liao Yuan. You come in the bothersome headache category."

He smiled. "Thank you for the compliment. If I am being a headache, it means that the poor Han Corps is having a hard time."

"And despite that, Liao Corps never manages to surpass us. Quite a hard time YOU got there," Zhiyuan smiled back.

The invisible lightning flashed between them and thunder roared as the rivals clashed.

Xinyi coughed and diverted the topic. "When did you return?"

Liao Yuan's cold gaze softened. "Just two days back."

Zhiyuan snorted.

"I think by now you would also know that yet again, we are bidding for the same projects."

"Yes, I saw the report."

"That's why, I look forward to this competition. After all, I enjoyed fighting a lot four years back with a timid Han Xinyi who stuttered while giving her presentation."

She coughed in embarrassment. "D-Don't bring that up please…"

He chuckled. "But I can see that you are different now. So, I will have fun again like before."

Zhiyuan smiled. "You seem to be quite chill for someone who has a habit of losing. Xinyi was still holding the ropes of the business world, yet you lost when you had such a great advantage of experience and knowledge against her. I don't know what to comment on your capabilities."

"My capabilities are just fine, Han Zhiyuan. I had no chance to win, especially when she was working that hard."

"Which means Liao Yuan doesn't like to work hard enough. Is the CEO position really safe with you?"

"I sense hostility from you, Han Zhiyuan, even more than before."

"What do you expect when a rival just barges in without an appointment and hands a bouquet to my wife in front of me?"

There they go again…

"Okay, okay, I think this is enough…" Xinyi intervened.

Liao Yuan said, "Well, I will take my leave. I just dropped by to give my greetings to you. Alas, he was here too…"

His mouth twitched.

"We will meet again at the bid meeting. Till then, ba-bye."

Liao Yuan coldly snorted as he glanced at Zhiyuan and left.

"Annoying…" he mumbled.

He combed his fingers through his hair. "Why the hell did he come here? The doors of the Han Corps are never open to him."

"You two…" Xinyi didn't know what to say anymore.

Zhiyuan saw the bouquet and angrily threw it away in the trash.

"Hey! They were beautiful flowers!" She complained.

"I will buy a whole garden of them if you wish. You don't need to keep his flowers. By the way...why were you anxious when he came to meet you?"

She stiffened.

"Nothing…"

He squinted his eyes. "What are you hiding from me?"