Contract Marriage: Emperor CEO's Secretary Wife

"May I have your invitation please?"

Xiu Mei showed her white invitation to the guard at the door before they finally let her in.

To dress up for the party, she wore a two-toned asymmetrical shirt dress coupled with an Alexander Mcqueen corset belt. Her 3-inch leather sandals clicked and echoed as she walked across the floor.

"Xiu Mei, it's been a while!" A girl in a short wine dress called out to her. She gracefully placed the wine glass back on the table and gave her a friendly hug.

"It's nice to see you back, Lia." Xiu Mei greeted, returning her hug.

"Come here, we reserved you a table." She said, immediately hugging her arm.

Lia dragged her to a table where she saw a couple of familiar faces. They were her closest friends back in middle school, but she hasn't gotten in touch with them ever since she entered the university. Since she had to work, she couldn't find time to meet or hang out with them, especially that she went straight to work after graduation.

"Look at Xiu Mei, doing so well in career and love then look at me, I just get fat every time I taste a little bit the food I make." Li Jing Yan quipped while eating a slice of the mousse cake. She is currently a baker and owner of her own shop.

"At least you get to eat ah. My manager started forcing me to abstain from meat for one month for a drama." Bei Jia Ying said while eating her salad. She's currently an A-list actress under her family's entertainment company.

"Oh, but among all of us, isn't Lia the one living the happiest?" Huan Qiao Qing commented. She's currently working as a doctor in the hospital her family owns.

Except for Lia, the other four in the table nodded in agreement.

"She married well and now has a daughter of her own. She's a shareholder of a multinational company. But most of all, this married couple has been in their honeymoon phase for three years now. At this rate, won��t your daughter get a sibling soon?" Jia Ying remarked.

"I can't deny that I'm happy but it's really hard to be a mother ah. I don't know how many times I have to wake up in the middle of the night coaxing that little princess from crying. She won't stop crying if it's just the nanny." Lia whined.

"But that's the best part, isn't it? You won't even notice how fast children grow up and all until they're finally getting married." Xiu Mei said, smiling at Lia.

"Ohhhhh! Hey, what was that? Yah, Xiu Mei. Did you get married without us knowing? Are you and Mr.Lu at that level now? Your dating scandal was just a few weeks ago ah." Jing Yan teased after hearing that.

"You're blabbering nonsense ah. Do you think I have time to get married?"

"If it's CEO Lu, anyone would surely make time ah. Didn't he rank 4th in the most ideal husband survey this year?"

"You even read that kind of nonsense?"

"Forget about Jing Yan. She's just looking for another boyfriend ah so she must be targeting the people on that list."

"So she's over Kei now?"

"Xiu Mei ah, it's been so long. I've gotten over that jerk since graduation ah."

"You cried like you'll die if he didn't marry you then."

"I was just a normal teenage girl that is heartbroken, okay? Tsk. What kind of friends are you?"

The five of them chatted excitedly while waiting for their other batchmates to arrive. Since it's been so long they've gotten together like this, they took this as an opportunity to catch up.

Shortly after, gasps of surprise echoed inside the ballroom hall. Even the five friends turned to see who entered the floor that made the people inside react like that.

"Waaaa… I can't believe she really came ah." Lia murmured.

Standing by the door was the daughter of the prime minister, Yu Zhenzhen and her husband Pei Ji Huang, CEO of PZ Conglomerate.

Their backgrounds alone were enough to intimidate everyone inside the room but Yu Zhenzhen really took the effort to make sure that all eyes would be on her that night. Clad in a low cut short dress embedded with diamonds, she entered the room as if she was the queen of that place.

Xiu Mei scooted a little closer to Qiao Qing and whispered, "Isn't she pregnant?"

"I'm curious about that myself. I'm pretty sure that she is pregnant and… she's wearing something like that?"

"Well, she's always been like that even back then so I'm not surprised at all."

"A queen bee even now ah."

"Sssh. She's coming this way."

Yu Zhenzhen arrogantly scanned the people in the room, enjoying the looks of admirations and envy on their faces. Her eyes paused on the table and after recognizing a familiar face, she smiled contemptuously while approaching the table. Hugging her husband by arm, she stopped in front of her archenemy since her primary school days, Xiu Mei.

"It's been a long time, Xiu Mei." Xiu Mei clearly felt the contempt in her tone. Pulling out her business smile, she returned the greeting.

"It is, Yu Zhenzhen. It's been a while too, Mr.Pei." As Lu Corporation's secretary, Xiu Mei didn't forget to greet one of the important partners that they've collaborated with before.

Yu Zhenzhen examined her from head to toe while giving her a look like she was degrading her in her mind or something.

"You look like you're living well ah. I heard you're dating the CEO of the company you're working for?"

Translation: Aren't you ashamed of flirting with your boss?

"Your habit of gossiping hasn't changed at all, Yu Zhenzhen."

Translation: Mind your own business.

"Everyone is curious, isn't it? I'm just helping you out in clarifying the truth. Also, we're all a.d.u.l.ts here. Isn't it the time for you to get married?"

"It seems like my life events are making you worry for me?"

"Not at all, Xiu Mei. I'm just curious because you are very lucky to be living so well throughout these years."

Xiu Mei understood her message between the lines. She was poking at her sore spot about Ying Yue and her family. She tried her best to act as if it didn't bother her.

"I am. After all, at some point in our lives we should stop dwelling on the past isn't it?"

"That depends if they deserve it ah."

"Oh, it seems like Ms.Yu can judge who deserves it and those who do not ah. Why don't you try applying to be a judge in the court next time?"

"Do I even need to stress myself and be a judge? Just a word from my father is enough to settle anything."

"You still like to rely on your father's power ah."

Before they could even continue their clash of words, Pei Ji Huang and the other girls finally stepped in between their conversation.

"Ms.Xiu, I'll take my wife first to rest ah. We don't want the baby to be stressed out, right baby?" He politely said, while hugging his wife by her shoulder and signaling her to stop trying to make a scene.

Yu Zhenzhen glared at her husband. "Are you siding with her?"

"Ms.Yu, we're just concerned about the fetus in your stomach. It's better to have pretty thoughts during this time, right? Else it might affect the fetus negatively. That's what my doctor advised when I was pregnant ah." Lia replied aiming to stop their conversation from turning serious.

The other three girls added in a few words before Yu Zhenzhen and Pei Ji Huang successfully left them alone and walked to their table.

"Are you alright?" Jia Ying worriedly asked.

"Of course, when did I ever back down in front of Yu Zhenzhen?" (Xiu Mei)

"Like duh. If Yu Zhenzhen wasn't pregnant, I'm pretty sure Xiu Mei would have fend her off immediately after giving her that look of contempt at the start." (Lia)

"You should have just cursed her right then and there ah!" (Qiao Qing)

"Then make a scene here? No thanks. And surely, she'll find an opportunity later to attack me again ah. I'd rather stay put and watch her embarrass herself if that happens." (Xiu Mei)

"But damn, it's been seven years and her queen attitude is still the same. Don't she experience like the enlightenment phase or something? I had mine with getting addicted to alcohol then getting alcohol poisoning ah." (Qiao Qing)

Lia sighed, pitifully looking at Pei Ji Huang's figure. "Too bad for Mr.Pei ah. How much bad luck does he have to get stuck with Yu Zhenzhen?"

"Wasn't it a shotgun marriage?" (Jia Ying)

"Really?"

After that short encounter with the queen bee of their batch, the five of them resumed with their chat slash gossiping. In the middle of having her dinner, Xiu Mei temporarily walked out to answer a call.

Before she could return back to the hall, she bumped into someone again. She quickly apologized to that person but before she could turn back, that person called her name.

"Ms. Xiu?"

"?"

Xiu Mei looked at the man in front of her. It was a tall blonde man and he looks like a foreigner. She blinked twice wondering who he is. Has she met him before?

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I haven't introduced myself, aren't I? My name is Albert Chen. And I'll be working as the Assistant Director for the Marketing team at Lu Corporation starting next week."