Contract Marriage: Emperor CEO's Secretary Wife

Silence fell over the whole archery range. A second later, Qiao Qing and Jia Ying suddenly shrieked out of nowhere almost throwing their bows down.

Jing Yan had her hand on her mouth and looked at Xiu Mei in disbelief while Lia smiled so blindingly as if she was teasing Xiu Mei with her response.

Startled with their strange reactions, Xiu Mei stared at them at a loss.

What? Was there something wrong with what she answered?

She glanced at her tablet's screen again just in case she wrote something strange but she didn't find anything.

"Oh my gosh!" Qiao Qing almost screamed as she tried to hold down her excitement.

"Ohmygee, did that really just come from our resident professional single since birth, Xiu Mei?" Jia Ying said almost at the same time as her.

"That sounded so unbelievably sweet… and cringey." Jing Yan commented as she continued to stare in disbelief at her.

Lia chuckled at their reactions and sided with Xiu Mei instead. Cupping her own face, she opened her mouth.

"That may look cringey but believe Xiu Mei's answer. Once you find the right person for you, every time you ask yourself why you fell in love with that person, the only perfect answer for that would be similar to what Xiu Mei wrote."

Xiu Mei's breath hitched.

Uh… she was glad that Lia didn't react like the other three but somehow… she felt more shy and embarrassed when she suddenly said those words?

She felt her cheeks slightly turn hot as she discreetly erased her answer on her tablet.

Lia poked her arm lightly.

"Xiu Mei."

'?'

"I'm very happy for you." Lia suddenly said out of the blue startling Xiu Mei. And then, the smile returned to her face as she mouthed a silent thank you to her.

Lia continued smiling at her friend, whom they spent years together back when they were younger.

Back when they first met Xiu Mei, they only knew her as someone who came from the two most prestigious families in the country. But as they got to know her better, she was almost like them—funny, a foodie, nice and playful. At the same time, the four of them knew that there's still some distance between them and Xiu Mei.

They've been together for so many years that it would be impossible to miss the lonely expression flashing on her face for a split second, or the days when she would suddenly miss class out of the blue and return days after.

They honestly felt frustrated when Xiu Mei didn't have any intentions of telling them about her situation, but as a friend, they could only understand her. It may sound fake, but the four of them truly treasured the friendship they have with each other.

In their elite circle, it was truly hard to find true friends that you can really trust. And each and everyone here is people like that.

Xiu Mei smiled and suddenly had the urge to hug Lia, and so she did. Lia didn't reject her and hugged her back.

The other three also heard what Lia said and stopped teasing Xiu Mei. Instead, while Xiu Mei wasn't looking, they all looked so relieved and smiled at Xiu Mei's figure. They didn't continue on Lu Chen's topic anymore and continued gossiping about other stuff.

After stretching their muscles in the archery range, they did some short horse-riding before having their lunch.

"By the way, Xiu Mei. Did you see Yu Zhenzhen during the funeral?" Jia Ying asked while consuming a bowl of salad.

Xiu Mei nodded her head. 'I saw her but she didn't stay very long at the funeral.' is what she wrote.

"Hmm. You know, we all don't like her very much but still, I feel bad because she suddenly lost her husband when she's still in the middle of her pregnancy." Jia Ying said. "I was truly shocked when I heard from my assistant that Mr. Pei suddenly passed away you know."

The others hummed and nodded their heads in response to her statement.

"I wonder who killed him though. I mean, who had the guts to kill someone related to the person with the highest authority in our country?"

"Maybe it's one of the prime minister's enemies? Or maybe someone had a grudge with Mr.Pei so they decided to murder him?"

"Well, maybe someone was envious of him? We know how dark politics could be. Right, Xiu Mei?"

Xiu Mei casually listened to their chat and shrugged her shoulders as an answer implying that she wasn't sure.

Even though she came from a family of politicians, it's not like she has firsthand knowledge of how dangerous or dirty it was. All of it she learned either from her relatives and observation throughout the years of watching her father and second brother.

"Speaking of Mr. Pei's case, I heard the military will be involved in the investigation too."

"Hm? Where did you hear that?"

"From my father. He said that's what his friend from the police headquarters said to him in passing. Not sure if it's true or not but, if the military's going to be involved, then doesn't it mean that something scary must have happened since the military is going to interfere with the investigation?"

"If that's true then, that's really scary."

"Oh, but you know what? I just hope that when Yu Zhenzhen decides to appear again in public, that she won't suddenly lash out or something."

"Why did you suddenly say that?"

"I mean, remember back in the party? She was very bitchy to Xiu Mei when she didn't do anything to her at all. It was because Mr.Pei held her off that's why she didn't go crazy but now that her husband is gone, won't her personality turn more twisted than it already was before?" Qiao Qing said as she voiced out her true thoughts.

Xiu Mei and Jia Ying who was sitting between Qiao Qing lightly hit her in the back and her arm. Lia even almost threw the cabbage leaf at her while Jing Yan looked sharply at her.

"What? I was just saying that because it could possibly happen you know."

"We know. We all have the same thoughts, but damn. Qiao Qing, you're really brave to even voice it out. You know walls have ears, right! First rule of gossip!!!"

"Then let them know for all I care!"

"Oh. Then you can wait for your Dad to kill you then once he gets wind that his daughter spoke badly about the Prime Minister's daughter a day after her husband's burial."

"...Tsk. Fine. I'll shut my mouth."

"Nah, you don't have to shut your mouth since you definitely won't. Just think before you speak first. It's going to be terrible if our conversation here gets leaked out you know."

Xiu Mei nodded at their words. Even though she was interested in gossip, she was still quite cautious with everything she says since someone could take it the wrong way or bend her words into something negative then put it on the tabloids or anything. That would be terrible not only for her, but for her father's and second brother's image as politicians.

After scolding Qiao Qing, the five girls resumed their agenda of going to the spa and full body massage. And then they had dinner before they decided to split up and go home refreshed and satisfied.

She already messaged Lu Chen that he can now pick her up. Of course, her friends discovered this and decided to wait with her so they could meet this famous Mr. Lu. Xiu Mei shook her head helplessly and surrendered.

She's truly helpless if she can't talk back to them ah.

They were still chatting about some random things when she received a message from Lu Chen that he was already at the entrance of the private resort.

When Xiu Mei stood up from her seat, the other girls quickly understood that the person they've been waiting for has finally arrived!!

And so, they all left their seats excitedly and followed Xiu Mei to the entrance. They were met with the familiar face that they've always seen in business magazines and interviews before.

"Wife." Lu Chen called as soon as he saw Xiu Mei coming out.

The sound of footsteps immediately halted as soon as he spoke.

'Shit.' Xiu Mei thought as soon as she realized what he called her.

Without a second thought, she hastened her pace discreetly trying to make her escape but before she could even take more than two steps, two hands held both of her arms preventing her from walking away any further.

She tried to get away with a smile as she turned behind her to look at the four girls but was met with their sharp gazes and grinning faces instead.

"Mei Mei ah~" Lia said softly. And then they pulled her closer and whispered to her.

"Looks like we're going to have short chat later in the group chat?"

Xiu Mei wanted to shake her head but with their gazes turning sharp to her, she hesitantly nodded her head.

"Great!" They exclaimed before releasing her.

Xiu Mei slowly turned behind her and finally saw the culprit who called her 'wife' first.