You, CEO’s Secret Wife

"It's impossible for you to afford such an expensive diamond. You must have stolen it, haven't you? Just admit it already!" Xia Bingbing had even grown more feral with each second that Lover's Heart was at her fingertips. She gripped the gold edges tightly, refusing to give it up no matter how insistent she had gotten. There was no way she was going to hand it over to her!     

"I may not be able to afford it, but there are other people who can. If someone else wanted to give it to me, should I bow down and ask you for permission before I accept such a gift? What a joke!" Jian Yun sneered. "Look, I've never minded you back when I was still working here. You can eat whatever you want, say whatever you want, but I'm not just going to sit here and listen to you accusing me of something I haven't done! If you want to accuse me of stealing, then get some evidence. If there aren't any pieces of evidence, then I guess we'll be seeing each other in court!"     

"Yeah, Manager Xia, the diamond clearly fell out of Jian Yun's bag." Some of the colleagues couldn't help but stand up against Xia Bingbing's actions, having enough of her arrogance. Although she may be a level above them in terms of job title, this certainly didn't give her an excuse to act out. "Even if you're jealous, you shouldn't take it for yourself like some thief!"     

"As if! Can't I just take a look?" Xia Bingbing rebuked. She knew very well that she couldn't act out too outrageously in front of so many people, so she could only hand the box over to Jian Yun, looking as if she had just eaten a lemon. Her face contorted into a seemingly permanent scowl as if the very act had injured her completely.     

Ignoring the woman's expression, Jian Yun grabbed the box and took out a few tissues from the table beside her. She then deliberately wiped the jewelry as well as the jewelry box from any of the woman's fingerprints. Her face was squeezed over in disgust as if the mere thought of Xia Bingbing touching it was enough to send the necklace to the trash.     

Xia Bingbing's expression darkened even further. If looks could kill, Jian Yun would've already been ten feet from the ground.     

"Well? Do you want to search me again?" Once they were done picking things up, Jian Yun narrowed her eyes at her ex-manager.     

"Just go and don't ever let me see you at Ming's again!" Xia Bingbing was so angry that she almost slammed the table in anger. Her finger shook as she pointed to the door, turning her murderous gaze to Vice Manager Chen. "Just hurry up and let her go already!"     

During this entire time, Vice Manager Chen was on a phone call. Putting the phone down, he rubbed the back of his neck almost awkwardly. "I just received a call from the general manager," he explained slowly. "He said that there's been an executive order that employees aren't allowed to resign just yet. I don't think I could approve Jian Yun's resignation."     

"Nonsense!" Xia Bingbing snarled. "There's no such rule!"     

"Wait, why am I not allowed to leave?" Jian Yun was also surprised by the sudden order. She had never heard of a ruling like that in her entire stay at Ming's. It would've been understandable if this rule was applied to the top managers, but for regular employees, this was just ridiculous! "What if I really have to leave? What will happen then? Who even created this order?"     

"It is President Huo's order." Vice Manager Chen could only shrug helplessly at her questions before shaking his head. "The general manager has already stated that if you want to leave, then you could go find him and give him a reason as to why you should resign. Maybe he'd sign your approval then, but I can't give you any promises."     

"Him? Is he talking about President Huo?" Jian Yun was so furious that she wanted to burst into laughter. Even the order in itself was bullshit, and now that bastard was refusing her to leave this company? Wasn't he the one who had asked her to leave in the first place? Now that she had finally gotten the nerve to get out of his sight, he suddenly issued this order? What the hell did he want now?     

"President Huo isn't here, so you have to ask the general manager instead." Even the man looked troubled.     

She gritted her teeth. If she didn't go through with the regular resignment procedures, then she wouldn't be able to receive this month's salary or any separation pay. With several thousands of yuan just waiting to be paid off at the hospital, she couldn't waste a single cent at this point. With her eyes squeezed shut, she sighed in frustration.     

"Fine." Handing the box to Sister Xiao, she rubbed the back of her neck almost sheepishly. "Sister Xiao, do you mind keeping this for a while. I'll have to ask the General Manager first."     

Without another word, she headed straight to the man's office.     

As soon as Jian Yun had arrived at the general manager's office, his secretary was the first person to welcome her. The long-legged beauty didn't really pay any attention to the employees below her status, so to see her suddenly smile at Jian Yun like an old friend made her feel slightly uncomfortable. "Uhm, is President Gu here?" She pointed at the closed doors.     

"Go on in. He's already waiting for you," she said kindly, opening the door for her.     

"Thank you."    

When Jian Yun had entered the General Manager's office, she saw that President Gu was in the middle of having a phone call. Not knowing who he was talking to, she could only stand awkwardly and wait for him to finish. It didn't take him long. As soon as he set his phone back on the table, he looked up at her. "Jian, you're finally here! I'm sorry that took so long."     

"President Gu. I–It's really fine." Forget the secretary! Just the sight of the twitching smile on the President's face was enough to give her the creeps.     

"I heard that you're resigning." His eyes became kinder, and he quickly motioned for her to sit down "Is there a problem with Ming's? Any issues with our work environment?"     

"No. It's just a personal reason. I really can't work anymore." Jian Yun remained standing. Even she couldn't figure out why President Gu was so nice to her all of a sudden. Although the man had always been respectful to his employees, this was the first time she had ever caught him being so amiable. 'Maybe he's just in a good mood,' she reasoned out, but even then, she still didn't seem convinced.     

"Did something happen at home?" He insisted. "If you can take a break, you can always request for a leave of absence."     

"I'd rather not take a leave of absence," she said quickly, cutting right to the chase.     

"Why not? Is Ming's not treating you properly enough? What is it? Do you want a higher salary? Shorter working hours?" President Gu glanced at the phone on the table. The corners of his mouth twitched. "These can all be easily discussed, I assure you."     

"No, it's been great working at Ming's. It's just that...I'm going to get married, and my husband doesn't want me to work anymore." Jian Yun was in a hurry to go to the hospital, so she made up an excuse for her to leave. Besides, she was already resigning from this company. It wasn't like they'd actually investigate as to whether she had really gotten married or not.     

However, what she still didn't understand was why President Gu had suddenly treated her so well. He was always such a blunt man, and if she were resigning at another time, he would've nodded and sent her off. Could it be that Huo Liancheng had said something to him? Her eyes twitched at the thought, and she immediately shook her head.     

The man had clearly wanted her to leave, so it definitely wasn't because of him.     

While she was pondering, she didn't notice that President Gu's face had turned strange for a moment. Wiping the sweat that was sliding down his forehead, his gaze quickly went to his phone, as if he was afraid that it would suddenly jump up and eat him alive.     

"You said something about getting married?" He hesitated.     

"That's right. I'm planning on starting a family soon, so I have to take care of my body first," she explained, giving one lie after the other. She had gotten the idea from all the past female employees who had resigned from their jobs at Ming's. Back then, they were let go without a single problem in the world. That reason would be enough to convince President Gu.     

As expected, the man didn't ask any more questions. However, he still wasn't budging with regards to the separation procedures. "Marriage is a big deal," he agreed. "How about you just take a leave of absence first? Then we can wait for President Huo to come back and deal with the papers."     

She frowned. "Why would he care if I resign?"     

"We actually didn't need it before, but recently, some of our competitors seem to have a hold of our intelligence," he explained, glancing at his phone every now and then. "We suspect that there's a spy at Ming's, so President Huo had initiated an executive order that all resignations, if any, should go through him first. Otherwise, these would be disallowed."     

"When will President Huo resign then?" Jian Yun really didn't want to face Huo Liancheng anymore. She had suffered enough humiliation from their last meeting, and to go through it all over again–she shuddered at the thought.     

"I'll let you know when he comes back," he suggested. He stared at her, puzzled. Why hadn't he noticed her before? It was obvious that she was a beauty–one that could turn heads wherever she went. President Gu coudln't help but sigh in defeat. Even then, even if he had noticed, it would be useless. President Huo seemed to have his eyes set on her already.     

"There's no need to notify me." Jian Yun waved her hands up in the air. "Could I take a month's leave then?"     

"Let's talk about two weeks' leave first. I'll give you a paid leave of absence," he responded kindly. "Just write it on a piece of paper. Once you're finished, I'll sign it and you can bring it back to Vice Manager Chen. What do you say?"     

Paid leave? Was he kidding her?     

Jian Yun blinked in surprise. She certainly wasn't expecting this level of generosity, and she knew that no matter how much she persisted, President Gu still wouldn't budge. "I'll take it," she said grudgingly. Besides, it was the best of both worlds. Not only could she rest, but she could still get her salary. It was a win-win!