Joshua sat in his spacious, bright office. Sunlight poured through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, but it could not chase away the gloom in his heart.
The news Secretary Jin just reported was like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up wild waves inside him.
Andrew, known for his sharp mind in business, had offered twice the price to fight for the land in the east of the city.
This move was like a sudden storm breaking the peace.
Joshua frowned deeply, lost in thought.
Andrew's strange behavior was puzzling.
At this critical moment, Joshua had to suspect that Andrew was really targeting the Joshua Group.
But in the past, Joshua Group and Andrew's business had no overlap. This sudden attack was like a mystery from nowhere, leaving him clueless.
"Okay, I understand. You can go now," Joshua said, waving his hand slightly. Secretary Jin quietly left, leaving him alone in the big office to think.
Meanwhile, in Andrew's office, the atmosphere was somewhat strange.
Assistant Ryan reported with some confusion, "Boss, the land in the east of the city has been secured."
Andrew only replied softly, "Mm," with a tone that seemed to hide many unknown feelings.
Ryan could not hold back his curiosity. This was not a small sum—nearly one billion investment could not be taken lightly.
"Boss, why did you buy that land?" he asked carefully.
Andrew's anger seemed still burning. He answered sharply, "If it's useless, just leave it there."
Ryan's eyes widened. Nearly one billion for a land to just sit unused? That was unbelievable in the business world.
"You might make Joshua think we are targeting him."
Ryan tried to advise Andrew to be more rational.
Andrew snorted coldly, "I'm not afraid of Joshua."
His words showed not just business competition but strong stubbornness and contempt.
Ryan felt more uneasy listening to Andrew, "Boss, did Joshua really offend you?"
He couldn't understand why the usually calm and rational boss would make such an impulsive decision.
As soon as Andrew heard Joshua's name, the image of Joshua getting off Katherine's car appeared in his mind. That scene was like a sharp thorn, stabbing deep into his heart, fueling his anger again.
"Why do you ask so much? Just do your work," Andrew snapped impatiently.
Seeing Andrew angry, Ryan had no choice but to leave.
Andrew threw the pen on the desk hard. The pen bounced several times on the smooth surface, making clear sounds but could not ease the tangled emotions in his heart.
He frowned deeply, the annoyance nearly swallowing him whole.
This was so annoying. He kept asking himself why he cared so much about what that woman did last night.
Her every move was like an invisible thread tightly wrapping around his heart, making it impossible to break free.
He raised his hand to touch his face, where the warmth of her slap still seemed to remain.
For the first time in his life, he was slapped by a woman, and it was her.
That slap was not just on his face but a heavy blow to his proud self-esteem.
He picked up his phone, his long fingers quickly swiping across the screen, deleting all of Katherine's contact information without hesitation.
He tried to convince himself it was nothing serious. He could not let his emotions be controlled by her so easily.
He was Andrew, a powerful figure in the business world. How could he be manipulated by a woman?
The phone on the table suddenly vibrated, breaking the slightly dull atmosphere in the room.
Andrew frowned slightly and reached for the phone, pressing the answer button. "Hello, what's up?"
Charlotte's voice came through the receiver, slightly choked with tears. "Andrew, what should I do?"
Andrew's frown deepened as he asked, "What happened?"
"Last night, I went to Mocha and got photographed by reporters. Now, the news about me going to Mocha is all over the internet."
Charlotte's voice was full of helplessness and panic. "What should I do?"
She continued crying, "My manager already got several calls from people wanting to cancel my contracts."
Listening to her, Andrew felt a slight stir in his heart. Although his own mood was a mess, he couldn't just ignore Charlotte's trouble.
After all, Ethan was partly to blame for this.
"Charlotte, don't panic. I'll check it out. If it's really bad, I'll ask the PR department to handle it."
"Andrew, won't this cause trouble for you?"
There was a trace of worry in Charlotte's voice, but the slight smile at the corner of her mouth revealed her true feelings.
She knew Andrew well. She was sure he would help.
"No problem. I'll hang up now and see what's going on." Andrew ended the call.
Charlotte stared at the black screen and smiled triumphantly, nodding at her manager.
What she wanted was for Andrew to handle the PR. This way, their relationship would be confirmed.
Her goal was clear: to make Andrew divorce Katherine and stand by his side with legitimacy.
Andrew opened Weibo and saw Charlotte was trending because of last night. There were all kinds of guesses and negative comments everywhere.
Without hesitation, he pressed the internal phone button. "Assistant Ryan, have the PR team handle Charlotte's trending topic."
"Tell them she went to Mocha last night to meet me."
Assistant Ryan hesitated on the other end. "Boss, if you do PR like this, people will get even more confused about your relationship with Miss Su."
Andrew replied coldly, "Doesn't matter."
He ended the call without hesitation.
Assistant Ryan was more and more confused about his boss.
He clearly didn't like Miss Su, yet he was so entangled with her.
No wonder the madam chose to leave.
But Andrew's words were like an order. He dared not disobey.
Charlotte kept watching the official account of Xinyu Group on her phone, waiting for that announcement.
As soon as Xinyu Group released it, her big fans would immediately share it.
Then another trending topic would appear.
It would be about her relationship with Andrew.
Sure enough, not long after, Xinyu Group released a statement clarifying the reason Charlotte went to Mocha last night.
Soon, the post was shared 500,000 times.
People started commenting under Xinyu Group's post, "Andrew, what exactly is your relationship with Charlotte?"