Chapter 3

"Resign?"

Xie Jin's pitch-black eyes, as dark as ink, stared at Su Tao for a few seconds before withdrawing his gaze with a warning tone. "I don't like this kind of joke."

He looked down at Su Tao's empty wrist and picked up the diamond bracelet from the center of the jewelry stand, placing it on her wrist himself.

The bracelet was made of platinum and had eight large diamonds, each with a small snowflake-shaped diamond in the middle, making it both precious and exquisite.

He had given it to her on the day they first met four years ago, and she had worn it every day since, never taking it off.

"I'm not joking, Xie Jin. I want to resign."

After fastening the bracelet, Xie Jin ignored her and adjusted the last button on his suit jacket before striding out of the dressing room.

Su Tao, who was being ignored, sighed lightly and caught up with him.

---

Xie Jin was busy all morning, and Su Tao didn't have a chance to bring up the resignation matter again.

Lunch arrived, two dishes that Xie Jin had personally selected.

He ate lunch with her every day, and he never asked her what she wanted to eat or allowed her to order for herself.

The black door was pushed open, and Xie Jin, who was tall and imposing, walked out with his suit jacket unbuttoned and his tie loosened.

He hated being constrained by a tie, but he had to wear one at the company.

"I have a client meeting at noon. Behave and eat your lunch, no picky eating," Xie Jin said as he allowed her to help him adjust his tie and jacket buttons.

He never let her accompany him when he met with clients; he didn't like her eating with anyone other than him.

Thus, she wasn't really suited to be his secretary.

Su Tao nodded, but before she could say anything, he left the company.

Halfway through lunch, Su Tao finally looked up from the stack of papers. She shook her sore neck and took one of the dishes with her to the break room.

Everyone in the CEO's office knew that the boss had gone out to eat with a client, so they made plans to eat out, leaving the break room on the top floor empty.

There were three large insulated containers, one with meat and one with vegetables, each with three dishes, and a container of soup.

She could stomach the large portions, but every dish had seafood, which made Su Tao feel hopeless.

Upon closer inspection, even the vegetable dishes had shrimp mixed in, and the soup was a seafood soup.

"Taotao, are you just eating now?" Tian Yingying suddenly entered the break room, surprised to see Su Tao eating.

She was holding a coffee cup, most likely there to get coffee.

She looked at the luxurious spread of food on the small round table in front of Su Tao and, while in awe, blurted out, "You like seafood too? It's such a coincidence, Qin Secretary also loves seafood. You two are really alike."

Tian Yingying's words were unintentional, but she became alert when she saw Su Tao's sudden change in expression. She squinted her heavily made-up eyes and glanced at Su Tao, capturing a thought in her mind.

Su Tao had always looked innocent and obedient, but her change in expression indicated that she cared about Qin Secretary.

She cared about what others said about her resemblance to Qin Xuexi!

Could this silly, sweet girl have fallen in love with Xie Jin?

Did she really think there was a plotline in real life where a CEO falls in love with a silly, sweet girl?

She had thought that Su Tao was a hidden queen, but it turned out she was just a naive and innocent girl.

Tian Yingying chuckled and, in response to Su Tao's probing gaze, disdainfully glanced at her, didn't even take the offered coffee, and left the lounge swaying her hips.

Su Tao put down the crab meat she had just picked up, as well as her chopsticks, and lost her appetite.

She stared fixedly at the seafood in her lunchbox, and images of Xie Jin forcing her to eat seafood flashed through her mind. She closed her eyes and bit her lip tightly.

Then the sound of the door opening suddenly resounded, and Su Tao quickly opened her eyes.

"Why haven't you eaten yet?"

Xie Jin's clear eyes appeared in front of her, and Su Tao thought she was still hallucinating from her memories, staring at him dumbfounded.

Xie Jin looked at the remaining seafood in her lunchbox, pursed his lips, squinted his eyes, and looked at her with a dark, questioning gaze.

"If you don't come back quickly, how would I know that you're being picky?" Xie Jin picked up her chopsticks, picked up a piece of crab meat, and offered it to her mouth.

Su Tao turned her head away, not wanting to eat.

"Little Peach, listen to me," Xie Jin said, as if threatening and coaxing her, "Open your mouth."

Su Tao met his gaze, which no one dared to face directly, and whispered, "Why do you have to make me eat seafood? You know I don't like it."

Xie Jin squinted his eyes and said, "Little Peach, you've been getting more and more disobedient lately. Always questioning me?"

Xie Jin couldn't tolerate two things: stupidity and doubt.

Su Tao was very smart and would never touch Xie Jin's first bottom line.

She tried to be obedient to him, so she had never touched his second bottom line.

But he had touched hers.

"Xie Jin, I said I want to resign..."

"Is it because I didn't come back to accompany you last night when you were angry?" Xie Jin interrupted her.

He still hadn't put down his chopsticks, and the crab meat he had picked up had been held up to her mouth the whole time.

Did he think she was throwing a tantrum just because he didn't accompany her last night?

When had she thrown a tantrum in front of him?

"Eat it, or I won't feed you by hand anymore."

Whatever Xie Jin wanted her to do, he would use any means to coerce her into complying.

Of course, she had never given him the opportunity to use extreme means since being with him, and she was good at compromising with him.

She bit into the slightly cold crab meat, and the salty and fishy taste spread in her mouth. Su Tao swallowed the crab meat, feeling nauseous, and closed the lunchbox after only taking two bites.

"I'm full."

"Sit down and finish eating," Xie Jin ordered, his tone leaving no room for objection. He looked like a judge waiting to pass a death sentence, looking down on her as if she had committed a crime. Su Tao withdrew her gaze and took the chopsticks from his hand, lowering her head to eat. She stuffed whatever dish she could directly into her mouth, swallowing it without much chewing.

Xie Jin's eyes gradually darkened as he watched her wolf down the food, not seeming obedient but rather silently resistant.

"Slow down," he said.

Su Tao obediently stopped stuffing rice into her mouth, put down her chopsticks, and quietly chewed her food.

Xie Jin's mood improved as he watched her obedient mannerisms. He rubbed her hair and, looking at her well-behaved appearance, his lips curled up and he spoke rewardingly, "The restaurant I told you about last time, it opened today. I'll take you there for dinner tonight."

Su Tao lowered her eyes, swallowed the last bite, and, enduring the discomfort in her stomach, said lightly, "I'm not going."

Xie Jin's mouth fell, his fingers curved and pressed onto the table, and he said darkly, "Little peach, this is a reward for your obedience. If you don't go, there won't be any rewards in the future."

Su Tao's expression was indifferent. "Hmm, no need for rewards anymore."

---

Su Tao always took her job seriously, striving for perfection regardless of whether she liked or disliked the work.

In a few days, the company's biggest event of the first half of the year, the mid-year meeting, was going to take place. Various media outlets were invited to review and plan the company's development strategy, which would benefit the promotion of the company's brand.

Tian Jin had invested in several video portal websites early on and had access to a lot of industry data for analysis, creating her own video portal platform.

Therefore, the mid-year meeting this time would also involve brand promotion, with the aim of promoting the newly launched video website.

The mid-year meeting was always the responsibility of the president's office, especially the president's senior secretary, who not only had to confirm the president's speech but also had to oversee the entire event's process.

Su Tao accessed audio and text records of the mid-year meeting from previous years and carefully studied the brand promotion event's rules and processes.

She was good at finding the key points, categorizing, and summarizing. In an afternoon, she had a rough understanding of everything.

Su Tao opened her personal email, which she hadn't used in a long time, and found an unread email.

She shook her slightly sour neck and opened the email. After reading the contents of the email, her expression paused.

It was an interview invitation from an entertainment company, which she had sent her resume to a few days before graduation.

She looked at the office across from her, a slatted window folded up on top, revealing a transparent glass wall.

She could clearly see Xie Jin relaxing against the back of his chair, absentmindedly touching the corner of his lips and flipping through the documents in his hand.

Xie Jin had never given her the right to choose her job. As soon as she graduated, he grabbed her and made her his secretary.

But she didn't like it.

Recently, Tian Jin's newly established subsidiary, Ruiqi Film and Television Company, needed a lot of talent due to its expanding business scope.

Su Tao had begged a few times, wanting to work at Ruiqi, but Xie Jin had unyieldingly refused without any room for discussion.

Su Tao refocused on her work, even though she was about to leave. She had to stay and finish her shift for Xie Jin. After all, she had loved him for four years and wanted to give their relationship a proper closure.

The sky had darkened, and it was already an hour past closing time. Most of her colleagues had left, but Su Tao's workstation was still brightly lit.

With her slender, ivory fingers pressing against the desk, Su Tao was immersed in her work. She slowed down when she looked up from her documents and caught Xie Jin's deep gaze.

He had not spoken to her all afternoon, wanting her to reflect on her attitude and apologize on her own. But she had instead thrown herself into her work, thinking that if she performed well, he would forgive and praise her.

"You're resigning, yet you're still working so hard," Xie Jin said coolly, the yellow and white lights of the workstation highlighting Su Tao's delicate features and bright, clear eyes.

Suddenly, she remembered something, closed her documents, and began typing furiously on her keyboard. Xie Jin watched her for a while, then leaned over to look at her computer screen.

On the blank document, the words "Resignation Letter" were written in bold and enlarged font by Su Tao.