"My grandmother was from the East. Isn't it normal for me to speak Eastern languages?" Laila said as she gestured for them to sit down, then called for three cups of tea to be brought in.
Xiao Ye rolled his eyes. "Not normal at all. Do you know how many people I know who immigrated here? By the second generation, most of them can't speak a word of their heritage language."
Laila nodded in understanding. "Maybe it's because they think it's useless, so they don't bother to learn. But Eastern languages are some of the hardest in the world to master—and they're going to be part of the global mainstream. As the East continues to rise in wealth and influence, its languages will become just as popular as English. The people who give them up now are going to regret it later."
If he hadn't been holding a cup of tea, Xiao Ye might've grabbed her hand in excitement. "A kindred spirit! No wonder you're the most beloved international friend of the East! With that kind of awareness, you could join the Party!"
"…." Laila's lips twitched. Forget whether they'd even allow a foreigner like her to join—in her position, that kind of move was simply out of the question. "Alright, enough about that. What did you come here for?"
"Oh, right! Almost forgot!" reminded by her question, Xiao Ye pulled a few newspapers out of his bag. "I came to give you an update on how the Martin situation was handled."
"Go on," Laila set her teacup down, straightened her back, and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Others might think she was doing just fine—eating and drinking well, seemingly unbothered. But in truth, she wasn't as unaffected as she appeared on the surface.
She was a very proud person. Not the kind of pride that looked down on others, but a deep, unshakable sense of dignity—an inner strength that came from her bones. She had been like this in her past life as well, though her circumstances then hadn't allowed her to fully live out that pride. But this life was different. With her background and achievements, she could now stand tall and carry that pride unapologetically.
Martin hadn't physically harmed her, but mentally, he left her with something close to humiliation. She'd been thrown into a dark, filthy place like a piece of trash, forced to sleep on the dirty ground for a night. He had ignored her personhood entirely, treating her like nothing more than a tool for making money.
Those two offenses alone were enough to earn him a permanent place on her blacklist.
If this had happened in her early years as Laila, she might not have cared as much. Back then, she still thought of herself as an outsider, a bystander watching from the sidelines. Even when something happened to her, it had felt like it was happening to someone else.
But the longer she lived in this world, the more she felt a sense of belonging—and with it, her true nature began to show. If someone made her suffer, she'd make them suffer more. If someone smashed her foot with a stone, she'd bury them in a pit of dirt.
Xiao Ye continued, "Martin and his entire faction have been wiped out by the authorities. And that doctor, Flander, played a huge part in exposing them. He dug up a lot of Martin's secret operations. Can you believe it? That guy even had a wife and a son! And he stashed a bunch of his assets under his son's name."
He clicked his tongue. "The old bastard knew how to hide. He held that territory for twenty years—basically ran it like a private kingdom—and still managed to keep his wife and kid hidden all that time. That just shows how deep his schemes went. Now that they've been exposed, I bet his old rivals are the ones most shocked."
"But that doctor, Flander, is just as ruthless. Even stuff buried that deep, he still managed to drag it all into the light. Martin's going down hard. Got sentenced to over twenty years. Even if he survives prison, he won't have the money or the power to stage a comeback."
Laila wasn't the least bit surprised.
"Flander is an extremely clever man. He spent ten years leveraging the friendship between their families to get close to Martin. Once he had Martin's trust, he started digging into every suspicious lead. With his profession and skills, it wouldn't have been hard for him to make Martin disappear under mysterious circumstances. But instead, he chose the harder path—tearing down everything Martin had, just like Martin had destroyed his family."
Xiao Ye had seen plenty of brutal revenge stories, so this didn't particularly shock him. What impressed him most was the patience.
"If it had been me, I couldn't have waited ten years to get back at someone. And honestly, if it weren't for your involvement, I think he would've kept hiding in the shadows even longer."
"Who knows?" Laila shrugged. "Even without me, someone else might've triggered it. A man like Flander is like a leopard in the wild—he'll either stay hidden in the dark, or strike with precise, deadly force."
"Alright, enough talk about that." Roy shot Xiao Ye a glare. He had only just managed to distract Laila from those unpleasant memories, and now this guy came waltzing in to drag it all back up again. He was starting to believe that the two of them were incompatible. "Xiao Ye, if you don't have anything else, you can get back to work."
"Wow, kicking me out already?" Xiao Ye scoffed. "Besides, I'm a makeup artist. With no movies to shoot right now, what do you expect me to be busy with?"
Roy gave him a cool look and sneered, "So… you're the donkey?"
"…." Xiao Ye felt like he'd just been punched in the chest by a sledgehammer—utterly frustrated and unable to vent it. He muttered, "I really can't stand you Eastern-obsessed foreigners," and fled the office. If he stuck around any longer, he'd either die from all the PDA or be stabbed to death by Roy's dagger-like glare. Better to get out while he still could.
Laila was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
After Xiao Ye left, Roy went over and shut the office door to prevent any more unexpected visitors. In truth, he was being overly cautious. The only people who could walk into Laila's office unannounced without going through her assistants were close friends or trusted confidants. Ordinary employees wouldn't dare do it.
Most of them held a deep sense of respect—and even awe—for their young boss. They knew that the best way to earn her favor wasn't flattery or office politics, but doing their work well and delivering solid results. In this company, brown-nosing had no place.
"Laila, you shouldn't be looking at that stuff anymore." As he spoke, Roy noticed she was already reading through the articles Xiao Ye had brought.