The Favored Heiress
Chapter 176: You’ve stirred up trouble, and now you want to leave without any consequences?

Chapter 176: Chapter 176: You’ve stirred up trouble, and now you want to leave without any consequences?

Shang Yu sat with his hands crossed on the table, patiently tilting his chin up to Li Qiao, "What do you want to say?"

She had been listless ever since returning that afternoon, a state of lethargy that was quite unusual for her.

At that moment, Li Qiao curled her lips into a smile, her gaze colliding with Shang Yu’s dark pupils as she tested the waters, "Master Yan, what if I said I want to leave Yan Emperor...?"

Before she could finish her sentence, the smile at the corner of the man’s lips faded, and his originally gentle gaze instantly turned deep and unfathomable.

Seeing this, Li Qiao sighed silently and lowered her head to make up an excuse, "I was just kidding, don’t take it seriously. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go first."

Having said that, she turned around and fled.

In fact, Li Qiao had not yet made up her mind. Her rash probe was so difficult for her to articulate, let alone what the sensitive-minded Shang Yu might think.

So... she might as well leave things as they were for now.

...

Dusk fell, and the sky was covered with dense clouds.

Li Qiao drove aimlessly through the streets by herself.

Behind her, an SUV followed closely, driven by Luoyu.

Li Qiao held the steering wheel with both hands, occasionally glancing at the rearview mirror.

As rush hour approached, the traffic grew heavier, but Li Qiao maintained a steady pace.

Reaching a fork in the road ahead, she estimated the distance between the cars and calculated the timing, then as the traffic signal changed, she floored the accelerator and followed the car in front into the left turn.

Luoyu’s vehicle, blocked by a car that cut in front, was forced to stop in the left-turn lane and wait.

Just like that, Li Qiao shook off Luoyu and took the opportunity to turn off her cell phone.

She drove straight to the outskirts of the city.

...

Half an hour later, Luoyu returned to Yan Emperor Group to report.

Standing in the office with self-reproach, her hands hanging by her sides and fingers curled up, she spoke with difficulty, "Sorry, boss, I lost Miss Li."

At that moment, Shang Yu sat in the executive chair, his thin lips tightly sealed, fingers holding a cigarette. He listened to Luoyu’s report with a stern expression and remained silent.

The office was filled with the choking scent of smoke.

The man’s expression was obscured by the swirling smoke, hiding the rising hostility in his eyes.

Luoyu cautiously watched Shang Yu, knowing that her own carelessness had led to losing track of Li Qiao, she nodded again, "Boss, I apologize. Please punish me."

But in the silent office, she didn’t receive a response from the man.

Only the cigarette, quietly crackling as it burned.

Shang Yu turned in his chair and gazed toward the dark night outside the window, silent for a long while before making a hoarse command, "Get out."

Luoyu startled, thinking she had misheard, only to see Shang Yu’s profile etched with a chill when she looked up.

The door closed behind Luoyu as she left.

With the office back to silence, Shang Yu slowly closed his eyes, his nostrils flaring, his expression cold and restrained.

Can’t wait anymore, can you?

Without even seeing the side of him that had been dyed in crimson blood, ruthless and violent, did she no longer wish to continue her internship?

Did she think she could stir up the situation and then simply walk away unscathed?

Shang Yu’s fingers gradually clenched tighter until he crushed the burning cigarillo in his palm, the scorching heat breaking through his skin, but the man remained expressionless, gripping it firmly.

Seconds later, he lifted his eyelids, his gaze sharp and brooding, and in the moment he pressed the intercom, the Overlord of the South Sea reemerged, "Find Li Qiao and bring her to the Secret Hall."

Liuyun received the intercom notification, his heart pounding. He doubted he had heard correctly, "Boss? Where to take her?"

"You have one hour!" Shang Yu repeated sternly, then slowly stood up, his eyes turbulent, black as a cold abyss.