Chapter 709 - Two Years Later

JUNE 10, 2014

It's been one year since Zoey got discharged from the hospital. Since then, Zoey and Matthew had been hustling in the Z Image Group, as a lot of things had happened. Their biggest client, the Feng Estate, had faced a scandal that led them to bankruptcy.

It was a tough year for the Z Image Group but the company thrived.

As one door closed for their company, thousands opened up. With Matthew stepping down as the CEO of the XI Corporation to be an assistant to Zoey, the progress of the company surely progressed like a bolt of lightning.

Matthew might have stepped down as the CEO, but he had connections. 

"Boss Z…?" Melanie awkwardly called out as she scanned the faces of her colleagues around the meeting room.

The room fell into nothing but silence ever since Zoey came in. Obviously, they knew the cause of Zoey's silence.

"Can you look for Boss Darling? I think we're all going to die today." Luigi, an employee of Z Image Group, leaned towards Melanie and whispered.

"This is Boss Z before she chooses violence." 

Luigi added, on the verge of weeping or killing himself before Zoey did it for him. Melanie sported a complicated look as she scanned everyone's faces.

Everyone in the meeting room looked at her in desperation. Only Matthew had been keeping them alive for the past year, as Zoey was fiercer than before.

Suddenly Zoey slammed her hands against the table. Everyone instantly flinched as they swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"No one!" Zoey stressed, glaring at them one by one. "No one will go home tonight."

She widened her eyes; they were blazing with fire. The employees who had locked gazes with her felt like they had glimpsed the gates of hell.

"Ye — yes, ma'am." Everyone stuttered as they responded.

"If this is not resolved by tomorrow at six in the morning," Zoey paused as the corner of her lips stretched into a grin. 

Slowly, she raised his hand. They watched her fingers curled into a fist, leaving her thumb erected. Zoey then moved that thumb from the side of her neck to the other, — showing them a slitting throat gesture.

Everyone gulped a mouthful of saliva that rang in their ears. Buckets of sweat broke out from their backs and forehead.

"You understand?" Zoey smirked wickedly as she watched their pale complexion.

"Ye — yes, Boss Z!" Desperation laced their chorus response, showing how terrified they were of Zoey.

"Good! If you're just saying this just to live for a day, I will --"

*Knock knock*

Zoey abruptly halted as a knock sounded on the door. It slowly opened and revealed Matthew, who remained outside and just peeked inside.

"Boss Z, you have another meeting with the chairwoman of the XI Corporation in an hour." Matthew reminded her, as they had been inside this meeting room for almost an hour.

After working here for a year, Matthew had already known the mental torment Zoey was giving to her employees. Although he understood that her team messed up, Zoey was just taking so much time.

Zoey raised her brow and cast her employees one last glare. "Finish it." She repeated firmly before turning to Matthew.

"Yes, Darling~!" With a complete change of attitude, Zoey skipped her steps towards the door.

"Please refrain from calling me like that inside the office. Be professional." Matthew stated as he opened the door for her.

Upon hearing him, Zoey pouted and threw a cute punch on his chest.

"Ihh~! What are you saying~? They're all blind and deaf here." Zoey fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly before she shifted her eyes back to the meeting room.

As soon as she did, her eyes sharpened. It was as if Zoey had two different personalities fighting who would take over her today. 

"Right?!" 

"..."

"See? They didn't hear me." Zoey grinned as her employees knew how to play along after a year.

Matthew sighed as he shook his head lightly. He believed he was already a tyrant back when he was in the XI Corporation. But this was a different type of tyranny. 

"You're getting married in three days. You should've listened to me when I said…" As Zoey and Matthew walked away, the employees heard Matthew lecturing their boss gently.

When the door closed and Matthew's voice faded away, everyone could finally heave a sigh of relief.

"This is why Boss Z is torturing us! Boss Darling is too gentle towards her! He should be more firm!"

"Geez! Why am I even here? It's not my fault that the production messed up the signs!" 

"No one… no one… no one… will survive…" 

"We have to report about the abuse --"

"By the way, everyone…" While everyone was complaining and mumbling their trauma, Zoey came back.

As soon as they heard her, the room returned to what it used to be just like how Zoey had left it earlier. Just like the boss, it was amazing how every single one of them transitioned too fast.

"Pass the final presentation of our upcoming project to Mister Qian. He said he needs it done in two days." Zoey informed before leaving once again.

Just when their day couldn't get worse, Zoey dropped another bomb. With the current project which they messed up big time that needed to get it done by tomorrow, and then the other one the next day, they're surely going to die at this rate.

"Mel, did you say there's an entire box of coffee in the pantry?" Luigi asked in distraught. "That's not enough."

"I'm going to call my parents to say my last words."

"I should've dated more instead of focusing on my career. They're both stressful, either way."

"Ah! I think I'm sick."

Again, their mumblings about this doomsday, planned by the two fiercest individuals in this company, resonated in the meeting room. Zoey and Paul Qian.

If Zoey set them on fire, Paul was the person fanning the flames. Paul just started working in the Z Image Group for a year, but he had proven that he deserved his position as a director.

With both Zoey and Paul at the helm, they were unstoppable. Those two and the others who joined the company at the same year only listened to Matthew.

"I have an idea." Melanie pursed her lips as she held her tears back. Even the diligent Mel couldn't take this tyrant boss anymore.

When they heard her, everyone raised their gaze to her. As Melanie shifted her gaze around, they all nodded in understanding.

"Let's beg for mercy from god!" Melanie stood on her feet, which brought courage to everyone and did the same. There's only one god in this company who could stop all this evilness from conquering their workplace.

"Boss Darling! Save us…!"