After about an hour of chatting with various people, Xiao Lei excused herself to go to the ladies' room.
"I'll be here talking to CEO Zhang," Han Ye said as he watched Xiao Lei walking away.
"Alright," she said while walking away with her bag. She felt a little tired and just wanted to freshen up a little.
As she was walking into the ladies' room, she bumped into a woman in an elegant white dress who was walking out from a corner while holding a glass of champagne in one hand and a phone in her other hand.
"Sorry..." Xiao Lei mumbled and bowed slightly out of habit.
The woman glared at her and hissed, "Watch out!"
She looked down at her dress, and when she noticed that there was a small stain on it, she glared at Xiao Lei. "Look at what you've done!"
Xiao Lei frowned. "You were in the wrong too."
"You!" The woman stopped herself before she could do anything stupid. She then asked, "What's your name?"
"Why?" Xiao Lei narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously.
"I've never seen you around before. Who did you come with?!"
Xiao Lei rolled her eyes and muttered, "Don't be silly."
She was about to walk away when the woman grabbed her arm and pulled her back, causing her to nearly fall down.
"Hey!" Xiao Lei growled. "Let go! That hurts!" she snapped. The woman's well-manicured fingers were digging into her arm.
"Who are you? You dirtied my dress, and you just want to run off like that?"
Xiao Lei was getting angry, and she flung the woman's hand away angrily. "You walked into me as well! Why are you blaming me?"
"Do you know how much this dress cost?"
"No, not that I care as well!" Xiao Lei said. She tried to be as calm as possible, but the woman was being ridiculous. "If you're worried about your dress getting dirty, then don't buy such an expensive dress!"
"You!"
The woman raised her hand and was about to strike.
"Want to hit me?" Xiao Lei sneered when she saw her movement, and her eyes narrowed to a slit as she slowly lifted a hand. She was not about to hit the woman of course. However, she knew enough self-defense to make it so that the woman would hurt herself.
However, before the woman's hand could get near Xiao Lei, she suddenly yelled out in pain.
"Argh!" The woman could feel the tight grip on her wrist, and she turned around, only to bump into the most infamous member of the Fan Family. "F-Fan..."
"What are you trying to do? Do you even know what day it is today?" Fan Shaohang said in a cold voice as he glared at the woman. "This is a party to reminisce my late brother and sister-in-law!"
"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Fan," the woman mumbled. Her body shivered slightly from the cold gaze that Fan Shaohang was giving her.
Everyone was afraid of Fan Shaohang. Even when the old president was still alive, he was never able to control this eldest son of his, and Fan Shaohang had never acted in a way that befitted his status as the eldest heir of the Fan Family.
It was said that he was part of an old gang, and according to rumors, his leg was broken a few years ago during a fight with his old rivals.
From early on, Fan Shaohang made it very clear that he was not interested in inheriting the business from his father, preferring to instead spend his days wasting money on booze and women. When he was younger, Fan Shaohang caused scandals almost every week. It was either drunken fights or being filmed going to hotels or bars with certain women.
It was said that he even had eyes on his late younger brother's wife.
There were some that said he orchestrated the accident that killed his Fan Lei and Chen Qingting. It was said that his aim was his brother, but he accidentally killed Chen Qingting.
Of course, that did not make sense to some because Fan Shaohang was famous for doting on his stepbrother. No one knew the reason why, but everyone knew that Fan Shaohang preferred his stepbrother over his half-brother.
Even from the time when they were younger, Fan Shaohang could often be seen with Fan Lei, and rarely was he photographed with his youngest brother.
"Mr. Fan... Y-you're hurting me," the woman cried out softly as she tried to pull her hand away from him. Her wrist felt like it was about to break, and she was afraid that he might really break it. Fan Shaohang was not the type who would let someone go just because of their gender or age.
Looking at her terrified expression, Fan Shaohang gave her one last glare before letting her go away roughly. "Go away. If I see you making trouble again, I won't let this go."
The woman nodded.
After the woman rushed off, Xiao Lei could not help but stare at Fan Shaohang. And he had the same feeling as well.
He reached out a hand, but Xiao Lei immediately took a step back, and her expression changed from one of calm to one of fear.
Her breathing began to accelerate. She was afraid of him. She did not know what his intentions were or if he were involved with her parents' death, but she would never let her guard down. Never again would she believe in any of her uncles.
"You..." Fan Shaohang's sharp eyes softened upon seeing Xiao Lei. He lowered his voice and asked, "You... What's your name?"
Xiao Lei gulped. She shook her head to get the fear that was in her mind out of it before replying, "Xiao Lei..."
"Xiao Lei?" He smiled and said, "That's my younger brother's name... Do you know who he is?"
She was about to nod, but she shook her head. "No..."
"His name was Fan Lei, but I usually called him Xiao Lei. Well, until he's too big for me to call 'Xiao'. After that, I called him Ah Lei. Today's party is actually to commemorate his and his wife's death."
"Oh..."
"So, Ms. Xiao, who are you here with?" he asked with a smile, which was rare for him. He had not felt any joy in his heart ever since he lost Fan Lei and the latter's family. He had a strong conviction that the woman in front of him was Fan Wushuang.
He wanted to reach out and hug her, like what he used to do when she was still a toddler, but he was afraid that she would run. For some reason, she seemed to be afraid of him.