When pests get a backbone

Shera grabbed a pen to sign the share transfer document, sneering inwardly at his plot to extort her. Did he really think that little amount of money was too much for her? Just when the tip of her pen touched the paper, her phone rang. 

She looked over at it in slight annoyance. Her right hand continued to hold the pen as the left reached to pick up her phone. Her eyebrows scrunched up slightly when she saw who the caller was. Purple would never interrupt her meeting unless it was something of extreme importance. Besides, she was just several rooms away. She could have just walked over and told her whatever it was. Why would she call instead?

She answered the call suspiciously.

"I see." She said as an answer to whatever the caller had said, her face remaining devoid of expression as she observed the man opposite her.

It was not sure what Purple had said, but when the call ended, Shera's hand hovered over the document for a while before she suddenly retracted the pen and tossed it aside. 

"What's that all about?" Leo was bewildered by her sudden disinclination. 

"I don't want it anymore. Since when do I have to explain my decisions to you, Mr. Qin?" She suddenly stood up and left the room, wordlessly chasing Leo out. Whatever his reason was for buying shares from her company then jesting his way to The Mansion of Black to sell them to her, it didn't matter. More important things needed her attention right now.

"As unpredictable as always." Leo did not insist and let her leave, wondering who had just called her and what they had said. It would have been a walk in the park to know who had called since Shera's phone was on the coffee table just now and he only needed to glance over, which he had doneーbut who in the world was 12? 

That was right. Shera had saved the phone numbers of her closest henchmen using digits that only people in La Rose Noire knewㄧPurple was 12. 

...

"Are you sure about what you just said?" Shera asked Purple as soon as she was back to the study. 

"Yes. This has been reported by the mole I planted in The Qin Empire." Purple responded confidently. 

"I see. So pests and rodents can get a backbone too." Shera snorted. The Qins had actually gotten the mayor of Sapphire City to support them? 

It was not entirely unexpected. The Qins had after all been affiliated with the Mayor of Imperium City when Cece was engaged to his son. It must have been through that union that they had managed to obtain more connections with people from the government, and were using them now to make their empire stronger.

But that did not mean Shera would believe that they had used legitimate methods to gain this so called support. "Whatever they did in the shadows, I'm going to stop it." Shera declared resolutely.

Right after saying this, she took a folder from the bookshelf without even having to search for it. Her lips curled into a smirk as her slender fingers caressed the edge of the black folder. "I've been anticipating this moment." 

She held the folder out to Purple. "Release the first group of pictures. This should entertain them a little."

Purple took a look through the pictures. They were clear photos of Julius Qin's assistant sneakily giving a wad of cash to a reknown businessman. Everything had been captured on the photos—there was little difference between this and a video. "I will do it right away." Purple said. 

Shera turned back to dart her gaze through the books and files on the shelves, reaching out to run her hand through them as she added, "I hope they enjoy it—while I prepare more entertaining spectacles for them." 

___

In just two weeks, news of Julius Qin's secretary being involved in bribery filled every section of 

Olphire. The pictures that had been released had been taken just a day before that businessman withdrew his funds from a charity project he had already publicly announced that he would support, and collaborated with The Qin Empire instead. It had been so shocking that many people in and out of  the business field still remembered it. 

When the pictures were released with a captivating caption on several newspapers two weeks ago, everyone thought about this incident. However, the flames had magically calmed.

Shera sneered as she tossed the copy of the Imperium Daily newspaper onto the coffee table. The so-called breaking news had undergone so many twists in the past few days that it was now a completely different story altogether.

It shouldn't be a surprise that Julius Qin evaded  the blame by shoving all of it to his secretary and pushing him to the eye of the storm. 

Although the mayor of Sapphire City was no longer willing to collaborate with The Qin Empire put of fear of implication, the latter had evaded most of the losses by making up a believable story. 

"Very well. They wormed their way out of this one too easily." She huffed. "But the fun has only begun, Julius Qin."