Her Life was Ruined

Two days later, Xia Yanxi was back to Xia Corporation. 

Early in the morning, Huo Changsheng had arranged with a certain lawyer, named Mr. Zhou, to hand over the signed agreement to Xia Yanxi. 

There she was, standing outside the company doorstep, under the words ,"Xia Co." signboard. The borders of the gold-embossed letters had slightly deteriorated, so had the glamour and pride of the company with the passing of her mother. 

As she gathered her courage and determination to enter the building, a few blue-collared workers walked by, and into the building before she could. They were wielding cases, boxes of equipment. Stunned, intrigued, and mildly taken aback, she hurried over to one of the workers and asked, "Excuse me, mister, what are you doing here?" 

The worker, being addressed by such a beautiful lady, turned and answered promptly, "Lady, we were asked to remove the sign." 

"I beg your pardon?" Xia Yanxi replied, horrified. She calmed down quickly as more context was needed. 

"Is it time to change to a new one, perhaps?" 

"No, lady. We are taking down the signboard. This entire place was emptied out a month ago." 

Lightning seemed to have struck from above, and what followed was a deafening silence. She could not believe what she was hearing. She faltered, highly oblivious to the curious stares around her. With whatever sense left in her, she charged into the building. 

Xia Corporation was a business company focusing on clothing and shoe making production. The building in front was the office, and behind it was the production factory and the workers' accommodation. Although they were not the best in the industry, they were still one of the top ten companies amongst the others. 

A few days back, she was with Lingwei and Lan You. During their shopping spree, she clearly remembered seeing a franchise selling shoes that belonged to Xia Corp. operating as per usual. How could the main office be emptied out in just a short period of time?

She did not even remember reading, or hearing any news about the collapse of Xia Corp. 

Xia Yanxi sped past the reception desk, straight toward the office. With fleeting hope in her soul, she flung the large wooden door open and was greeted with despair. The office was empty, not even a soul in sight. She ran further behind, past the now emptied office and toward the storage facility and the production factory. 

Alas, there was nothing. Emptiness. Dust. Despair. Everything was gone. 

Xia Yanxi's clenched fists were trembling. Her chest thumped with the beat of her heart. Her eyes, moist with tears. 

She fumbled with the phone in her hand, tapping angrily at the dialpad. 

Perhaps it was expected, planned even, Huo Changsheng had predicted that Xia Yanxi might call him, and the person who took the call was his lawyer. 

"Miss Xia, Xia Corp. was already going down under before your mother passed away. For six years, your father had been investing what he could into the company, trying to cover the loss. Alas, it was merely trying to delay the inevitable. Not long after, the entire corporation was placed in an auction bid. When the auction is over, your father will split half the earnings with you. I must warn you, Miss Xia. Do not call this number. Your father is very busy." 

Before Xia Yanxi could even contribute a word to the conversation, Mr. Zhou ended the call. 

Mr. Zhou was a trustworthy lawyer that had been serving her mother. When Huo Changsheng and Xia Yanxi was drafting the agreement, Mr. Zhou was present to oversee the process. He promised that every procedure with Huo Changsheng would be observed carefully. Alas, six years later, she returned to a building that was as empty as his words. 

Xia Corp. was the brainchild of both her mother and her grandfather. All the work that had been put in, their blood, sweat, and tears, was torn to shreds, in the hands of Huo Changsheng. Even the building itself was going to be put up for auction. 

Xia Yanxi felt helpless and useless. The only thing that her mother had left her… she had failed to protect it. 

How stupid had she been?! How naive!? How could she not see it coming? She should know better, the avarice that Huo Changsheng had would result in the destruction of everything! He would destroy everything that her mother had built, just for the sake of money! Her company, her life… was now ruined. 

What Mr. Zhou said, about how the company was already going under when her mother was alive, had to be a lie! It had to be a scam, to get hold of the fortunes of Xia Corp! A lie to trick Xia Yanxi! No wonder Huo Changsheng had given her an odd look, and even asked her twice about claiming the shares of the company! The scrooge, Yao Manlian, was quiet then too! 

It all made sense now! This was but a planned scheme!