11 FATHER
One day, Lie Ruge was in her office signing some documents when she got a call from her father's butler. A middle-aged man with grey hairs. Because of his eye problem, Butler Zhu is fond of wearing glasses.
Butler Zhu informed her saying, "Your father wants you to come to the Lie's family manor. Your father has some urgent issues to discuss with you." He then hung up the phone without her reply. He knew that his Young Miss will find an excuse to give him for not being able to honour the Chairman's invitation if he lets her speak. Not letting her reply was the best idea he could come up with.
Hearing this, Lie Ruge left the documents to Xu Feng she was working on to Xu Feng. He could handle that much work. The reason she still kept him despite how talkative he is was because of his level of capability and intelligence. His level of professionalism was why she hired him.
Getting to the parking space of the company, her driver was already on stand-by to open the car door for her. Since Butler Zhu did not specify what was wrong, she was bit worried about why her father needed her urgently.
Their ride from the Empire building to the Lie's family manor was just a fifteen minutes ride. Lie's Manor was a very huge building. The size was enough to make one awestruck not to mention the architectural design of the building. For the less wealthy people, the Lie's Manor was heaven on Earth.
Entering the main building, Lie Ruge was warmly welcomed by the servants. The truth is all of them were scared of her due to the rumour that their Young Miss was a cruel person. They couldn't afford to offend since they all love their lives.
Butler Zhu guided her to the dining room where her father was already waiting for her arrival.
Entering the dining room, varieties of dishes were displayed on the dining table. Just by glaring at the table she could tell that her father had ordered the chefs to cook all her favourite dishes. Her father, Master Lie Huo, just celebrated his sixty years birthday three months ago but he still looked quite young for his age. Those who don't know his actual age might assume that he is still in his late forties. He was still handsome in his own way.
Master Lie Huo handed over his position as the CEO of Empire Corporation to his beloved daughter three years ago because of an uncalled for situation.
Lie Ruge has a really close relationship with her father. She did not despise him for sending her away back then. Four years of no contact did not affect their relationship. Their Father and daughter relationship was very unique and special.
Lie Ruge walked a few steps closer to him and bent down to hug him, "Father, I hope you are alright? I have missed you so much." There were two people that Lie Ruge was really close to and those two people were her dearest father and best friend, Xiao Bai.
Lie Ruge's father jokingly replied as though he was displeased, "My unfilial daughter has finally accepted to visit me today, I am happy." Lie Ruge always felt guilty when her father said those words. Her father has been sending her several invitations for her to grace him a visit for over three months but she couldn't make out time to pay him a visit because she had tons of work to handle in the office.
"I'm sorry for that but I was preoccupied with work. I don't even have time for myself, father, not to talk about doing something else," she pretended as though she was offended.
Master Lie knew the fact that his daughter's schedule was quite hectic since he had been keeping a close watch on her. He urged her to sit down.
"Ge'er, I believe you so you can have your seat now. I have ordered the chefs to prepare all your favourite dishes. I can see that you have become thinner in the span of three months."
She obediently sat down and they started eating while discussing work.
After eating to their satisfaction, both father and daughter moved to the sitting room to continue their conversation.
Master Lie brought up the issue of her marriage. "Ge'er! When are you gonna get married so that you will give me grandchildren? The president even called to discuss how displeased he was with your rejection of his marriage proposal".
Lie Ruge always develop an headache whenever the discussion about marriage is brought. She hated hearing that topic. "Father, I'm not ready yet for marriage. I have the whole Empire group and other businesses under the Lie's family name to cater for. So how can I have time to leisurely get married?"
Her father was displeased with her words. He knew just how much his beloved daughter hated getting married after what happened three years ago.
"But your uncle and aunts are there to give you the necessary assistance you need in order to manage the company."
Just the mention of her uncle and aunts' made her flare up in a rage. "The two of us are clearly aware that my uncle and aunts are up to no good. They are just greedy for fame and wealth.They don't care about the company's welfare at all so how could you tell me to leave the company to their care?"
Her father noticed that she was pissed off so he decided to appease her. "Ge'er, you are turning twenty-four this year. You have never been in any relationship before. Girls your age are already in a serious relationship or married. I'm not comparing you to them because I know I'm at fault for handing the company over to you at such a young age but you can't possibly blame me for that, right?"
She knew that her father handing over the CEO position to her was due to the surgery he had to undergo and he could not leave the position vacant for such a long time. At that time when he handed over the company to her, she had just newly returned from acquiring her university education. Her father was left with no choice but to pass over the position to her, so how could she blame her dad for that.
"Father, how can I ever blame you for that? I know that you want the best for me but marriage is not what I really want to achieve just yet..."
"Then when are you gonna be ready Ge'er? Are you gonna be ready when I am dead?" he interrupted her. She looked up and saw the pain on her father's face.
