The Paranoid Female CEO’s Contracted Beauty (Omegaverse) - Chapter 19

“What projects is Li Dahai currently involved in?”

Secretary Su knew how much this issue had affected Xu Qingyan, so she didn’t say anything unnecessary. She simply gave a straightforward report. “Li Dahai currently has eight major projects in hand. Five of them are delayed due to funding problems. Of the remaining three, all are in collaboration with Shengshi Entertainment. The last one is with…”

Noticing a change in Secretary Su’s tone, Xu Qingyan looked up with a blank expression. “With who?”

Secretary Su hesitated for a moment before answering, “With the Pei family.”

Xu Qingyan’s already cold eyes instantly turned icy.

The Pei family had long-standing ties with the Xu family. They had always been close both socially and in business. Pei Yuan, the head of the Pei family, had a particularly close relationship with Xu Hong. The two shared very similar values. In recent years, whenever Xu Hong was involved in a business venture, Pei Yuan was always a part of it. Likewise, whenever Pei Yuan invested in something, Xu Hong was sure to be involved as well.

Pei Yuan had a daughter named Pei Xiaoyu. She was an S-class Omega and also Xu Qingyan’s childhood friend. From a young age, Pei Xiaoyu was the only person Xu Hong allowed to be close to Xu Qingyan. But after graduating from high school, Pei Xiaoyu went abroad to study. Xu Qingyan, on the other hand, was forced to stay in the country because of Xu Hong. That was when their paths started to diverge.

So many years had passed, and Xu Qingyan could no longer clearly remember what Pei Xiaoyu looked like. But she could imagine that she must have become even more beautiful over time.

“Why would Pei Yuan agree to work with someone like Li Dahai?”

Xu Qingyan understood Pei Yuan all too well. Just like Xu Hong, he had extremely high standards. He was never tempted by average profits and never looked twice at second-rate companies. All of his business partners were top industry players, and every company he worked with was a large, well-established group.

Secretary Su shook her head. “We don’t know yet. That’s all we could find for now. Li Dahai is indeed working with the Pei Group, but we haven’t been able to uncover the specifics. You know what Chairman Pei is like. He’s very alert. If we dig any deeper, he’ll immediately realize what we’re up to.”

Xu Qingyan understood the risk and said nothing more. After finishing the documents on her desk, she said coldly, “If I remember correctly, don’t we also have partnerships with some of those companies?”

Secretary Su was momentarily stunned, but quickly realized what Xu Qingyan was planning. “Chairman Xu, are you thinking about…”

“Pulling our investment.”

“But the projects we’re involved in have already entered the implementation stage. If we pull our funding now, we’ll suffer losses. It’s not worth it.”

“Then go tell them this. If they want me to stay invested, they must stop working with Li Dahai and pull their funding from his projects. If they do that, I’ll agree not to withdraw.”

“Chairman Xu, are you really going to go that far just because…”

Before she could finish, Xu Qingyan looked up and stared at her sharply. “Xiao Su, you’ve been speaking too much lately.”

Secretary Su’s heart sank. She realized she had been talking too freely recently and had forgotten that this cold, distant version of Xu Qingyan was her true self. “Apologies, Chairman Xu. I only meant that I’m worried. If the former Chairwoman Xu finds out about this, she might…”

“And what if she does? Or if she doesn’t?” Xu Qingyan hated hearing Xu Hong’s name. She hated it even more when people tried to use it against her. “When have I ever been afraid of Xu Hong? Xu Group is mine now. No one else has the right to interfere. Even if she used to be the chairwoman, that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Secretary Su understood that Xu Qingyan had made up her mind. No matter what she said, it wouldn’t change anything. So she nodded and left. Once outside, she walked to a quiet corner and made a silent phone call.

Over the following week, Li Dahai began receiving notice after notice. Several companies started withdrawing their investments. The profits he thought were already secured disappeared in an instant. Not only did he lose potential earnings, but he also lost his own capital. The result was total failure, losing everything.

The day he was flooded with calls from angry investors, Li Dahai almost lost his mind. After throwing a fit of helpless rage in his villa, he immediately began analyzing the situation to figure out where things had gone wrong.

He knew those partners very well. The deals were practically done. No one would back out at the last moment, not even a fool. This didn’t make sense.

What had gone wrong?

Pacing anxiously in the living room, he looked at his secretary and snapped, “Call them again. Ask them what the hell is going on. These projects have already started, and now they’re telling me they want to pull out? Are they playing games with me?”

It was clear that someone had intentionally interfered. The secretary cautiously asked, “President Li, have you upset anyone lately? Under normal circumstances, no one would suddenly back out like this. It’s not just unethical. In business, credibility matters. If word gets out that they abandoned projects mid-way, who would dare work with them again? So please think carefully. Is there someone you might have offended recently?”

The question made Li Dahai freeze. His angry expression turned dark.

“It was that woman.”

“Which woman…?”

Li Dahai didn’t answer. He immediately picked up his phone and dialed a number from his call history.

He waited several minutes before someone finally picked up.

Without waiting, he shouted, “Xu, are you playing dirty with me?”

There was a short pause. Then an unfamiliar voice calmly replied, “Sorry, who is this? If you continue making harassing calls, I’ll report you to the police.”

Li Dahai froze for a few seconds. His tone softened slightly as he asked, “You’re not Xu Qingyan? Then who are you? Put that Xu woman on the phone!”

The voice on the other end replied, “You want to speak to Chairwoman Xu? Who exactly are you, and how do you have the number for her office?”

Li Dahai’s expression darkened further, but he held back and said, “Just tell that woman it’s Li Dahai calling!”

At that moment, Xu Qingyan’s voice cut in coldly. “President Li, you must be quite free these days. Calling my office every day… Is the Li family going bankrupt?”

“Go to hell!”

Li Dahai had completely lost his temper. Gone was the usual politeness and courtesy. He unleashed a torrent of vulgarities, shouting the filthiest insults he could think of, even cursing Xu Qingyan’s entire family line.

But Xu Qingyan remained calm. With a face like stone, she placed the phone on the desk and watched it as if she were observing a monkey in a cage. She was curious just how long a person could go on swearing when completely unhinged.

As it turned out, clowns always had more energy than expected.

After nearly thirty minutes of nonstop shouting, Li Dahai finally realized she was toying with him. His face turned dark green with rage, but there was nothing he could do through the phone. He had no choice but to swallow his anger.

“You b1tch! You don’t have the guts to face me directly, so you play dirty behind my back? Just wait! Everything you’ve done to me, I’ll make that brat of yours pay for it!”

He sneered viciously. “Fine, Xu Qingyan. I underestimated you. I lost this round, I admit it. But it’s alright. Since you don’t care about that girl, I’ll just sell her off!”

“You’re threatening me?”

Xu Qingyan’s voice turned cold as well. One of the things she hated most was being threatened. That was what Xu Hong had done to her in the past, using certain things to control her. In the end, she had made sure Xu Hong stepped down and faded out of the picture.

And now Li Dahai was trying the same tactic? He must be looking for death.

Li Dahai completely dropped the act. “Yes, I’m threatening you. Didn’t you say you don’t care about that brat? Fine. No problem. There are plenty of powerful people out there who want her. We don’t need you, Xu Qingyan. This isn’t over. Just you wait!”

Click.

He ended the call with a furious slam.

Xu Qingyan clenched her teeth. Li Dahai had clearly been pushed to the edge. The things he said on the phone weren’t just empty threats. If he actually went through with selling that Omega…

Maybe that would be for the best. Let this be the moment that exposed Li Dahai’s hypocrisy. Let the Omega finally see the truth. A dog can never change its nature.

Just as she put down the phone, her office door opened.

“Chairwoman Xu, here’s the report you asked for.”

Secretary Su could tell that Xu Qingyan was in a good mood. She had overheard part of the phone call outside the door and had guessed what had happened. “Chairwoman Xu, were you just on the phone with Li Dahai?”

She knew that Xu Qingyan rarely called others first. It must have been Li Dahai who made the call.

“Yes.”

“Is he really planning to hurt Miss Li? But she’s his own daughter.”

Xu Qingyan showed little reaction. She took the file from Secretary Su and glanced through a few pages. After a moment, she said, “This might be a good thing. It’ll finally show Xiao Ge what kind of man her father really is. Maybe that’ll save us a lot of trouble.”

Secretary Su hesitated, wondering if she should share her thoughts. Xu Qingyan looked up and asked, “Do you have something to say?”

“I…”

“Speak freely. I’ve told you before, haven’t I?”

After a short pause, Secretary Su said, “I was just thinking… if you handle this in such an extreme way, and Miss Li finds out, even if she eventually learns that her father planned to sell her, she might still believe that everything started because you forced his hand. She might not focus on what kind of person Li Dahai truly is.”

Xu Qingyan had already considered that possibility. If the Omega ended up hating her because of this, so be it. She didn’t care. Losing the Omega’s heart was still better than having to watch her live happily with some other Alpha.

“It’s fine. Let her hate me,” Xu Qingyan said, her eyes flashing with a hint of madness. “If she hates me, that means she remembers me. And if she remembers me, she won’t be able to forget me so easily. Don’t you agree?”

Secretary Su dared not say another word. Through Xu Qingyan’s eyes, she saw something unhinged. If that madness could be put into words, it would be this: she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

It was a side of Xu Qingyan that Secretary Su didn’t particularly like. But this was the real Xu Qingyan. Ambitious. Idealistic. Obsessed. She would do anything to get what she wanted. And if she couldn’t have it, she would destroy it.

In that sense, she was exactly like the former Chairwoman, Xu Hong.

No wonder they were mother and daughter. Their personalities were exactly the same.

Secretary Su didn’t continue that line of thought. Instead, she redirected the conversation back to the documents she had just brought. “The Alpha that Li Dahai placed next to Miss Li is named Gu Shi. He goes to the same school as Miss Li, and technically, he’s her senior. He already has an Omega, a Grade B Omega. He’s the kind who lives off others. While still in school, he often made his Omega buy him phones, designer clothes, shoes, and so on. Later, because of his good looks, he caught Li Dahai’s attention and made a deal with him.”

“So in other words, he’s two-timing?” Xu Qingyan asked calmly.

“Yes,” Secretary Su replied.

Xu Qingyan’s eyes always carried a chill. When she was silent, her gaze was already like frost. But when she was angry, that coldness turned into a biting chill that made people instinctively look away.

Secretary Su did not dare meet her eyes at that moment. She kept her head lowered. When Xu Qingyan didn’t speak, she guessed that she must be angry and quickly added, “He’s easy to deal with. We already have photos of him with his Omega. If we show them to him, he’ll have no choice but to leave quietly.”

It would be easy to ruin Gu Shi, but Xu Qingyan didn’t plan to take that route. People in love often refused to believe the truth, even when the evidence was right in front of them.

If she exposed him now, it would only push Li Ge closer to Gu Shi. She would believe it was Xu Qingyan trying to drive them apart. That would lead to something truly irreparable.

Instead, she needed the Omega to realize the truth on her own. Only then would she truly believe it.

“You don’t need to do anything about this. I’ll handle it myself,” Xu Qingyan said.

Secretary Su wanted to ask more, but she knew that Xu Qingyan would not explain her plan. Asking too much would only make her suspicious. So she nodded and said, “Understood.”

Xu Qingyan glanced at her phone and opened Weibo. A new post from the Omega’s studio popped up in the feed.

It was a photo taken earlier that day. It already had quite a few likes. Although the Omega’s fan base was still small and there weren’t many comments, her sweet appearance had attracted many new fans. The number of likes kept growing.

This reminded Xu Qingyan of something. She looked up and said, “I promised Xiao Ge that I wouldn’t go after her agent again. Tell Wang Fan not to make things difficult for her anymore. If I ever see anything like that again, I’ll pull out of the ‘Double Beauty’ project. I agreed to invest, and I can just as easily take it back.”

“I’ll take care of it right away,” Secretary Su replied.

At the same time,

On the filming set—

After the makeup artist finished touching up her face, Li Ge adjusted her pose in front of the camera once more.

There were many Alpha fans surrounding the set, screaming loudly. Normally, this kind of support would have made Li Ge happy. As a rising star, having devoted fans was a rare and valuable thing. But because of what happened with Xu Qingyan, her mood was sour. The noise made her feel even more agitated.

During breaks, she stayed in the rest area to avoid the crowd.

Her mind kept replaying the moment when Xu Qingyan cornered her with questions. The urgency in her eyes was terrifying. Li Ge could still feel the pressure from that moment. She could not imagine what would happen if Xu Qingyan truly lost control one day. She would have no way to fight back.

Run away?

But where could she even go?

Abroad?

Gu Shi would never leave with her.

If she fled overseas alone, she would be stuck in an unfamiliar place. She didn’t speak the language well, and as an Omega, she would be vulnerable to all sorts of dangers. It might even cost her life.

Within just a few minutes, Li Ge’s thoughts had spiraled far beyond reason. A deep sense of unease spread through her body like wildfire, seeping into every cell.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the lounge.

Li Ge jumped slightly, pulled herself back to reality, and went to open the door. She assumed it was the makeup artist reminding her that it was time to shoot again. But when the door opened, she saw that it was Gu Shi.

“You… Why are you here?”

Because of her celebrity status, Li Ge could not be seen in public with Gu Shi. If the paparazzi caught them together, it could seriously damage her career. This made her feel deeply guilty toward Gu Shi. They were in a relationship, yet couldn’t hold hands openly.

At the beginning, this weighed heavily on her. It was only through Gu Shi’s constant reassurance that she slowly learned to accept it.

“My dad asked me to come,” Gu Shi said, closing the door behind him. “He said there’s trouble at the company and told me to come talk to you.”

Li Ge immediately thought of Xu Qingyan. Her heart skipped a beat.

“What… What do you mean?” she asked nervously.