Chapter 5: Must Get a Raise

Chen Fan looked at Florence. Then he looked at Francis, whose face was blank with confusion. The man’s deathly aura was so strong that Chen Fan did not even bother to look into the relationship between Francis and Florence. At that moment, the three of them fell into silence.

Chen Fan and Florence had come out of the same guest room, and Florence had even wrapped herself in a blanket in a way that only made everything look more suspicious. No matter how one thought about it, it looked as though something had happened between them.

“Do you believe me?” Chen Fan said solemnly to the stunned Francis. “I’m innocent with Ms. Flores.”

“Yes, a perfectly innocent relationship between a man and a woman,” Florence said with a faint snort.

Chen Fan’s eyes widened as he stared at her in disbelief.

What on earth was this woman doing, joking about her own innocence?

Now he truly could not explain himself even if he had reason on his side.

Francis’s face darkened to the extreme. He glanced at Florence, then at Chen Fan. After that, he lifted a hand and patted Chen Fan on the shoulder.

“I don’t object to a relationship between superior and subordinate. Just keep it from the company for now.”

“Once I’ve handled things, you won’t have to suffer through any public uproar.”

Chen Fan could not help but freeze at those words.

Was this man really this open-minded?

Florence said nothing. She simply hugged the blanket and went into the master bedroom.

“Little... young man,” Francis said with a smile, no longer as composed as before. Instead, his eyes were full of emotion. “You really are dating Florence?”

“Cough, cough. Don’t mind me saying this, but ever since her mother passed, she has had no interest in anyone.”

“Look at her. She’s already twenty-eight and still doesn’t even have someone she’s vaguely interested in.”

“Unlike me when I was young...”

Francis awkwardly coughed twice and said with a grin, “Young man, treat her well. I’m optimistic about you two.”

Chen Fan was equally embarrassed.

If it were a troublesome feng shui problem, he could handle it without changing expression.

But matters of the heart and questions like this were truly outside his area of expertise.

Especially since he and Ms. Flores were completely and utterly only in a business relationship.

“Um... I don’t have money?” Chen Fan said hesitantly.

Back when Jasper had learned he had no savings, that face had gone black as coal.

“Money?” Francis burst into hearty laughter. “No matter. As long as my daughter likes you, I don’t mind whether you have money or not.”

“Besides, you could never be richer than me, haha!”

Chen Fan: ...

Normally, he would have been delighted to hear this. After all, he was about to receive five percent of Flores Group’s shares.

But facing this man with such a strong deathly aura, he could not feel happy no matter what.

“Chairman Flores, this approval document...” said Little Lee, who had gone to the car to fetch the files. Seeing Francis actually chatting and laughing with Chen Fan, he could not help but startle.

“Mm.”

Francis nodded, instantly stopping his laughter. After taking the approval document, he lifted his brows at Chen Fan with an expression that said everything without needing to be spoken.

“See? You could never be richer than me.”

“Land approval.”

Chen Fan: ...

Then did he know he would die because of this land approval?

“I originally wanted to tell Florence the good news myself. I didn’t expect you to be here.”

Francis smiled and poured a cup of tea he had brewed himself, setting it before Chen Fan first.

“Have a taste.”

“I’m not used to it,” Chen Fan said after taking a sip and shaking his head.

“That just means you’re still too young. Women are like tea; they have to be savored slowly.” Francis smiled, and the more he looked at Chen Fan, the more satisfied he seemed.

“Since you’re here, I won’t keep you. Give this approval document to Florence. She’ll be pleased.”

I don’t think she will.

Chen Fan nodded and took the papers.

“Oh, right. Add me on WeChat. If my daughter has any problems in the future, I can ask you.”

“Why not just ask Ms. Flores directly?”

“She doesn’t talk to me.”

“...”

After adding Francis as a friend and watching him leave with his assistant, Chen Fan began looking through the approval document.

“Future planning for Emerald City...”

“Twin Peaks? That land really is good. There’s great development potential, and the projected profits are... ten billion?”

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. The shares he was about to receive were about to become much more valuable.

“This project was fought for by Francis Flores. If Francis Flores dies, this project will not fall into Flores Group’s hands.”

“The feng shui formation has been broken, and the Flores family has turned their luck around. If the people targeting the Flores family can do nothing about it, then killing Francis Flores is the only option?”

Chen Fan tossed the approval document onto the table and walked to the bedroom door to knock.

“Ms. Flores, your father is going to die.”

Florence, sitting on the bed hugging a blanket with no emotion on her face, was instantly stunned.

She suspected Chen Fan was insulting her, but she had no proof.

“Mr. Chen?” Florence opened the door, her face full of confusion.

“Your father really is going to die,” Chen Fan said with complete seriousness.

Florence: ...

“At first, with the dragon biting its own tail, I thought someone had deliberately set up a vicious formation to curse you. The reason the curse was aimed at killing you was because that person was your enemy,” Chen Fan said faintly. “But it doesn’t seem to be the case. After all, someone has already started targeting your father. By tonight at the latest...”

“Mr. Chen, are you saying...” Florence trembled. “My dad will end up like I did last night?”

“Not necessarily. The one dealing with you is strange; it may not be a curse-killing technique.”

Chen Fan slowly shook his head. “I think the person who set up the feng shui formation and the one who cursed you are not the same person.”

“The first has extraordinary mastery of feng shui, mature, vicious, and capable of killing without a trace.”

“The second’s curse technique is impatient, eager for credit, and full of flaws.”

Florence’s face went pale.

Her nerves were taut all over. What had happened last night was something no normal person would ever want to go through again.

“Mr. Chen, then can you protect my father?” Florence bit her lip.

Chen Fan shook his head. “The contract we signed last night required me to protect you.”

“That includes Flores Group too!” Florence bit down harder, almost to the point of drawing blood. “My dad... is the lifeline of Flores Group.”

“You don’t seem to hate your father that much,” Chen Fan said with a lift of his brows.

Florence paused, then said in a low voice, “I just can’t bear to see him die.”

“All right.”

Chen Fan’s lips curved into a smile. “Then he won’t die... But if the feng shui master targeting you dies, then the price goes up.”