Alyssa always turned anger into energy. So once she was off the clock, she went alone to have barbeque at a street stand. She didn’t go home until she had eaten to her heart’s content.

"Dad, Mom, I’m home," Alyssa greeted her parents when she got home.

"It’s so late. Where have you been?"

her father asked casually. Then he went on watching TV on the sofa in the living room.

"I went to have some barbeque,"

she asked honestly.

"Dad, maybe I’ve been under too much pressure lately. I have mouth ulcers. It hurts," she added.

Roderick Lin didn’t think it was a big deal. "You’re so carefree. How stressed can you be?

You’ve always wanted to join JK Group. Now that you have, you should focus on work. And stop acting like a little girl," he said.

Alyssa pursed her lips and thought, You must not be my real father.

She was no match for her father in arguing, so she decided to keep her silence.

Without a word, she grabbed an apple and went to her bedroom to video chat with her friends, Felicity and Stella Gu.

In the Xu family’s residence.

Basil was reading a financial newspaper in the living room.

His mom Veronica Yang was sitting on the couch as well, wearing a silk nightgown. Despite in her forties, she had her graceful bearing, with her fair skin and a good figure.

After staring at her son for a while, she asked, "Son, how are you getting along with Sharon Sheng from the Sheng Group?"

Basil heard her but didn’t respond, pretending to be concentrating on the newspaper. "Basil, I’m talking to you." Veronica raised her voice.

"Mom, I don’t like her. Can you just stop mentioning her? I have a girlfriend," Basil protested.

In the past six months, his parents had been trying to fix him up with Sharon. He was so annoyed that he wished he could marry Alyssa right away.

"Your girlfriend has no powerful family background and no backers. How is she going to help you in any ways?"

With that, Veronica moved to sit next to Basil and said in a concerned voice, "Son, Sharon is gentle and beautiful. If you marry her, everybody who sees you two together will envy you. And the matrimonial alliance will bring about a lot of benefits to our two families. Listen to me, break up with that woman."

"Mom!"

Basil stood up abruptly. "Can you stay out of my relationship? I love Alyssa, and I’ll only love her! I don’t care about any other woman, no matter how powerful her family is!"

After that, he went upstairs to his bedroom.

"Basil!"

Veronica called gloomily. This topic had become very sensitive between them. Every time they would fall out over it.

Basil’s father, Stanley Xu, walked out of the study when he heard them arguing. Seeing her sitting on the couch dejected, he asked, "What was that about?"

"I don’t understand your son. What does he see in Alyssa? Sharon is perfect for him, but he refuses to break up with Alyssa!"

Veronica complained.

"Don’t worry. I won’t allow someone like Alyssa to marry into this family. Sharon’s father and I have agreed to let her and Basil get engaged before the end of next month. Invite her to come here for dinner some time. Give them a chance to be alone and get to know each other. Our son is a man. Men all like beautiful women," Stanley said.

No matter how Basil struggled, it seemed that his fate had been preset. His relationship with Alyssa was teetering on the brink of ending, but he was still fighting for it.

Soon, Alyssa had been working in JK Group for a month. During her internship, she had been diligent and responsible. Truth be told, she had managed to conceal her real self.

"Alyssa, it’s the annual meeting of our company in a few more days. Do you have any plans?"

queried a woman in the sales department.

"Huh?

The annual meeting?

Plan? What plan?"

she asked, confused. That morning, she had attended two conferences. Afterwards, she had scheduled Aaron’s itinerary and written two reports. At this moment, her head was too tired to think about anything else.