Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

Meanwhile, in the Shen Group office, Shen Yifan was overwhelmed by a series of messy events.

His girlfriend, Amy, a graduate of a prestigious university and a returnee from overseas, was not only his beloved girlfriend but also his personal chief secretary, whom he had personally brought into the company. Shen Yifan trusted her completely, blurring the lines between public and private matters. He never hid anything from her, not even the slightest bit, regarding the company's core business, project planning, or even the confidential operations of the upper management.

In just six months, the meticulous Amy had thoroughly investigated Shen's complete internal operating model, upstream and downstream channel resources, the details of important cooperative clients and their negotiation weaknesses, and had a clear understanding of most of Shen Yifan's trump cards.

Recently, Shen's situation has plummeted, with one long-term, stable partner company after another being poached by competitors.

Forced into a corner, Shen Yifan even brought in Lu Ze, who had the backing of the Lu family, to mediate. However, the partners who had previously given the Lu family some face showed no mercy this time and firmly terminated the cooperation.

Shen Yifan was completely baffled and couldn't understand when he had made so many enemies. He could only vent his anger in the office, smashing expensive tea sets to the ground one after another, the sound of shattering echoing throughout the room, leaving it in a mess.

There was supposed to be a crucial cooperation signing ceremony that day, one that could revitalize the current slump, and Shen Yifan planned to bring Amy along for the meeting early in the morning. However, before leaving, he went through his entire contact list, sending messages and making phone calls, but still couldn't reach Amy.

The two are currently in the throes of a passionate romance. Even though the company has been embroiled in recent turmoil, Shen Yifan has never neglected her. The night before, they had carefully finalized the schedule for signing the contract this morning on WeChat. Amy had specifically reminded him to be punctual and not to lose contact.

As the agreed-upon time with the partner drew closer, Shen Yifan felt anxious and vaguely uneasy, fearing that something might happen to her on the way. He immediately instructed the driver to drive straight to Amy's residence.

This large, single-level apartment in the city center was originally rented for her by Shen Yifan himself, who used his connections to secure the lease.

He had previously suggested that the two of them move in together, but Amy declined, saying that the pace of their relationship should not be too fast. Shen Yifan thought she was just being modest and self-respecting, and instead respected and understood her even more, and readily agreed to settle her in this well-equipped house.

Shen Yifan entered the door code with practiced ease and pushed the door open. The large living room was completely empty, devoid of any human presence. His heart tightened, and he rushed towards the bedroom, his mind already conjuring up the image of Amy suddenly collapsing unconscious at home.

But the moment I stepped into the bedroom, a bone-chilling cold instantly shot from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

The once fully stocked built-in wardrobe was now empty, all the clothes and bags gone; the dressing table was also cleared of all the high-end skincare products, makeup, and personal belongings, not even a hair tie was left.

Amy, along with all traces of her life here, has completely vanished without a trace.

Shen Yifan's face turned deathly pale instantly. His fingers trembled as he repeatedly redialed Amy's number, only to be met with the same unchanging, cold female voice on the other end: "The number you dialed is not in service."

Only then did he belatedly realize and suddenly wake up.

Recently, his business partners have collectively defected, his competitors have accurately grasped all of Shen's weaknesses in negotiations, and even Lu Ze's face is no longer of any use... It's not that his luck has turned bad or that he has made enemies for no reason. It's that the person he trusts most and is closest to him has taken all of Shen's core secrets and completely sided with the competitor.

The so-called gentle, reserved, and deeply affectionate overseas returnee girlfriend was, from beginning to end, a meticulously planned scheme to drain the Shen family's coffers.

The most pressing issue right now is that the only original copy of the complete and finalized project plan is in Amy's hands, while Shen Yifan's computer only has a rough draft framework left, with the core pricing, channel integration plan, and solutions to the client's pain points all missing.

He used to be too immersed in love and trusted his wife completely. All the final versions of the documents were entrusted to Amy for safekeeping and archiving, and he never made a second backup.

With the deadline for signing the contract fast approaching, Shen Yifan gritted his teeth and suppressed his surging anger. He ordered the driver to speed to the bidding venue while issuing a strict order in the work group: all members of the project team must put down all their work and put together a new version of the contingency plan within one hour.

The entire department was in a state of panic. Recently, Shen's had lost a series of major clients, and its cash flow was tight. Everyone knew that the company was already on the verge of bankruptcy, and if this key project failed, a large number of people would immediately face unemployment.

The job market is already sluggish, and nobody wants to lose their job, so they have no choice but to work overtime. But how can a formal plan that has been polished for half a month, with meticulous data and complete logic, be replicated in just one hour?

The final draft was poorly written, with logical inconsistencies, vague key data, and missing details in many places. It was a hastily written and perfunctory piece of work.

Shen Yifan stared at the printed emergency tender document, his brows furrowed in a knot. He felt utterly powerless, yet had no other choice but to carry this incomplete draft to the bidding site.

The grand bidding conference hall was filled with industry peers and client reviewers. Shen Yifan had just sat down in his seat when his peripheral vision suddenly froze, and his blood almost instantly turned to ice.

Amy, who should have been missing, was dressed in a smart business suit, her expression calm and composed. She was sitting in the team booth of the rival company, Tang's Group, whispering to the Tang's representative as a key project specialist. Their eyes met suddenly, but Amy showed no hesitation or guilt. She even gave him a faint, detached smile, as if silently announcing her long-planned victory.

Shen Yifan felt a surge of blood rushing through his chest, an overwhelming sense of betrayal nearly overwhelming his reason. His fingers clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. But with all the judges and industry leaders present, and the bidding process already underway, he had no room to confront them. He could only forcefully suppress his rage and sit down to wait for the proposal to be submitted for review.

The bids from each company were collected one by one and submitted to the professional review panel for closed-door verification and scoring. The air was so tense it was almost frozen, and Shen Yifan's gaze was fixed on Amy, who was diagonally in front of him, the entire time.

He finally pieced together the whole story: his gentleness, consideration, self-respect, and ability to balance public and private matters over the past six months were all carefully crafted performances.

The Tang family had long coveted the Shen family's business and specially sent Amy, a returnee from overseas with a meticulous mind, to infiltrate his side. Under the dual identity of girlfriend and chief assistant, she gradually extracted information about the company's structure, clients' weaknesses, project bottom prices, and core plans.

Previous attempts to sabotage the partnerships by defecting and bringing Lu Ze into the picture were futile. It wasn't a change in external connections; it was Amy who had access to top-secret information and accurately identified the weaknesses in the interests of all the partners, helping Tang's company poach customers one by one. Today, she deliberately went missing, emptied her residence, and canceled her phone number, all so that at the most critical moment of the bidding, she could deliver a fatal blow to Shen's company with the complete finalized proposal.

Not long after, the review panel completed its initial screening, and the host's voice rang out clearly throughout the room: "After the first round of review on the qualifications and completeness of the proposals, Tang's Group's project proposal has a complete logical structure, accurate pricing, and detailed implementation plan, and it best meets the client's needs; Shen's Group's proposal is missing key data and has many flaws in its feasibility study, putting it at a disadvantage for now."