13: The final kindness.
Arriving at the company entrance, she got out of the car with practiced ease, her steps as steady as ever, calm as if nothing had happened.
Because her thoughts had already flown to another place—her mother.
Thinking of her mother, her usually sharp and calm eyes suddenly dimmed.
If she owed anyone in this life, besides Bai Cai, it was her mother and Older Brothers.
When her parents divorced, she could have stayed with her mother, but she believed Bai Qingshi's sweet words. At only five years old, she had a big fight with her mother and turned to him.
She had no idea it was merely exploitation.
Bai Qingshi took her back only to use her as a bargaining chip, leveraging her looks and fame for commercial gain and marriage value.
She once naively believed she was loved, innocently turning her head away, no longer looking at the backs of her mother and Older Brother.
It wasn't until later, when she was searching far and wide for Bai Cai's whereabouts, that she accidentally discovered—
Her mother and two Older Brothers had been searching for her nationwide!
They hadn't given up on her, never.
Unfortunately, at that time, she was already trapped in the Bai family, having lost the chance to turn back.
Her mother was swept away by towering waves in a sudden tsunami, her remains never recovered; her Older Brothers also perished one after another in successive zombie waves, simply because they hadn't awakened any abilities and ultimately became prey.
In her previous life, she knew nothing, and by the time she did, it was too late.
In this life, she swore she would never let them die again.
Even if this time, it was her turn to protect them.
Bai Wanning walked with steady steps towards the familiar elevator.
Her fingertip lightly pressed the destination floor, but her gaze habitually scanned her surroundings.
Narrow, enclosed, suffocating.
Bai Wanning glanced at the space at her feet and shook her head slightly.
"Ding," the elevator doors slowly opened. She stepped in, walked through the dimly lit corridor, and entered the elegantly decorated VIP lounge.
This was one of the first places to fall into a zombie nest in her previous life.
She coldly surveyed the layout of the surroundings, a conclusion already forming in her mind.
There were no escape routes; the entire floor had only this one old elevator.
Too many assistants, even more celebrities, frequenting it daily. Once the disaster struck, let alone escaping, there might not even be standing room.
Fire escape? Ha, she had already investigated; that emergency door led to a dead end and was never truly open.
Want to live? Harder than ascending to heaven.
Bai Wanning lowered her gaze, letting out a cold laugh.
But what did that have to do with her?
She wasn't a saint; in this life, she would only protect the people she cared about.
Her thoughts were as calm as water as she quickly exited the elevator, walked through the corridor, and headed straight for the reception room. A secretary with exquisite makeup was sitting at the front desk. Seeing her, her eyes visibly stiffened.
"I need to see CEO Lu, it's urgent," Bai Wanning said calmly, as if it were a casual remark.
The secretary looked up, staring at her, her eyes full of undisguised wariness and disdain, cutting like a blade.
Who in the company didn't know? Bai Wanning had once earned CEO Lu a huge box office, but when she fell into crisis, she was kicked aside by this "CEO Lu," who refused to help even a little.
Lu Gui was eager to seize the opportunity to push her into the mud and promote the new starlet the company had signed.
The secretary almost immediately guessed her intention.
"Miss Bai, I'm sorry." The secretary suppressed her emotions, forcing a smile. "You don't have an appointment. According to company regulations, guests without appointments cannot see CEO Lu. If you need to, you can leave your contact information, and we will arrange a time..."
Before she finished speaking, Bai Wanning also smiled, a sweet, soft smile, like a carefree little girl.
She lowered her head slightly, her tone gentle, yet laced with a sharp edge.
"Then you go ask CEO Lu if he wants to go down the same path as my father?"
As soon as these words left her mouth, the front desk secretary's face instantly went pale.
She froze in place, almost forgetting to breathe.
Has this woman gone mad? She even sent her own father to jail, and now she dares to threaten the company's CEO!?
The secretary's mind was a mess, but her hand unconsciously dialed the internal line.
Three seconds later, as if she had received some imperial decree, she cautiously looked up at Bai Wanning.
"Miss Bai, CEO Lu... is willing to see you. Please follow me."
Hearing this, Bai Wanning's smile softened a bit.
She glanced at the woman at the front desk, her tone gentle but with an unchallengeable firmness: "If I were you, I would find a way to fix the problem with this security door."
As for whether the other party would heed her words, Bai Wanning didn't care at all.
As an outsider who had long since severed ties with this company, all she could do was offer a casual reminder.
Whether they listened or not was their choice.
The reason she was willing to say this was simply because, although her heart had grown cold, the humanity within her had not yet been extinguished.
In her previous life, during those days of rushing around, frantically searching for her son, she encountered many people who wanted to take advantage of her misfortune and kick her while she was down, but there were also many who were willing to extend a hand when she was most desperate.
It was these moments of warmth that allowed her to retain a shred of goodwill towards this world. Now, with the Apocalypse approaching, Bai Wanning was powerless to stop it and unable to save everyone. All she could do was advise everyone to leave themselves a way out.
As her thoughts drifted, Bai Wanning had already reached Lu Gui's office door.
She raised her hand and gently knocked on the door.
"Come in." A suppressed growl came from inside, tinged with suppressed anger and impatience.