Fake dating my enemy, The playboy billionaire

JUN’S POV

After wrapping up the meeting, which felt more like a dramatic performance than anything productive, I head straight to Jianyu’s office, where everyone is already waiting for me. They’ve seen the entire spectacle unfold through the camera embedded in my tie pin—courtesy of Meimei, of course.

I step into the office, greeted by the smell of strawberries and the sound of giggles. For a moment, my heart skips a beat at the strawberry fragrance, thinking it was my girl, but no—it wasn’t her. Instead, I find my little princesses gobbling down strawberries from a huge box. Bear is there too, trying to snatch as many as he can for himself, their faces smeared with red juice, a dead giveaway that they’ve already eaten more than their fair share.

Honey, on the other hand, isn’t a fan of strawberries and is sitting on the couch, staring at them with judgmental eyes. Cute. Funny. But he’d do the same if given mangoes.

"Who brought that?" I ask.

"Aunty Yiren!" Yuyu runs to me, holding a half-eaten strawberry in her hand. I pop it in my mouth. "Mmm, yum."

"I know! They’re fresh from the farm," she says excitedly, running back to the table to keep Bear and Lan from finishing the rest.

Just then, my girl steps out of the lounge attached to Jianyu’s office. My grin stretches to the max.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Did you miss me? Did you want to surprise me? Can I get a kiss?

She shrugs. "I had a meeting nearby. After wrapping it up, I thought I’d drop these strawberries off to my favorite troublemakers. One of my employees brought five boxes of the first harvest as a gift."

I shove my hands into my pockets, resisting the urge to pull her in and kiss her. We stand there, eyes locked, this damn ban she’s imposed on us is going to be my undoing. It’s been three weeks since the ban, and I’m fucking dying.

"If you two lovebirds are done making heart eyes at each other, can we discuss?" Xion’s impatient voice interrupts, pulling me back to reality.

"Dick," I mutter under my breath.

"I’ll take my leave—"

"Join us." I say, cutting her off.

"This discussion is supposed to be between family—"

"You are family," Meimei chimes in, linking her arm with Yiren’s and dragging her to the table.

Jianyu, not wasting any time, gets straight to the point. "You lost the vote, Jun. Your suspicions were correct."

It’s a relief to have Meimei hack the voting system and manipulate it in my favor. No way I’m going to let Yifan take a single penny from my company. He could go fuck himself.

"But now we have the list of all the directors who are going to side with Yifan," Shishi says. "And by the looks of it, there will be a significant outflow of shares in the market."

Meimei checks the figures, her expression clouded with worry. "Are you sure they’ll sell?"

"They will. The rotten carrot Yifan’s dangling in front of them is painted with gold, drizzled with diamonds. He’s playing his cards, but the truth is, I’ve been losing contracts and deals over the last two years. Now, with everyone knowing about my plan to start something of my own, they don’t see growth here anymore. Of course, they’ll shift."

"We have two options," Meimei begins, her tone businesslike and sharp. "One, let this downfall in stock price happen and give it time to bounce back. But we will lose retail shareholders’ trust, and there will be a lot of valuation corrosion. The second, we buy those shares, but it will block a lot of our funds."

Jianyu and I exchange a glance, considering the options, while Xion, ever the opportunist, smiles like a cat that got the cream. Shishi leans back in his chair, clearly weighing the consequences.

"NO," we all say in unison. The response is so coordinated that it’s almost comical.

Yiren watches us intently, her expression unreadable. I can see the wheels turning in her head, and I’m curious what she thinks.

"What do you think?" I ask, genuinely interested in her take.

She rubs her lips thoughtfully, and I feel the sudden, unexpected stir of attraction.

"Combine the two options?" she suggests with confidence, her eyes meeting mine as if she’s ready to own this. "Let the price fall, let everyone think something’s happening, let the backlash happen... Just stay silent. And then you all sweep in and buy the stocks at a low price. This will stop the rumors and strengthen the trust of shareholders when they see the powerhouse people coming in with the backing."

I can’t help but admire her. She’s got that edge that turns my world upside down.

"Exactly what we were thinking." Xion says.

Meimei frowns at the suggestion, her eyes narrowing slightly. "But I’d rather invest in Jun’s new company."

I can’t stop myself from smiling. "Of course, but this is a short-term arrangement. Once everything is settled, you all can dilute your holdings at a steady pace or transfer to new investors. This is just to stabilize things in the meantime."

Xion runs his finger on the calculator, his grin growing wider, more sinister. He shows the numbers to the room, revealing the potential profit if everything goes well. It’s a tempting picture—an opportunity that’s too good to pass up.

But then, the one flaw in the plan dawns on me.

"But, what about Daryll? He needs to see new designs before he gets trapped by Yifan and sign any document." Yiren speaks up, saying exactly what’s been on my mind.

Daryll is the key to everything moving forward. If Yifan gets his hands on him before me, it could ruin everything we’ve been working for.

News! News!

My car design is finally ready! The latest test drive clocked the speed of 240 mph! Highest!

I just need to get the patents done, which needs to wait two more days due to the Christmas holiday.

"OH OH GUYS!"

We all looked at Meimei, who has her eyes glued to her phone’s screen.

Jianyu snatched her phone and checked, his lips pressing into a thin line.

"Daryll got a major heart attack. He is in ICU."

Ah, fuck.