It was Friday morning.
Two weeks had passed.
Reina had been anxiously struggling to contact the Yang Conglomerate Board of Directors since the Saturday of the Li nuptials.
Judging from the piles of papers and folders on top of her desk and even on the floor, an overflowing ashtray, and a trash bin full from the paper coffee cups and take out containers, Reina had been frenziedly working day and night.
It was quite typical for Reina to work her butt off and thrive on stress. However, this week had been extremely crucial.
It was not the time for her to make her office a little less cluttered nor is it a time for her to fix herself and indulge in her vanity..
She was in disarray, in mind and body. Tendrils of hair had come loose from her practical bun and her business suit was crumpled.
Two weeks was too short a time to orchestrate her counterattack.
She regretted that night with Sherwin Xu. Hell! It seemed like every night with that man was a big mistake!
As Sherwin left that fateful room at the newlywed’s home, Reina hastily put her clothes on and departed after scribbling a note for Matt and Chrissie.
She did not waste time that Saturday and went straight to her father’s house.
The sun was not up yet. The roads were dark.
Reina shivered as she drove on a breakneck speed back to Taipei.
She took a turn and found herself driving through the iron gates of the Yang’s sprawling estate.
She killed her engine and purposely strode to the main door.
She banged the carved oak loudly.
Their old and robust butler, a very sleepy Butler Chong, greeted her.
“Where’s Dad?” she brusquely asked the old man but did not wait for his answer. “He hasn’t been answering the phone. I know he’s here.”
“Aah, Miss Reina, I don’t think you should…” Butler Chong tried to tell her mistress.
Reina was quick to move and the butler had no choice but to run after her.
She hurriedly ascended the steps, her brows knitted into a frown, and headed to her father’s room only to find it shut.
She stopped and tilted her head to the butler.
“Chong?” Reina opened her palm, motioning for the keys.
“Miss, I…” Butler Chong tried to protest.
“Chong…” repeated Reina in a stern voice.
The old butler hesitated and did not hand the keys. But after seeing the expression on Reina’s face, he thought better of it, bowed, and left.
Reina inserted the key and twisted it to open the door, revealing a dimly lit room. She could faintly see some movements on the bed. She did not have to look closely to know what went under the sheets. Even a blind man can recognize the activity going on basing from the moans and groans elicited by the couple.
Reina rolled her eyes and entered the room quietly.
“Dad, do you know that Sherwin Xu already owns 25% of YC and acquiring somewhere around 17% more?” She blurted quite loudly. Her hands were on her waist with her right foot forward, tapping her toes.
“Reina!” Drei’s voice was a mixture of reprimand and surprise as he emerged from underneath the sheets.
“Sorry to disturb you but this is way too important to put off…” she dared not continue her sentence as her eyes fell on the scantily clad woman beside her father, trying to make herself look decent.
“Connie, dear, would you excuse us?” Reina asked politely. She doesn’t hate Connie but that doesn’t mean she likes her, too.
Connie wrapped herself in her dressing robe she gathered from the floor and exited the room.
“Well?!” Reina was impatient to hear what her father had to say.
Drei Yang took his sweet time answering his daughter.
He sat up and leaned on the headboard and took a cig, lit it, and inhaled deeply, “I know that he owns some of our company…”
“And you did not tell me?!” Reina was furious that she forcefully kicked a chair toward a table, knocking a lamp shade and bottles of expensive essential oils, causing some to spill and fill the air.
“Reina, he’s just one of our stockholders. You never cared about who owns shares of our stocks…” Drei replied, and not at all perturbed by her daughter’s sudden interest in stocks.
“But that’s 25%!” Reina cried out, exasperation in her voice. “Has it escaped your mind that he’s a Lin?”
She leaned on the bed to meet her father’s gaze, her hands clutching the sheets so hard that her knuckles turned white.
“I suggest you go see a doctor. You’re showing signs of senility,” Reina spoke in a slow manner, making sure every word was dripping with sarcasm.
“Calm down, Reina. Calm down,” Drei leisurely puffed from his cig. There was not a single trace of tension in his graceful form.
This annoyed Reina all the more. She stood up and clenched and unclenched her fists on her sides.
“Calm down? You’re asking me to calm down?!” she asked in bewilderment.
She screamed at him with her hands waving in the air. Her eyes were fiery mad as they bore through him.
“He’s threatening our financial position and you’re asking me to just breathe easy and smile about the whole fucking damn thing?!?!?!”
“Reina, listen,” Drei’s voice was cold and low, a contrast to her daughter’s high pitched scream.
“Yes, I’m damn fucking calm about it because having him, as a shareholder, will boost investors’ confidence in us. Infamous he may be, but Sherwin Xu is the toast of the Asian financial district,” he explained in a logical manner.
Drei continued, “As for him being a Lin, he will never be able to dictate YC. May I remind you of our combined share of 35 plus the Yan’s 10%?”
“There is no need to worry,” he looked damned please with himself.
“I sure do hope so, Dad,” Reina grumbled and went out of the room.
Reina did not feel as confident as her father was.
She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, an indication that something was not quite right.
“Damn! I have a feeling that Sherwin has more tricks up his sleeve… So much more than what he’d let on,” she thought uneasily.
She remembered her mom and called her to have lunch the next day, Sunday.
Mother and daughter were having lunch at an Italian caf, Messe. The two beautiful and sophisticated women drew attention to themselves in their smart Escada suits and Rochas eyewear.
“Okay, Raindrop, what’s bothering you? You have your brows furrowed since you got here,” Reina’s behavior did not escape her mother’s watchful eyes.
Reina’s head was bowed as she continued to poke her food with her…