[Tavia’s Point of View]
I could feel the burning in my eyes for staring at a computer screen for so long, but yet it wasn’t enough to hold me back. I kept looking through files after files, and each one that I opened, it serves as a missing piece to the puzzle I’m still trying to put together. Raymond had driven me home and left. This was the only time I could freely look through these files that Damian Lau had sent me without anyone looking over my shoulder.
After about fifty different folders, I still couldn’t believe what I saw. These files were all filled with numbers, records, and stock trades. The problem is, they were all phases so that Damian Lau could get the ultimate goal. Though Bernice Liu had said clearly that Liu Banking Co. is holding 35% of both companies and 25% of Ron’s, the real holder of the shares were Damian Lau. What bothered me was how he got Bernice to do this for him so easily. Judging from the looks on Mr. and Mrs. Liu before at the dance, they were completely clueless of what was happening.
My phone rang, and at this very moment I could probably guess who called.
“Hello?” I answered.
“I’m pretty sure by now your curiosity has driven you crazy and you’ve at least opened the USB files haven’t you?” Damian asked me.
“Why did you do all of this?” I asked him, trying to show no interest in him.
He laughed quietly. “To prove to you I’m your uncle.” He replied, a simple answer yet was deep, very deep for me. “As Michael’s older brother, how do you think I felt when I found out the news? I of course wanted to take back what was rightfully ours…it was the right thing to do. Now to do so, I had to make a plan of course. Since I’m up against Dominic Lam, I couldn’t let him know who I am. Luckily he’s only seen me about once, so I doubt he’ll remember my face. All I had left to do was change my last name, and everything was ready.”
“Why did you have to buy up the shares though? How did you even do it anyways?”
“Why?” he asked me in reply. “Because I hate him…now’s not a good time to talk…I’ll contact you later. Oh by the way…Tavia…whenever you see Michelle again…Dominic’s wife…ask her if she knows anyone named Chung Yan.”
Before I even replied, he had already hung up. I leaned back in the chair, hopelessly confused. Damian Lau, or I guess if anything he said was really true, then he’d be Damian Yeung. I still don’t get his full intention. He appears in my life without a warning, telling me he’s my uncle, my only living family. Then he goes and buys up 35% of my best friend’s company, and my boyfriend’s company through someone considered as a scapegoat to him. What exactly does he want? If he wanted to take revenge on Dominic, then he didn’t have to pull Wu Enterprise, NG Enterprise, and Liu Banking Co. into the water. Another question aroused after speaking to this man. How well does he and Michelle know each other? Michelle is Raymond’s mom, Dominic’s wife, and somehow, I just have a feeling that her relationship with Damian isn’t as simple as business partners.
I sighed. I know I need some business insight, but asking Raymond is of course out of the picture. Damian had just hung up saying this isn’t a good time to talk so I can’t call him again. Nancy was my only other option left, but I doubt she’ll pick up. No matter, it was worth a try. I grabbed my phone and scrolled to her number on the address book. Pressed call, and I was waiting. But like I had predicted, there was no answer.
~*~
[Raymond’s Point of View]
No matter how hard I try, I just can’t get the thought out of my head. The entire night, I kept wondering why and how Bernice did it. Then after I’d temporarily settle on an explanation, I would wonder what I’d have to do next. I’d start to doubt myself more and more, and then I’m back at square one. The entire speech Bernice made was all just so unreal. I really could never imagine her to even know that much into business and Bernice isn’t the type of person that would do so.
The entire night I tossed and turned in my bed, unable to fall asleep with so much on my mind. I thought of calling Tavia, but then I didn’t want to wake her up, knowing she left her phone on ringer and not vibrate. Sighing, I jumped out of bed, fully awake as I checked the digital clock. It read 3:00 AM. It was the middle of the night, and everyone is probably fast asleep by now so whatever movement I make, I have to keep it as quiet as I possibly could. This could be hard, especially when I’m so frustrated, the first thing I want to do is throw something with all my strength.
As I passed by my father’s study, I could faintly hear the sounds of keys clicking and clacking together. He was still in there, awake, and typing. I wanted to walk in, I was about to, but something, some gut instinct told me I shouldn’t and instead I only stood there, waiting, listening. I know I should make up my mind and either just go in, or walk back into my room, but I couldn’t, I could barely move, and my curiosity was driving me crazy. I peeked through the small crack from the door, surprised when my mom suddenly stood up, pacing the room.
“…if what you’re saying is true…then what happened 20 years ago isn’t over yet.”
My father nodded, looking up from his monitor just slightly. “Unfortunately…we’re still going against Michael Yeung. His daughter definitely has his blood in her, thinking in a very similar concept to him.”
“She’s only a girl!” My mom reminded him, partly sighing. “She barely knows what life is…why are you even bothering? Can’t you just let bygones be bygones? Haven’t you caused them enough pain and suffering for one lifetime?”
I was confused, a bit nervous actually, worried that I might know the person they were talking about. I wanted to hear more about this story, this story with Michael Yeung and his family. I have so many questions in my mind that I want to ask, but I couldn’t. I can’t just walk in there, questioning my own parents and also yelling out to them that I was eavesdropping. I had to keep on listening.
My dad stood up and walked over to my mom, placing his hand on her shoulders. “We can’t…if we leave it be, our entire life will be at risk. We have to destroy the root no matter what the cause.” He sighed.
Silence. I was silent, scared, baffled, and speechless. Did I hear those words correctly? Did those words really just came out of my father’s mouth? It couldn’t have. I must’ve gotten sleepy and started to doze off, misinterpreting his words.
“All you care about is money. If I hadn’t made the mistake of helping you out in the beginning, I wouldn’t be trapped here now.” My mom retorted.
What was going on?! I couldn’t see her face, but I could no doubt tell that she was serious. What exactly is going on though?!
“Think about it Michelle. If we make one slip up, we could ruin our family’s future…think about Raymond. Think about it! I know…I messed up before…I caused the downfall of my best friend…but…we can’t let this one little fragment from the past destroy our future, Raymond’s future. We have to take the risk.”
I fell back. Once he mentioned me into the conversation, my mom was silent. What was going on?! I couldn’t take it, first the stocks lowering, then Bernice holding 35%, and now this?! What in the world is happening?! This all can’t be just some irony, it had to be planned, it just had to be. Or maybe I’m just getting too sleepy, not hearing my parent’s conversation right. Maybe they were just discussing their past together, how they went to school and would constantly pick a fight with each other. Yeah…maybe they were just reminiscing their past, and I am just too sleepy to hear them right.
~*~
[Ron’s Point of View]
There was this warm feeling, this warm, yet unknown feeling all around me. I don’t know how to explain this. This feeling, it was both inside and outside of me. It gave me warmth; it gave me energy, something that made me happy. I tried to open my eyes, to see what this feeling was from. I tried, but I couldn’t. This warm feeling is too good for me. I tried and tried to open my eyes, then I turned my entire body. Finally, I had control of my body again, but the feeling, the sweet sensation was still there.
I opened my eyes slowly. The soft light coming from the sun through my open window was a bit hard to adjust to at first, but after a little while I sat up. Beside me, Nancy had just turned over and was adjusting to the light just as I was. I looked down in disbelief. We were both under the same blanket, and all the memories of last night came rushing back into my mind. I didn’t panic though, I didn’t panic once I remembered that what we did last night, was all on my free will. Nancy was hopelessly drunk, and I could tell she didn’t really know what was happening last night by the look on her face now. Me on the other hand, I was wide awake last night. This was my entire fault.
“Did we…?” she asked, her voice soft, breathy and surprised.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. I don’t know how to answer her question.
She scratched her head as the memory began to become clearer. “Wha…what are you going to do now?” she asked.
“Me?” I laughed, a bit surprised she only thought of me. “Why not you?”
“I…am not engaged to one of the prettiest and richest person in Hong Kong.” She answered, clear and well heard.
“I’m sorry about last night.” I sighed. “I’m sorry about…Bernice buying up your shares…”
“Why are you apologizing for what she did?” Nancy asked me. I could see a small, bittersweet smile on her face. I wanted so badly to hug her, but, I just don’t know.
“Because…” I began, trying to come up with something. “Because…”
“Because she’s your fiancée?” she asked.
“She’s my fiancée…but I feel…guilty. I know because of my indecisiveness I’ve caused you a lot of troubles…but…”
“But what? What else can you do at this point in time?”
I knew it was a rhetorical question. Without waiting for an answer, Nancy reached over and grabbed my bath towel hanging on the back of my massage chair. She wrapped it around her body and stood up. That was when I noticed Nancy didn’t have any make-up on. All her make-up has worn off. This was the first in a very long time where I look at Nancy as we did just before I left. She was still the same Nancy Wu that I fell desperately in love with, no matter how much we thought we both changed, we’re both still the same. It was just we’ve failed to look through this façade that we’ve both put up. The truth is, we’re both still in love with each other.
“Well…what are you going to do now?” I asked her.
“This is just a one night stand…from now on…just like before…we have nothing to do with each other…” she sighed.
I was shocked. Putting on my shorts quickly, I stood up and took her hand. “I’m not that type of guy Nancy.” I reminded her, thinking we’ve both forgotten some things after so long. “I can’t just sleep with you…and just act like nothing happened!”
“You’re engaged!” she sighed, frustrated. “What else can you do about it?! It’s not the same anymore! We’re not just kids anymore…”
I pulled her into my arms. I held her tightly, I pulled her into my arms. I could feel she was starting to cry, and it hurts to see her this way. It hurts even more to know that I did this to Nancy, someone I truly love and know that there’s nothing I could do about it.
“I’m sorry.” We both whispered.
~*~
[Raymond’s Point of View]
We were both quiet. The only sound was the soft background music playing in the café. I stirred my coffee gently, placing the silver spoon on the side of the cup. I would take a sip right now, but now is just not the mood. I sat back, my eyes looking, waiting on the girl sitting in front of me as she stared blankly at her own cup of coffee.
“Why did you do it?” I asked her. I could tell my tone was a bit too cold, but how should I ask the question other than this?
“I didn’t want to do this Raymond.” Bernice replied, looking up and sitting back in her chair.
“If you didn’t want to then why did you?” I asked again. “You know what this will do. I know you know a lot about stocks, shares and businesses. You know exactly what will happen if you did this. Your parents’ bank would be interfering with our business, taking up our shares, and just slowly putting our companies in a financial crisis!”
“I’m sorry…but I had to do it.” She spoke, standing up and taking her bag. “I can’t tell you why…but if I were you…I’d pay more attention to the people you’re close to.”
I dropped back in the chair, defeated. I watched as she left, my eyes then shifting to the two cups of coffee, steam still rising but we’re already done with them. I didn’t need Bernice to remind me I have to watch the people close to me. I still need to dig deeper into my parent’s conversation. What were they talking about?
So many things were going on. I couldn’t really pick which one to start looking into first. They all troubled me, and they were all important. Everything was such a blur, and it was all too confusing. I don’t know what to do.
“How long have you been waiting?”
The strange familiarity of the voice caught my attention. I turned to the direction where I heard it. I was surprised to see her hear, but the other thing I was surprised about was that she wasn’t here to meet me. Actually, this morning I didn’t even get the chance to see her. We were both too busy and worked up from last night, I didn’t even call her. I sat quietly, watching my own girlfriend in secret as she sat down at a coffee table, smiling timidly at the man across from her. I wasn’t really sure why she was here, but my trust in her is strong and I was pretty sure if I wanted to know why, I can just ask her. Yet, I can’t seem to make myself leave. Instead I sat there, listening to them talk.
“Tavia…you made it.” The man smiled, and I instantly recognized his voice.
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