Chapter 3

She pushed open the door to my office.

"Sis, your office is huge."

"Even bigger than Ferdinand's."

"He said business has been going really well for you lately."

"You must be making a fortune, huh?"

I set down my pen and looked up. "Linda, what is it you actually want to say?"

Her face stiffened for a second.

Then she smiled again.

"Sis, are you still holding a grudge?"

"That whole bug thing, I've completely forgotten about it."

"You shouldn't take it to heart either."

"Get out," I said coldly.

She had a thick skin.

The harder I pushed her out, the wider she smiled.

"Sis, the fact that you dislike me this much now, does that mean you're feeling threatened?"

"Afraid I'll steal your boyfriend?"

"I never expected a powerhouse woman like you would be scared of losing her man."

She spun in a slow circle where she stood, that handbag dangling from her arm.

"But don't worry, I only care about money. I've got no interest in men."

I said nothing, and she suddenly changed tack.

"Phyllis, mind if I take a look around your office?"

"Ferdinand said you've collected a lot of antiques."

"I'd love to see them."

She wandered around, cheerful as anything.

She stopped in front of the bookshelf and reached out to touch a blue-and-white porcelain vase.

"Don't touch that!"

I called out to stop her.

But it was already too late. There was a crash of shattering porcelain.

Her hand froze in midair.

Her eyes went red, all wounded innocence.

"I was only looking…"

"I didn't mean to break it. I'm sorry. How much was it worth?"

"Enough to buy your life."

She gave a weak little laugh. "Sis, you really know how to joke."

I wasn't joking.

"Pay for it now."

"Otherwise, I'm calling the police."

I picked up my phone.

I pressed three keys.

"911."

Linda's face changed.

"Sis, are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

She bit her lip.

Staring at the pile of shards on the floor.

"How much… I'll pay it."

"One price. Fifty million."

"What?!"

"A broken vase, worth fifty million?"

"Ming-dynasty imperial blue-and-white. You tell me."

Her face went white, then red.

Red, then white again.

"I'll pay!"

"I'm calling Ferdinand right now!"

She yanked out her phone.

Her hands were shaking hard.

She had to dial twice before it went through.

"Hello… Ferdinand…"

"I… I've made a mess of things…"

"I'm in Phyllis's office. I accidentally broke one of her antique vases…"

"She wants me to pay five million…"

"I don't have that kind of money…"

"Could you please…"

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end.

Then I heard Ferdinand's voice.

"Put her on."

The phone came to me.

Ferdinand sighed.

"Phyllis, don't stoop to her level."

"She's still young, clumsy. Fifty million is too much. Can't you make it cheaper?"

"Here we go again."

I gave a cold laugh.

"Ferdinand, can't you come up with a different excuse?"

"She's twenty-two. That's not young."

"My interns are younger than her, and none of them cause this much trouble."

"You tell me, what exactly do you see in her?"

"Pretty face? Sweet voice?"

"Or do you just like them stupid and cute?"

Ferdinand's voice dropped.

"Phyllis, watch your mouth."

"She's my little sister."

"And you're my girlfriend."

"Can't you cut her some slack, for my sake?"

"Haven't I cut enough slack already?"

I threw the question back, cold as ice.

"She pranked me with a bug and tanked an acquisition I'd spent two months building."

"That whole wall of designer bags of mine, she took every one."

"And now she comes here to provoke me and smashes an antique vase in my office."

"Ferdinand, don't you think the two of you have gone too far?"

Ferdinand was silent for a long time. In the end, he caved.

"Fifty million. I'll wire it to you."

"You let Linda go, and no more of this talk about calling the police."

The corner of my mouth curved. "Deal."

That day, I had my secretary see Linda out, all politeness.

The fifty million hit my account.

Ferdinand, now you don't even have your last bargaining chip or your last bit of cash left.

Two days later, to cheer Linda up, Ferdinand took her to an auction in the next city over.

The day they left.

I received an email.

From the board of directors.

Saying Ferdinand had made poor decisions lately.

Several major projects had suffered heavy losses.

Someone needed to step up and take responsibility.

I deleted the email.

And made a call.

"Those companies we acquired, how's the integration coming along?"

"Already done."

"Good."

"Next step, prepare for the shareholders' meeting."

"Set it for next month."

I hung up.

I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Looking down at the endless stream of traffic on the street below.

This city was vast.

Vast enough to hold countless dreams.

And small enough that it couldn't hold one man's greed.

A pity, really. Ferdinand had walked this road so long he'd forgotten why he started.

He didn't know that every time he took a bag from me.

He was cutting away his own flesh.

He didn't know that behind every one of those bags.

There was a share-transfer agreement, already signed with my name.

But soon.

He would know.