"Leo, could you please answer the door." Charmaine asked him when she heard someone knocking. Charmaine has just finished her shower and she wasn't wearing anything but a towel yet so Leo obliged and went to get the door for her. A few seconds later, Leo came back carrying new sets of clothes.
"Great. The clothes arrived already. Go have a shower so we can go about our day!" she suggested.
Without saying anything, Leo put the clothes down on the bed and removed his robe in front of Charmaine. The woman's heart skipped a bit as Leo's body was exposed with nothing to hide. "Why are you taking off your clothes!" she said as her face turned pink. She didn't want to look but.... well, no... in fact, she does.
"What? I'm going to shower of course." he teased her before walking towards the bathroom.
Charmaine watched him walk away, then shook her head. What a strange man! Her body still aches a bit so it's understandable that she'll be flustered, but he still have the nerve to make fun of her?
Charmaine sighed and went to dry her hair. She put on her new clothes and put on some make up. She was almost ready when suddenly, Charmaine received a message on her phone. It was from one of the waiting staff. It contained a link and when she clicked it, the link led her to a video on an online flatform.
Charmaine pressed the home button of her phone, locked it and returned it to her purse. She then grabbed the TV remote from a table and turned on the television in their suite. Just as she expected, it was there. It was all over the news. She was watching attentively when she felt someone sit beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned on him and rested her head on his shoulders.
This was almost exactly how it was before. She was watching the news while sitting on the sofa at home when suddenly, she saw the hottest headline during that time. She saw Chanel Aikens in bed with her husband, both of them naked as reporters flocked around them to take clear photographs. 'President Ji of Ji Group having an affair with Prime minister's daughter, Chanel Aikens.' was the news title...
Right at that moment, while watching the news inside a hotel suite, Charmaine was once again watching the hottest scandal of the year. The news aired a video of a naked Chanel Aikens rolling in bed with a man as media reporters gathered around them for fresh scoops. This felt familiar but also different because in the present, Charmaine wasn't seeing her husband in the news. Instead, he was sitting beside her as they watched the show together. It was hard to explain but she felt very overwhelmed by this outcome. She became so emotional that she teared up while watching the morning news.
"You're not in the news." she mumbled as she grabbed on his robe and buried her face on his chest.
For a while, Leo found her comment silly, but when he realised what happened last night, he finally understood what she meant. It could have been him. It could have been him in the news that morning if it wasn't for Charmaine's interference.
***
"Jun, with all this evidence in front of us, I'm removing you from your position right this instance." Ji Chen declared.
That was the scene Leo Ji witnessed when he was about to enter the conference room. Leo sighed as he watched his grandfather took on his role. Anyway, he was also at fault because he came late. So many things happened and the thing about the board meeting almost slipped his mind. Seeing that Jun Ji wasn't taking his grandfather's words seriously, he wondered if he should enter and take over on the expulsion?
"Those documents are fake. Where did you even get them grandpa!" Jun argued.
"No Jun. These are real and so are the crimes you committed. You stole from your own family; you framed your own brother. I will not tolerate this anymore." Ji Chen declared. "I'm going to give you a choice. Return all the shares you took from your brother or go to jail for embezzlement."
Jun Ji laughed manically as he sat across Ji Chen in the meeting room. "Ridiculous. All of these are mine. Why do I have to return something I own."
"Wrong." the old man replied. "All that you have is mine. I decide whether I give it to you or I take it from you. You went against your brother and that's against our Ji family rules. You made a mistake so surrender your position and be ready to receive your punishment." Ji Chen explained.
"And what punishment? The same one you gave to your son: my dad?" Jun Ji argued while shaking his head. "You're unreasonable."
"And you are?" Ji Chen raised his voice. "I'm being lenient to you because you're Joel's son. When Leo was accused of embezzlement before, didn't I also removed him from his post? But now that it's proven that he was innocent and in fact you're the one who took all those missing funds, why would you think I'll be biased and let you stay?"
Jun Ji fell silent. The old man will surely not let him go unpunished, but he also didn't want to give Leo Ji his shares. He only have those twenty percent that his father left for him. Without it, what would be left of him?
"Grandpa, let him have it." Leo Ji announced as he entered the room. Ji Chen glared at his grandson who came pretty late. Didn't he mention yesterday that he should come early?
"Those shares were left for both of you. You should have received ten percent each if Jun didn't deceive your father." the old man protested.
Leo Ji took a seat among the share holders and throw a glance at Jun Ji. "It's alright to give it to him. It's my gift for him as the new head of the Ji family." he stated with a smirk.
Both Ji Chen and Jun Ji were startled. The old man stared at the proud young man. When did he appoint him as the new family head?
Sensing his gaze, Leo turned to his grandpa and threw a large brown envelope on the table. "As stated, when the marriage between the Song and the Ji was fulfilled, the chosen successor will inherit all your shares. When the successor successfully produced an offspring, he will automatically be appointed as the new family head. I already fulfilled all your requirements.... not that it matter so much." Leo Ji boasted in front of Jun.
Ji Chen checked the documents in front of him and he was startled. A marriage certificate? The cunning wolf married little Minmin without his knowledge? And moreover, there was a DNA paternity report included... No... There's not just one, but three tests reports, one of which is the most baffling. Was Leo trying to give him a heart attack? These revelations are not good for his heart.
Jun Ji chuckled. "How bold. The rules stated that you must have a child with Charmaine. You're not even Luke's father and he is Jienna's child." he said mockingly.
Leo Ji didn't answer. He just waited for Ji Chen to finish inspecting the documents. When he lifted his head, he nodded and stood up. "The documents are genuine. From today onwards, I'm appointing Leo Ji as the new head of the Ji family and the Ji Group." the old man declared.
Jun Ji was enraged. No! They were colluding with each other to destroy him! How could the old man bend his own rules just because Leo was his favorite grandson?