Deming Wei, greeted his daughter, Mingxi, and Driver Chung at the foyer.
"Xiaoli," he said giving her a hug. She returned it.
"Ba, how have you been?" Evelyn asked him.
"Bad girl, I why haven't heard from you in weeks. Did you forget about me?" Even though his voice was angry Evelyn knew he didn't really man it. It's true that she actually hasn't spoken to him in a few weeks but she did have a good reason.
"I'm sorry, Ba." She said. He must have heard something in her tone or saw her face.
"Xiaoli, what happened?" He asked. Evelyn shook her head.
"Let's wait until Ben and Chloe get here." She said. Evelyn really didn't want to keep telling her story more times than she had to.
"We're here," Ben said. He and Chloe walked down the stairs.
"Jie Jie!" Chloe ran to give her sister a hug. Evelyn laughed. She adored her younger siblings. Benjamin and Chloe Wei are twenty years old and couldn't be any different from each other, though they were twins. Ben was tall whereas Chloe was on the shorter side, something that Evelyn and Ben used to tease her endlessly about. Where Chloe was a bubbly social butterfly, Ben was much more reserved. Chloe was more traditional whereas Ben was a more Americanized. Ben had gone to study overseas like Evelyn. Chloe had chosen to stay in Beijing.
Ben and Evelyn lived together in the States when Evelyn attended college and he went for highschool. Ben followed his sisters footsteps, like her he had a mind and passion for business. Chloe's passion was designing. She liked drawing and coming up with fashionable clothing.
"Mei Mei," Evelyn returned before letting her little sister go.
"Hey sis," Ben greeted in true American style giving her a hug as well.
"Little brother," Evelyn said. His eyes narrowed. He hated when she used the word 'little' and she did it for just that reason. She smiled at him innocently like she wasn't aware of his pet peeve.
"Alright, Xiaoli you said there's something you want to talk about." Deming said.
"Yes, let's talk in your study," Evelyn replied. Driver Chung made his excuses and left the group. Mingxi looked at her boss as if asking if she wanted her there. Evelyn nodded her head and followed her father down the hall to the study.
His study was filled with espresso brown furniture and burgundy rugs. Evelyn, Chloe, and Mingxi made their way for the couch, with Evelyn inbetween them. Deming and Ben grabbed the chairs in front of his desk to the other side of the coffee table between them and the girls.
"Alright, start talking," Deming said as sat down. She took a deep breath. She decided to be direct knowing her family preferred the straightforwardness.
"Shawn and I are getting divorced." She said. Everyone reacted differently. Her father jumped out of the chair. Ben's eyebrow's furrowed in confusion and concern. Chloe gripped her sister's forearm. Mingxi sat quietly already hearing this the day before.
"Why," her father said. He appeared angry.
"Jie Jie," Chloe said. Ben didn't say anything but leaned forward with his hands clasped in front of him.
"He cheated. He's the one that suggested it yesterday." Evelyn was calm. She knew if she came here yesterday, she would not have been. She has had a day to process and its what she needed to appear strong.
"The bastard!" Her father shouted. Chloe looked mortified. She actually adored her brother-in-law. She saw her sister and Shawn together for six years now. They always seemed fine.
"Ba, sit down. There's still a lot more I have to say, please let me get through all of it before you react." Evelyn said. His hands tightened into fists but gently lowered himself back into his seat. Ben reached out to grip his father's upper arm in support.
"He fired me from my Vice President position." Evelyn said. She was angry at this. As Vice President of Cheng Global Corporation she was magnificent in her position. She was able to negotiate anything, and helped bring the company to greater heights. Something her father wasn't necessarily happy about. He still thought that she should have worked in the family business.
"Also, I sought out Uncle Wai to help me with my divorce. I didn't agree with the terms of the divorce so I'm going to fight it." Evelyn said.
"You sought out Wai and he didn't tell me," Deming exhausted a lot of energy into not yelling. He was furious that his best friend would keep something so big from him about his daughter.
"Don't be mad. I asked him not to. It was also not his story to tell." Evelyn said.
"Wait a second. What do you mean terms of the divorce. The prenup was pretty clear." Deming said looking at her.
"I'm contesting the number of his shares I'm entitled to," Evelyn said. Mingxi looked over at her boss. She didn't know this part.
"How so," Ben spoke up. Neither Chloe or Ben were privvy to the actually terms of the prenup. They never asked and Evelyn never told them. They all believed it was moot. Evelyn and Shawn were so in love that there was no way they were getting a divorce.
"Well, he says I'm only entitied to five percent because I never gave him a kid. I'm saying I'm entitled to half because he cheated." Evelyn said.
"But Xiaoli, you didn't give him a kid," Deming said remembering the terms of the prenup. He regretted saying it when he saw the expression on Evelyn's face.
"It said beared a child up to three months of age. The term 'bear' is ambigious." Evelyn said.
"But Jie Jie, even if you want to fight it on the basis of carrying the baby, you miscarried both times at two months." Chloe said.
"Chloe," Ben said sharply.
"Xiaoqing, how could you be so rude to your Jie Jie." Her father scolded. Evelyn held a hand up.
"It's fine." She said.
"I'm sorry, Jie Jie." Chloe said turning her sad eyes at her sister.
"You're right. But I actually miscarried a third time." She held a hand up before her father and brother could react.
"Two weeks ago," she looked at her father.
"That's why I haven't been in touch." Her father's eyes reflected instant regretful at his earlier jab. His heart had broken when his little girl lost her baby the past two times. He couldn't believe she went through it a third time. He didn't even know she was pregnant.
Due to the short pregnancy of the first two pregnancies she didn't want to tell anyone about the third one, including Shawn until it was safe.
"The baby was three months and a day. That's my basis for my claim." Evelyn said. No one said anything for a moment. Mingxi's eyes were wide. She wasn't aware of this but that would have explained her boss's moodiness for the past couple of months.
"This isn't something I want to talk about. It's being handled." Evelyn said. Her family members all looked like they wanted to say something but didn't. They knew this wasn't easy for her and they didn't want to make it harder. They knew if they expressed sadness she wouldn't like it. They clamped their months shut and didn't give their opinions.
"Then what are you going to do now?" Chloe asked. Evelyn took a deep breath.
"First thing I have to do is find a place to live. Then I'll worry about my career." Evelyn answered.
"Come live here, I miss you," Chloe blurted. Normally Evelyn never said no to her little sister's puppy dog eyes. This was one of the few times she did.
"Yes, that's an excellent idea," Deming said. Evelyn gave a small smile.
"Ba, Mei Mei, you know I love you. But I need my own space right now." Evelyn said. Ben still didn't say anything. He worked very hard to stay calm. His mind was filled with many murderous thoughts. He never liked Shawn, but he tried for his sister's sake. Now, he had no reason to.
"Mingxi looked up some places, right?" Evelyn looked over at her assistant to confirm. Mingxi nodded pulling out an iPad.
They spent the next half hour looking at the places that Mingxi picked out. Everyone but Mingxi gave their imput. When the top three places were chosen Mingxi went to make the calls to lock in the time to go look at them tomorrow.
The other's went to go wash up for dinner.