A week later.
"Hey! Bastard! Come here and clean this up." Senior Tu shouted at Stella.
The entire household didn't notice that Stella had recently been going missing. Normally Ryan would be punishing Stella upon her returning, but since the projects she was 'misplacing' were such massive possibilities. He had put Stella to the back of his mind.
Stella came out of her room with a dirty face, the Fude household servant clothing, and a conservative expression.
Stella went over Senior Tu and saw the mess...
It was a large bowl of food that had fallen over, if it was dropped by accident or not Stella couldn't tell.
"Yes, Senior Tu." Stella replied meekly as she rushed off to get some supplies. She came back and started to clean the rest up.
Senior Tu watched with a frown. 'How has he not been punished by the master yet? Has he just lost interest in him?' His face was contorting just thinking about it.
The Fude household had some traditional methods with their workers. So much so, that they were often not loyal to the family at all. Just wanting to get the money they earned from lavish bribes to help place people in the servants...
Senior Tu was an experienced servant. He accepted bribes to let in some new workers and they were now his people. But he was felt threatened. Since Stella used to be punished close to every day when she was at the mansion he was worried when Stella wasn't getting punished anymore...
"Bastard! You left a spot." Senior Tu 'advised' as some more food appeared on the floor behind Stella.
Stella's eyes flickered. "My apologies Senior Tu." She scrambled to go to wash up what she missed...
*Splat* Stella felt something hit her with force in her back. She fell on the floor, headfirst into the food on the floor...
Senior Tu smirked. "If you would hurry up that would be nice." He said with venom and satisfaction in his voice.
Stella looked back, there was one of Mou's men, he had taken cover to be under Senior Tu. They weren't informed about who the insider was, but all had a similar thought...
Stella stood up shaking. The 'pain' and 'humiliation' she was feeling made her shake.
Senior Tu was satisfied, he looked at the person who gave a nudge to Stella and decided to reward him later...
The other servants just watched. Stella cleaned up and then quickly went to the bathroom to clean herself up.
*Sigh* "How annoying." Stella mumbled as she washed away the food. Her tone of voice not sounding annoyed in any way...
Stella saw all the food was cleared away. Her makeup stayed on her face and she then looked out of the small window in the bathroom. 'The sun is high already.' She thought as she prepared herself for a show...
................
The Fude household glimmered in the dark night. The spring night wasn't cold but rather pleasant. As many men entered the Fude house with wide smiles...
Stella watched from a small hill. She had a view into the windows and could see the guests arriving, she was leaning against the tree with a lopsided smile on her face.
The guests inside all went straight to Ryan. Congratulating him on such a successful project which will be propelling the Fude business positively.
Father Ku sat on his chair with a smile... But his eyes were reading the entire room. His smile seemed to invite people into his trap...
"Haha! The idea was something I worked hard on for a long time. I kept it quiet so that it would be planned successfully." Ryan gloated as his smile widened.
Father Ku didn't stop smiling. Did his son think of him like an idiot? He knew his son-in-law's skills were average at best. He gave him the position of CEO because his daughter insisted on it. So he relented, but he never was impressed. His own son was much better than him... But the person who was behind the proposed projects was better...
"Father, is there something wrong?" Keira asked with slight worry. She saw from his face that he was brooding something.
*Sigh* "I was just wondering how you and Yuon were doing." He replied, he also knew about his daughter's business projects of her own.
Kiera was the only woman of the higher class from the big 3 families that also had a business. She held a designer chain and her work was liked by all high-class socialites in the country.
Kiera's smile turned soft. "We are just fine father. With Ryan coming with this project maybe you should be more willing to accept him? He truly worked hard. Yuon is working hard and preparing for the marriage." Kiera suggested.
Father Ku looked at his daughter's face. She looked relatively happy. He then looked at Ryan who was a fish in the water. He then turned to his grandson who was quietly talking to Zou. It wasn't an event for them so they stayed out of the way...
His expression shifted slightly. Becoming more relaxed. 'As long as they are happy.' He thought.
"Mmm, maybe it's just my age affecting me. It's passed my time now." He said in a fleeting voice.
Keira inwardly became exited, but never showed it. If her father would be moving away from the company and retiring then she would be the matriarch of the family. It would provide her some bonuses...
"Age is just a number father. Aren't you still working out every day? No matter how tired you feel you do more work than me." She humbly responded.
Father Ku stayed quiet, he knew what her words meant. Retiring would be the best way to live right now. The company was going forward and his son-in-law and grandson were competent enough...
A servant suddenly bumbled into the room. Ignoring all of the disapproving stares he went straight to Father Ku and kneeled.
"M-Master... The Master of the G-Guillard family has arrived." He stuttered.
The people in the hall all heard it. 'The master of the Guillard family? Cerim Guillard? He's the second master... M-Mou Guillard!?' The hall went deathly quiet immediately.