"Daddy!! Daddy!!!", a loud voice reached Old Man Lu from a distance. The voice belonged to the most precious one in his life, his daughter. After his wife had died in the delivery room twenty nine years ago, he had vowed to dedicate his life to taking care of her and as such had spoilt her rotten. From how eager she sounded, he was certain that whatever she wanted had to do with him parting away with money. This was however not a problem for him because he was not one of the four richest men in Atlanta for nothing.
"Daddy!", his daughter yelled again as she raced from her bedroom, down the stairs and into the arms of her father in the study. "What is it, sugar plum?" "Guess what just came up for sale at The Plaza?" "What dear, you know your old man is terrible at it", he played along. "The Starfire". "Really?" This old man was genuinely surprised, 'Starfire' was the most sought after jewel in the world until it had mysteriously disappeared. Many people had searched for it to no avail and it was now here? In a shop? Maybe? Yes, he was sure of that. "Honey, I don't think it's the real Starfire, besides it should be at an auction or something not The Plaza". His daughter simply rolled her eyes and replied that The Plaza wouldn't dare sell fake products let alone sell a fake Starfire. That would be incurring the wrath of the entire city of Atlanta.
Old Man Lu nodded in agreement with the point his daughter had raised. "Fine then, go ahead and buy it". His daughter squealed with delight and headed over to her bedroom to prepare for the trip. Old Man Lu silently stroke his beard and let the train of his thought process choot on. With the Starfire belonging to his daughter, it would elevate their status even higher, especially at the welcome party of the heir of MACE. Then he would also be able to enter a business deal with MACE. MACE was the most important and powerful company in the entire region, it was followed closely by HLM, which belonged to Hannibal Kane, the richest man in the country and the fiancé of his daughter. However, this relationship could not persuade that brat to engage in a business deal with him without the strict formalities of his company policies.
His daughter bade him goodbye and drove off to get her gem. During the ride, she imagined the jewel fashioned into a necklace that would adorn her neck as she walked elegantly beside Hannibal with linked arms to the party. She would be the limelight of the show, with eyes on her, she would bask in glory. The media would cover her and only her and as such people would attach reverence to her when approaching, even Hannibal would pay attention to her. One of the perks of being Hannibal's woman was that products were presented to her before hitting the shelves, and that was what had happened to the Starfire. Besides, no one dared to step on her toes because she was as ruthless as she was spoilt. Upon arrival, she regally stepped out of the vehicle and fixed her sunglasses. She smirked at the attention she attracted and catwalked into the shop. She ignored the greetings of the attendants and went straight to the point. "Where is the Starfire?", she asked authoritatively. As the attendants broke out in sweat and shivered with fear, a brave one replied, "It's been sold, ma'am". "To whom?", she asked in disbelief. The attendant pointed out a woman and child walking away towards the next aisle.
"What!!! Impossible!!!", she yelled out attracting a lot of attention. Her world began to crumble, all she heard was the shattering of glass, her fragile fantasies were breaking down and shattering to pieces. As her heartbeat increased, her anger rose. No. Who was this woman? She had the audacity to steal her gem. To steal her limelight. She turned and marched over to them.
"Isn't that Tai Lu?, whispered one woman to another." Yes, she's the one. Didn't you here? Those women over there bought something she wanted". "So they've incurred her wrath",chipped in another. One thing they were certain of was that Tai would not let go of them, even after this incident. They only prayed for them. "Hey, you there!!", yelled the angry Tai to the women, who turned, "Are you talking to us?"The attendant paled. What a grave mistake she had committed. When did the purchasers leave the shop? She immediately rushed over to Tai and whispered to her that they were not the ones. Tai had never felt so shamed before and to vent her anger and frustration, she landed a hefty slap on the attendant's cheek, she silently whimpered in pain. With shattered hopes and fantasies and tears in her eyes, she left the shop and headed for home. She would track them down like dogs and let them pay for this humiliation.
In the opposite tailoring shop, Mia, Alexa and Khalifa had been attracted to the ruckus and wondered what had happened when they left. They shook their heads and continued shopping. Alexa was surprised that her new Madame treated her as an equal and not a subordinate. She even made preparations for her too, as well as other key staff of the company. What surprised her most throughout the trip was the little girl's suggestion for her mother's dress, and her mother's compliance.