" As they say: 'in the face of aversion, remain calm.' Whoever said that obviously never walked into a roomful of suited and booted, Machiavellian businessmen who are out for blood, like a shark-infested pond. I mean, I had my training in high society mean girls and backstabbing b*tches, but this time? This time there was so much more at stake than whether your name was being dragged through the mud or not. After all, you can wash the mud off and spritz it with some perfume, at voila, sorted. This time round, If we played the game wrong, well, that would be the end of that, what I had left in the world, would officially no longer be mine."
The indignation and the outrage were palpable, their voices made the glass of the conference room vibrate uncontrollably and Zhao Yingyue sat at the head of the table next to William Tang, the lawyer, and Elise, her new legal guardian, quietly, eyes lowered as an onslaught of insults were hurled her way. She sat demurely, her face a blank canvas as she watched the light bounce on and off of her painted nails.
"That Zhao Bohai must have gone mad, leaving the whole empire to some little girl!"
"I heard that she was the same one who disgraced herself at the Midsummer Debutante Ball of Felicity Zhang, it was quite the atrocity."
"So she's a socialite? Must be an airhead, like I said, there goes all of CEO Zhao's hard work!"
"I DEMAND TO SEE A LAWYER! Are you even a lawyer, this is absolute gibberish, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Yingyue made no movement at all apart from a slight inclination of her head. The man was then cordially escorted out by a burly member of the security team while his face steadily turned a more alarming shade of puce. The abrupt removal of one of their cohort didn't faze the crowd of raucous, outraged businessmen at all. In fact, this seemed if anything, to fan the flames of their anger and indignation into outright violent fury.
"Thomas! Did you not mistake her for an escort? How about we test that theory?" A tide of catcalls and hails of 'Yeah's swept the room.
"This is absurd, who would let a little girl take over this place? I bet she wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a shareholder and a stakeholder! Probably thinks that they are some new shade of lipstick or something equally ridiculous!"
At this Zhao Yingyue looked up from her nails and glared the man who had stood up to laugh openly at her. She took in a deep breath, in through her nose and out her mouth in a quick stream of air. Then she stood up so suddenly that the chair she was sitting on was sent barreling back and ricochetted off the glass and bouncing slightly on the thickly carpeted floor of the conference room.
"Your accusation is indeed interesting Mr..." Yingyue looked to Elise for a name. Elise gave the young man with too much product in his greasy hair and whispered a name into Yingyue's ear. "Mr. Holdenfield - Wu, I do not believe we have met before, it is however my pleasure. Unfortunately, I can confidently say that I know what both a shareholder and stakeholder are so however much you have placed on my failure will now go to the charity that Zhao Industries has chosen to support this year. I am sure that if you leave us an email, Miss Faulkner here will readily email you the details of the charity and how to reference the cheque."
Before she had the chance to finish, there was an almost inaudible swoosh sound which was then followed by an obnoxiously loud ping which then turned into the iconic start to 'Shake It Off' by Taylor Swift. Holdenfield-Wu fumbled for his phone as the rest of the men excluding the stoney-faced security detail guffawed. William Tang merely raised an eyebrow and Elise looked down with a hand partially hiding the top of her face as is she was embarrassed for Holdenfield - Wu. Needless to say, Holdenfield-Wu piped down considerably after that.
Adrian Lee, who sat with his arms folded, lent forward, his eyes trained on both Zhao Yingyue and her now legally provisional guardian, Elise Faulkner. They had an interesting history, he and Ms. Elise Faulkner. Highly professional with a few stolen moments here and there in empty board meeting rooms and unused corridors, nothing overtly illicit but still erring on the wrong side of company policy; the very essence of flirting with the enemy, quite literally. Although she was the epitome of efficient professionalism, her uncanny ability to predict what would be required of her and having it done hours and sometimes even days in advance made her a big name to watch in the world of PAs. Adrian had always wondered why she had never broken away from Zhao Hai Industries, as far as he knew, she had done summer internships and work experience there since she was in her teenage years however, having done some digging and learning that her intellectual capabilities were far beyond that required of a secretary, even one for such a huge corporation, this enigma of a woman puzzled Adrian Lee to no end. Now he knew why, she had been in the deepest of details with the devil himself, Zhao Bo Hai, and had known this was coming.
He leaned back once again in the kerfuffle, and he caught Yingyue's eye. At once the megawatt charisma lit up his face and he smiled and winked before turning back. So that's why. She's the figurehead and Elise Faulkner is the backer. There was a plan forming in his mind, one where he would gain an empire and expand his already great influence.
"How did you do that?" Yingyue whispers in Elise's ear, her lips barely moving as William Tang sat next to her speeding through the rest of the terms and conditions he had been tasked to read out for all to hear. "I'm pretty sure Holdenfield-Wu doesn't make a habit of listening to Taylor Swift, certainly not often enough to make it his ringtone. It was pretty funny though."
"We can laugh about his face that looked like a shocked hamster later. Never say never, Yingyue, after all, with technology nowadays, where there's a will, there's a way."