"Ma'am," Madeline Ma said, knocking on the door. Lily Ling glanced up and gestured for her secretary to enter her office.
"What is it, Madeline?"
"We have done as you ordered, ma'am," Madeline replied, her posture rigid and her tone composed. "We bought out Pang Catering and fired their CEO, Peter Pang."
"He deserves it," Lily muttered under her breath. Madeline couldn't help but smile at the vehemence of her tone.
"That's right. But that's not all. We also found evidence of him raping and blackmailing at least eighteen ladies and submitted all of that to the police. That was also how we managed to convince the board to kick him out."
"Excellent." Lily was also smiling. "This way, there will be no innocent girls falling victim to his predations again."
"I apologize, ma'am." Madeline lowered her head. "We should have watched over you more closely. Posted bodyguards…"
"No, it's not your fault." Lily raised a hand to cut off her loyal secretary. "Even I didn't anticipate that my very own sister would betray me. Charles…well, when he dumped me, I figured that he wasn't a nice person, but to think that Linda would work together with him to ruin me…"
"We will provide you more protection, ma'am."
"I appreciate that." Lily nodded her thanks. "I will also be more careful in future."
She then switched off her computer and rose from her seat. Cocking her head from side to side to ease the stiff muscles in her neck, she entwined her fingers and stretched her arms.
"All right, let's knock off for the day. Tell all our employees to go home. That includes you, I don't want to see you in the office after fifteen minutes. Make sure you enjoy your weekend."
Madeline couldn't suppress a grin. "Thank you, ma'am. I will."
She then spun sharply and marched out of the door, dismissing the other employees still in the office. Lily watched over her protectively, then began to tidy up her office. Within minutes, she was prepared to leave.
"Let's go together," she told her employees, who were in the midst of packing up. They returned her smile and nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you, ma'am!"
"Are you heading home, ma'am?" Madeline asked, stepping alongside Lily as they stepped into the elevator along with the other employees of Ling Conglomerate. Lily sighed.
"My parents want to see me tonight, so I will be going to their house and staying over there for the weekend instead."
"Understood. Take care of yourself, ma'am. We'll have the guards ready if necessary."
Lily chuckled wryly to herself. Normally she would dismiss Madeline's doubts – this was, after all, her parents' house. There was no place with better security. However, after what had happened with Linda, she couldn't be sure.
Her half-sister, Linda, and her stepmother, Wendy Lim, would be there. Who knew what that venomous pair of mother-daughter would do?
Lily didn't know what they were scheming, but she couldn't refuse an invitation from her father. Throughout the last three decades, he was the one person who cared for her, who raised her through a turbulent storm of misfortune. He was one of the few who would stand on her side, often going against her stepmother and his younger daughter just for her.
And he had so much faith in her abilities that he appointed her as the heiress…the next person in line to succeed Leon Ling as the next CEO of Ling Conglomerate.
"Dad, I'm here."
Before she knew it, Lily was standing outside the door. Pushing it in, she called out to her father, who approached her with a broad smile.
"Lily! You've finally come! It's been a while!"
He wrapped her in a warm hug and patted her back. Leading her into the hall, he bade her to sit down on the luxurious couch. At a nod from him, a couple of maids left and returned with a trolley of red tea. They placed the steaming cups on the huge mahogany table between Lily and her father.
"Oh? Lily has come back to visit too?"
Wendy Lim descended the stairs, accompanied by Linda. The younger Ling sister shot Lily a glare, but the elder sister ignored her. Leon Ling frowned when he caught sight of Linda's expression.
"Why are you looking at your sister like that, Linda?"
"Ah! Nothing! Sorry!"
"I apologize dear. Linda must be tired." Wendy nudged her daughter, trying to suppress her annoyance. Linda nodded swiftly, getting the hint.
"Sorry, Sister."
"Not at all. No harm done."
Wendy took her seat beside Leon and accepted a cup of tea from one of the maids. She smiled sweetly, though Lily couldn't help but shudder at the pretentious expression.
"Your father called you back today to ask you about your plans for the future."
"My plans for the future?" Lily repeated, puzzled. "Do you mean the development of the Ling Huo Estate? We have already arranged for a team of architects from Japan to design the building."
"No, not that." Leon cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "I mean marriage."
"I have no plans for that at the moment. You know how busy I am." Lily sighed wearily, already regretting her decision to visit her father and stepmother. "I have just recently acquired Pang Catering and am in the process of transforming them into a restaurant franchise."
"Pang Catering…?" Linda stammered. Both Leon and Wendy turned to stare at her.
"Why? What's the matter, darling?" Wendy asked. Linda shook her head.
"No…no. nothing."
Her parents studied hr for a moment, but when she said nothing, they returned their attention to Lily. Leon sighed.
"I'm sorry for pressuring you about this, Lily, but you're already thirty years old. You're not getting any younger. We are…worried."
"You don't have to worry," Lily assured him.
"Linda has already gotten married. It's just you now." Wendy looked as if she was pleading. Lily's lip curled. She couldn't believe that her stepmother was shameless enough to mention that. After all, Linda was the one who stole her former fiancé, Charles, from her.
"That's fine."
"But who will take care of you when I'm gone?" Leon asked worriedly. "I don't know how much longer I will be in this world. I can't pass on, not knowing whether you'll end up all alone after I leave."
"Nonsense. You're still healthy, Dad. You'll definitely live for a few more decades." Lily was uncomfortable when she heard that. "Also, I don't need anyone to take care of me. I can take care of myself just fine."
"All women need a man to take care of them." Wendy frowned. Lily met her gaze evenly.
"Mom, this is already the twenty-second century. Such outdated thinking has gone out of fashion long ago. Most women are independent nowadays."
"Even so, we are hoping to see our grandchildren soon." Wendy glanced at Leon. "Your father's dream is to play with his grandchildren, you know?"
"I'm sure Charles and Linda will be able to provide on that," Lily replied, trying not to sound too caustic.
Her father sighed. He reached for a pile of documents beside him and placed them on the table, sliding them over to her.
"At least consider it. That's all I ask."
Lily sighed and consented for now. She looked through the files, which sported photographs of handsome men in suits. She grimaced when she saw their faces and names.
Tyson Tan, who was known as the tyrannical CEO. Benjamin Bo, who had earned the title the Bossy CEO. Isaac Bing, who had a reputation for being an icy-hearted CEO. Justin Han, who was a rich playboy. Xavier Xiao, who was cheerful, popular and outgoing, but also known for breaking the hearts of many women. All of them shared a single commonality.
They were rich and handsome, kings of their own business empires.
"How come all the candidates for marriage that you suggested for me are CEOs?" Lily asked, bemused. Leon shrugged.
"Given your status and wealth, do you think any regular guy will dare marry you?"
"You're too successful for your good." Wendy giggled. "Most men are intimidated by you."
"Only these men have the standing to be worthy of you." Leon nodded. Lily sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. At the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Linda smirking.
"You shouldn't pressure Sister like this, Dad," she said, placing a hand on her father's hand. "I'm sure she already has a person in mind."
"What?! Is that true?" Leon leaned forward excitedly.
For a moment, Lily didn't respond. She glanced at Linda, who continued to smile innocently. She wasn't sure what her half-sister was scheming. Oh, she understood. Linda didn't want to see her successful sister marry an equally successful and wealthy man. She was still determined to ruin her sister and cause a scandal, so as to snatch the position of heiress away.
"No, it's not…" Lily began, but Linda cut her off quickly.
"Are you sure, Sister? Charles and I saw you with quite the nice young man during the banquet on Tuesday. We were sure you took a liking to him."
"Not to mention, it seems that he took you to his room that night?"
This time, it was Charles. He had finally shown up and was joining the conversation. Linda quickly made space for her husband to sit next to her.
"I was unwell that night. He was kind enough to offer me his room and let me sleep in the bed while he sought somewhere else to rest." Lily smiled back. "Thank you for reminding me, Linda. I still need to repay him for taking care of me when I was unwell."
"Are you sure that was all he did?" Linda asked insidiously. Lily shrugged.
"Why? What do you think he did?"
"No, I'm more concerned about what you did to him."
"Hmm? Like I said, I was unwell. I spent the night sleeping. Why does it sound like you think I did something else?" Lily tilted her head innocently. "Do you not believe me, Sister? Why would I lie to you about this? If that young man dared to do anything to me, do you think I would have let him off? He would have ended up like Peter Pang."
Charles looked shocked. "So you were the one responsible for CEO Pang going to jail."
"It's ex-CEO Pang. And no." Lily took a sip of her tea. "The only one responsible for his actions is himself. If he didn't do anything wrong, why would the police imprison him?"
Leon Ling glanced from his eldest daughter to his second daughter and son-in-law, but he didn't look confused. He was shrewd enough to understand that something was going on between them – after all, he didn't spend decades building up his own financial empire by being naïve. Politics were part of the trade.
Taking a deep breath, he focused his gaze on Lily. His eldest daughter merely smiled, suddenly mischievous.
"About that, Dad…"