"Linda? What are you talking about?" Wendy looked just as confused as I felt.
"Exactly what you heard." Linda was smiling, her expression so fake I felt like throwing up whenever I looked in her direction. "Why not give Mr. Shen a chance?"
"There's no need," Leon said stiffly. "He isn't worthy of Lily."
"And who are you to decide that?" Lily snapped.
"Who do you think is worthy of Sister-in-law then?" Charles asked calmly. "Benjamin Bo? Tyson Tan? Justin Han?"
"Mr. Han is out of the question," Wendy interrupted, crossed. "After the scandal he caused yesterday, cheating on four or five different girls at the same time…"
"A…agreed." Leon was taken aback by his wife's vehemence. "But Mr. Bo and Mr. Tan seem like good choices."
"Then why don't you marry one of them instead, since you like them so much?" Lily retorted angrily.
"You…!" Leon growled. I cleared my throat before things could get worse. Standing up, I bowed my head politely.
"Mr. Ling has made his thoughts on the subject abundantly clear. I apologize for overreaching. You are correct in that I am not worthy of Ms. Lily Ling at all."
"No, we apologize for our rudeness." Wendy shot her husband a glare. "Dear, even if you disapprove, you should hold his conversation with Lily in private, not in front of the young gentleman. It's rude to embarrass him in such a manner. He's a guest."
"Sorry." Leon didn't sound apologetic at all, though. He remained grumpy.
"No, wait." Linda raised a hand. "This is such a rare chance! This is the first time Sister has fallen in love and finally chosen a man of her own accord. It would be such a pity if you break them up so soon!"
"Linda, this has nothing to do with you," Leon growled, but Linda shook her head. Gosh, her acting sucked, but for some reason her parents were buying it. Lily, on the other hand, looked very ill as her sister pranced about.
"On the contrary, since it concerns my beloved sister's happiness, it has everything to do with me!"
"Beloved? Yeah, right." I could hear Lily muttering darkly under her breath, just audible enough for me to hear, but went unheard by the others in the hall.
"Sister isn't getting any older. She's in his thirties, and the CEOs you've recommended her to marry all have…troublesome personalities."
"You have a point," Wendy admitted with a nod, warming up to her daughter's suggestion. "I've heard a lot of…problems regarding not just Mr. Han, but also Mr. Bo and Mr. Tan."
She glanced at Leon.
"Mr. Bo's tendency to use violence and his links to the underworld make him…quite the intimidating prospect."
"True." Leon looked reluctant to admit it.
"As for Tyson Tan, doesn't he already have a fiancée? The daughter of the Xiao family, I believe. Mr. Tan's personal feelings aside, we can't afford to offend the ancient Xiao family. She seems attached to Mr. Tan. If Lily approaches him, there will be rumors…and scandals. Not to mention the wrath of the Xiao family."
"I knew Mom will see sense!" Linda said, delighted.
"We don't even need to mention Mr. Han, who is known for playing around with girls. Needless to say, getting involved with him will be messy because he'll probably end up with many illegitimate heirs fighting for the inheritance to Han Industries."
This time, Charles joined in and Linda nodded.
Leon didn't look convinced, but Lily was regarding her stepmother, half-sister and brother-in-law suspiciously. They were helping her too much, apparently, which was unusual. Normally the three of them would be against her. At least Linda and Charles would, and her stepmother would usually favor her biological daughter over her stepdaughter.
"Even so…" Leon protested. "To settle for…"
"Dear." Wendy shot him a stern look. "Don't embarrass our guest. Besides…" She turned to smile at me. "Even if Mr. Shen…Trevor isn't rich, he is humble and polite. He's better than the others."
"That's because he doesn't have anything to be proud of."
"Please give me some time," I said, pushing my glasses up my nose. I was getting annoyed by this old man and his stupid assumptions about me. "Right now, my company is…"
"It is fine," Lily interrupted. I glanced at her and she winked. I suddenly understood that she didn't want me to mention anything about my energy shield generator or the contract I successfully signed with the military.
Then I caught her surreptitiously glancing at her half-sister and brother-in-law. No wonder. They were definitely plotting something, so it was wise to keep many cards close to her chest.
"The two of you should get married immediately!" Linda suggested gleefully, though I could hear the condescending amusement in her tone. Ah, I got it now. She was trying to humiliate her half-sister by getting her married into a poor, poverty-stricken failure of a CEO like me, so that she could laugh at her later.
Seriously? What kind of stupid scheme was that?
"Nonsense!" Leon roared, jumping to his feet, but Linda quickly pacified him.
"Not really, Dad. Give their marriage two years. If Brother-in-law fails to prove himself, then they can divorce…or you can disown them."
She giggled and looked at me.
"It's a gamble worth taking, no?"
Was she listening to herself? Who was going to accept such a ridiculous proposition? This was downright nonsensical. There was no way Leon Ling would…
"Fine. Have it your way then."
"What?!" I spluttered, completely caught off guard. But nobody was paying any attention to me. Leon was looking at his first daughter.
"Are you really sure about this, Lily?"
Unlike me, Lily looked pretty happy and unsurprised about the development. She nodded jovially.
"Yes, Dad. Give us a chance."
"This will be your only chance. If you both fail, then I'll disown you. You'll lose the title of heiress and the inheritance to the company."
"That is perfectly fine." Lily nodded in agreement.
"What? You can't…!"
But nobody wanted my opinion. They were smiling and chatting amongst themselves now, completely shutting me out. What the fuck!? They were in a world of their own, and suddenly I realized how deep within this quagmire of schemes and sabotage I was sinking into.
I was a pawn in this game of chess between the two Ling sisters, the two of them moving me about in their political duel to claim the inheritance of the Ling family. And their father was content to sit back and watch them fight it out.
After all, it benefited him if the stronger and more cunning of the Ling sisters succeeded.
However, I didn't take too kindly to being manipulated like a chess piece atop a board.
Lily must have noticed my displeasure, for she quickly leaned over to whisper into my ear.
"I'm sorry. You're the only one I can trust right now. I didn't expect my dear sister to pull a stunt on me. We'll discuss how to deal with this later, but for now, can you play along? I want to see what she has planned."
Wasn't it obvious what Linda Ling was planning?
No…wait. Now I understood why Lily stopped me from speaking about my energy shield generator and military contract. Clearly Linda had no idea about that or she wouldn't be using me to humiliate her sister. She thought her half-sister was marrying a loser on the verge of bankruptcy. If she realized that my Shen Industries would be on the ascension after getting a bumper contract with the military, and also cooperating with a subsidiary under Ling conglomerate to produce more shield generators (and probably more military armaments in the future), she would never have pushed for her half-sister to marry me.
The joke was on her. I just needed to play along until she found out.
Lily seemed to be thinking the same thing, so she agreed. For now. I didn't know what her father and stepmother were thinking, though. Wendy, for one, was just agreeing with her biological daughter. Leon was still unconvinced, but for some stupid reason he bought into the whole gamble, probably because he wanted to drive his eldest daughter to extremes and see how she would emerge victorious over it. If she didn't, then it meant Linda was superior for having manipulated her into this dead end.
This was…fucked up, if you asked me. Unfortunately, nobody asked me.
However, I wasn't going to simply allow them to yank my chain and pull me along. I wasn't a bootlicking dog or a simp.
I was going to take control of my destiny with my very own hands. And screw the Ling family over if they got in my way. That said, this was a good opportunity to make use of them. I wasn't going to resort to blackmail or despicable means, but since I had the connections, I might as well develop a good working relationship with them and grab some contracts.
Supplies. Connections. Protection. All these were necessary to the running of my company. I wasn't going to sell myself and get married to Lily for money, but I did owe her a favor. So for now, I would play along so that I could help her eliminate her half-sister from the competition and ensure that she wouldn't be a threat again.
Taking a deep breath, I rose to my feet and bowed my head.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ling. It was nice meeting the both of you today. I'm afraid I'll have to excuse myself, though. As you are probably aware, there are a few things I need to do to keep my company afloat. I cannot make any promises and guarantee that I'll meet your expectations, but I will do my best."
"That's all we ask," Wendy replied with a smile. She nudged her husband, who looked surly. He composed himself and nodded.
"You should stay for dinner at least."
"Agree," Lily hissed softly. I hesitated, and then nodded.
"Very well, then. I will take you up on your offer."
At least I didn't have to worry about what I should get for dinner tonight.