Chapter 2 #2
I walked out of the guest room, and past a few more rooms down the hallway until I was sure that Jenny couldn’t hear me.
I instructed Clare to send a team to look after her.
Clare made a note to contact the cleaning staff, medical team, a stylist, and hire a driver and personal assistant for her.
Of course, it wasn’t a secret that I wanted her taken care of, but she might want to stay the way she was for a little longer, in her wallowing mood.
But until then, the team could stand by for when she was ready to come out of her shell.
While I was talking to Jenny, Dave had divided my current security team into two and had one of them watching my cousin.
I didn’t really know how long she had been away from home, but I knew people would be frantically searching for her.
If she wanted to stay hidden, I was going to make sure her wishes were respected.
Dave was in-charge of dropping a hint to Jenny’s family security team, letting them know that she was safe without revealing any other information. They weren’t even going to know that Dave was the one dropping the hint – he was great at this kind of 007 stuff.
“Sir, I’m glad you are taking care of her.
” Dave turned around from the driver seat as I settled in the back of a black Porsche Panamera.
Clare sat next to him silently and I appreciated her not making any comments about my cousin.
She was good at her job, and I liked that she spoke her mind, but sometimes people didn’t need to hear everything she had to say.
I let out a sigh and a light nod.
The whole Law family must have been looking for her, as well as the Chens, her husband’s family.
The last time she ran away, it was one of Jenny’s friends who found her in a hospital in Taipei, disoriented and without any memory of who she was.
Then as soon as she arrived back in Shanghai, a medical team sent by her husband was waiting for her at the airport and she was taken into a facility for God knows how long.
No one I spoke to really knew what they did to her in that facility.
Jenny’s husband wasn’t going to tell me no matter how many times I’d asked.
She refused to talk about it. But every time I asked her, tears would stream down her face so quickly that I wished that I hadn’t bothered to ask.
Part of me knew that we should revisit that topic again, if and when Jenny was ready to open up.
At least part of the problem was that Jenny was a really vain person and she only ever wanted to show her perfect beautiful side to the world. It was an eye opener to see the opposite side of her, where she no longer cared about her appearance.
My instinct told me to help her. But how?
Right this second, what I could do was give her what she needed – some space.
“Where to, sir?” Dave asked.
“The warehouse.”
I rang my friend Trevon Smith on the way to his place, the warehouse, but Trevon didn’t pick up. He was probably busy. In fact, Trevon was always busy, non-stop working on his latest project, and it would have been a real shocker if he ever picked up his phone.
So, I sent Trevon a message letting him know that I would be staying at the warehouse for a couple of days. Or until further notice.
I hated hotels and I would avoid them if possible.
I hadn’t always been like this though. When I was a child, I used to love staying in hotels.
When staying in hotels meant holidays, it meant my parents finally had time to take me away on a vacation.
Later on, staying in hotels meant that my dad had done something bad and was trying to make up for it by taking Mom and I on a vacation.
But these make-up vacations always ended in my parents fighting.
Then after that, it just became a place where I stayed when I was on a business trip.
So, like I said, not many great memories in hotels.
Trevon and I were roommates when we went to the same boarding school in the United Kingdom.
It had been the first time both of us were away from home – me from China, and Trevon from the United States.
Weekends were always tough for me. A lot of us would be sent “home”, either to our parents, or to family friends who would host us.
I was supposed to go to Uncle Roger’s house, who was my dad’s business associate.
He always made me really uncomfortable. He was constantly trying to sell me his business ideas, hoping that I would pass it to my parents.
When Trevon found out about this, he invited me to stay with his aunt every single weekend. And since then, I never went back to Uncle Roger’s house. To me, Trevon was like family.
So, staying at Trevon’s place during times like this was a no brainer, and he wouldn’t mind, I was sure of that.
A few years ago, Trevon bought an abandoned building and intended to transform it into a working storage unit for his online retail store.
His plan was to fix up the place and then hire people who had fallen on hard times to work there, while providing training, fair wages, food and shelter for them.
The building consisted of three floors and Trevon had turned the top floor into an office with a living space for himself.
More than a living space really. It was so nicely decorated the standard of the interior could compete with an uptown penthouse.
I hadn’t actually been to the building before, but I had seen enough pictures from Trevon in our private group chat. He was so damn proud of this place.
On the outside though, it still looked like an abandoned building. Trevon had to stop the work on the warehouse because of the pandemic, which was a shame because this place had so much potential. And it would bring so much good to the local community.
“Lao ban.” That means boss in Mandarin. And I hated when people addressed me so formally.
“Don’t call me lao ban, ” I growled at Clare.
“Shao yeh.” Little master . This one was even worse.
“Who the fuck taught you that?” I sometimes wondered if my mother was right, that I had been too relaxed with my staff. And now they have started calling me names. Sure, I was certain that most employees made fun of their bosses. Behind their back . Not in front of them like Clare just did.
“Goo–.”
“Perfect.” I snapped.
“Sir,” Dave cut in. “I think we have a situation.”
Again? Just my luck, huh?
I straightened up, and immediately spotted a red car parked outside of the warehouse and another one approaching slowly.
Normally, this wouldn’t be suspicious at all in New York, but this was an abandoned-looking building owned by my friend.
Not some random drug den. Why would two cars choose to stop in front of it?
“Slow down,” I demanded.
The whole car was in alert mode. Clare had even pulled out her gun, ready to shoot at anyone coming near us.
“Maybe someone is dealing near here?” Clare spoke up without thinking again but she may be right. But I didn’t think Trevon would allow that. If someone was doing any illegal dealings anywhere near him, it would have been sorted out within hours. No one was allowed to piss on Trevon’s territory.
“I don’t think so,” Dave announced as a man came out of the silver SUV and started trying to force the driver’s door of the red Tesla open. “It looks like someone might be in trouble though.”
“What is going on? Who is that?”
I felt stupid for asking. They knew as much as me at this point about the situation ahead.
“Mrs. Li said we should stay away from trouble.” No one asked her.
Sometimes, I wondered if Clare worked for me or my mother.
But if my mother was here, she would definitely advise us against getting involved in matters that could cause us harm.
Then she would remind me that I was the only son in the Li family – the only legit son at least. The only heir to the Li Empire, I could hear my mother saying.
Although lately, I suspected that might not have been true.
“Sir,” Dave hesitated, “you, um, you–”
“I what?” I blurted out.
“You know the driver in the Tesla.”
My mind raced to a million places. My rib cage felt a sharp invisible pain – which triggered whenever I felt nervous or scared.
The pain was a scar, a reminder left by my kidnappers years ago.
Fragmented memories flashed through my mind – two guys kicking me in my stomach, refusing to stop no matter how much I begged. They wanted me to call Mom and Dad.
My arms reached for my chest, folded tightly.
That usually helped sooth the panic attack that was creeping up on me.
I had thought about seeing a therapist for a while, but I just couldn’t seem to bring myself to do it.
There was no way I would let my family even know about the mere thought of attending therapy sessions – they would see it as weakness – not a desired quality for the heir of their Li Empire.
That’s why I envied Jenny’s courage for seeking help.
“Gun!” Clare shouted. “The asshole’s got a gun.”
Damn it. My newer bodyguard’s tendency to loudly narrate everything wasn’t good for my anxiety. I had lost my ability to think.
I tried not to look but my curiosity took over and I couldn’t help it. Looking out the window, I saw a guy standing next to the driver side of the car, pointing his gun at the window, and the next second the car door opened slowly.
Should I help? I was in a great position to help. Clare and Dave should be able to handle any average guy. Again, my mother’s words were ringing louder now in my head, reminding me that I shouldn’t put myself and my team in danger. And this right here, definitely smelled and tasted like danger.
“Hurry. Drive faster,” Clare instructed Dave, her voice was so loud that I wondered if the asshole outside could hear her.
My anxiety was sky high now. I could feel it as my lungs struggled to secure me oxygen.
Another flashback – someone pointed their gun at my driver and me.
He unlocked the door, and they helped themselves to the terrified boy sitting at the back of the car.
Then before I knew it, chloroform was on my face, and I woke up with a black bag over my head in a smelly place where no one could hear me for days no matter how loud I screamed.
I knew my assailants were there watching but they just decided to ignore me.
My mind was split in two.
Help or walk away.
“We should let Trevon know.” My lips trembled, but that was all I could do. I felt like a coward.
Should we call the police and let them handle it? Or would it be too late?
Back then, I was taken in broad daylight outside of school. If someone had tried to help me, maybe I wouldn’t have been taken, and I wouldn’t have the scars on my body as a souvenir.
Our car drove past without any issues. Whoever it was, didn’t really care that he was spotted pointing a gun at someone in the middle of the day.
Much like my kidnappers. I sat up straight, adjusting my collapsing posture which did nothing for my confidence.
Then I saw it, her , in the rearview mirror.
“Turn around!” I shouted.
“Sir,” Clare complained. I didn’t know how I knew, but I could just tell that Clare wouldn’t like what we were about to do.
Well, last time I checked, I was the boss. “Get ready. Now.”
“Sir.” Clare again, louder this time.
“Shut the fuck up or get the fuck out.” She wasn’t expecting me to snap. She had never seen this side of me before. She had gotten used to bossing everyone around, including me. But guess what? Mr. Nice Guy had left the building.
I suddenly realized what Dave meant a few moments earlier.
I did know the driver. Very well indeed.
June Bennet.
The driver in the red Tesla.
The trouble that I was told to stay away from.