Chapter 5. Now
5
Now
Ket Siong and Renee ended up wandering for a while after leaving the V the eyes stunned, like a struck child’s. But she’d lifted her chin and smiled, with the gallantry he’d loved in her.
He looked down at his drink, breathing through the memory.
There was no way to respond. The ability to say things like that without killing the conversation dead was peculiar to Renee. She changed the subject, moving on.
The pub was stuffy, the heating turned up too high for the mild night. Ket Siong had taken off his suit jacket and pushed up his shirtsleeves, revealing a distracting expanse of forearm, dusted with fine hairs. His long-fingered hands loosely cradled his beer.
Renee realised he was looking at her, his expression inquiring. She didn’t want to think about what hers must have been. Hopefully her tongue hadn’t actually rolled out of her mouth.
She replayed the last few seconds of the conversation. Ket Siong had asked after her family.
“They’re OK, I guess,” she said.
It was strangely easy, talking to him—in a way, even easier than it had been back when they’d been friends and spoken every day. There were no longer any stakes, nothing to risk or lose.
“My eldest brother ended up in the papers last year for getting a college student pregnant,” she went on. “But I haven’t heard about a divorce, so his wife’s probably forgiven him. My second brother lost a huge amount of money in a cryptocurrency scam. That’s not public, though—my dad told me that. I haven’t seen any of them since I moved to London.”
Remembering the conversation with her father earlier that day, Renee shivered. She hadn’t mentioned it to anyone yet. There wasn’t really anybody in her life she could talk to about that kind of thing, now she was no longer in therapy. Maybe Nathalie, but it was hard to vent to Nathalie about her problems, these days. Nathalie had enough to worry about, what with her kid and her husband and her job.
Even Jason had never heard that much about Renee’s family. She’d had a clear sense of what he wanted from her, and her family baggage was decidedly not included in that.
“You managed to persuade your father, in the end,” Ket Siong said.
She’d told him all about her dreams to leave the family home and seek out wider horizons beyond Singapore. It was nice he remembered.
“No,” said Renee.
Even thinking about the circumstances of her move made her stomach hurt, bitterness spreading on her tongue. She had never talked about them before, except to her therapist. She heard herself say:
“I got accused of ripping off my designs for Virtu. That’s how it began. This art student said I cheated her, took her work and didn’t pay her. It was all over social media. The press picked up on it, and then the other allegations started coming. They said I underpaid my staff, cut corners. A model claimed she got sexually harassed on a shoot for Virtu and I told her if she talked about it, she’d never work again.
“It was a very well-judged character assassination,” said Renee. “My brand is all about empowerment and equity. Our customers tend to be socially aware, they’re willing to pay a premium for a business that shares their values. I lawyered up, hired enquiry agents. It was only when I told my brothers I was going to take legal action that my dad stepped in and got them to stop.”
She rubbed her temple. “The most incredible part is that my brothers even understood Virtu well enough to take it down. That’s why it took me so long to believe they were behind it. It was probably their wives who came up with the accusations. They’re pretty smart.”
Ket Siong said, “Why…” before he thought better of the question, trailing off.
Renee didn’t mind being asked. She’d given the matter a lot of thought over the years.
“They were already pissed off at me,” she said. “Virtu was starting to take off. I was going to therapy and challenging some of the dynamics in my family. But the trigger was my flat—my great-aunt’s flat, I mean. You know the one.”
Ket Siong nodded.
“Auntie Mindy gave it to me when I graduated,” said Renee. “She was always beefing with my parents, that was probably why. It caused some ill feeling at the time, but then Auntie Mindy passed and it turned out she’d willed all she had to charity. Causes calculated to annoy my dad—LGBT rights groups, modern art galleries, animal shelters.” Renee laughed. “There’s a donkey sanctuary in Sussex that got a huge bequest. I went to visit a couple of years ago. You’ve never seen such spoilt donkeys in your life.
“My dad and brothers challenged the will. And they included the flat. The proceedings dragged on for years.”
She paused. Ket Siong’s eyes were on her, his gaze steady and kind. It felt safe to speak, safe to go on.
“I’m not saying I deserved the flat,” said Renee. “I know Auntie Mindy was mostly trolling my dad when she left it to me. But that wasn’t all it was. We always got along. She was the only one in my family who supported me over going to Central Saint Martins. And the flat was valued at three million pounds. Obviously, that’s a lot of money, but compared to the rest of the estate?”
Renee shook her head. “They didn’t need to do that. It was because my brothers couldn’t stand the idea of me having something they didn’t. When the court ruled in my favour, they weren’t happy. A few months after that, they launched their campaign against Virtu.
“Dad made them fix things. They got the press to print corrections. The model withdrew her allegations. But the damage was done by then. So I packed up and came here.” She smiled faintly. “To my flat.”
“I’m sorry,” said Ket Siong.
Renee shrugged. If she looked at him, there was a real risk she would cry, so she took a slug of beer instead. They’d been sitting there for long enough that it was warm.
“I was lucky. It didn’t affect our markets outside of Singapore. I’ve been wanting to build up the brand in the West anyway. That will help with cracking China. It’s taken a while, but we’re finally getting some traction. We need funding to really level up, that’s the next thing on the list.”
Focusing on work calmed her, as it always did. She raised her eyes to Ket Siong’s, now they were no longer stinging.
But there was something uncomfortable about meeting his gaze. Ket Siong had always seen a little too much about her. The warmth in his eyes now was both reassuring and a little frightening.
Renee looked away.
“It’s a long list,” she said brightly.
“I can imagine.” Ket Siong paused. “You’re still in touch with your father.”
Renee nodded. “He called me today, actually.”
Now she’d started talking about her family, it was hard to stop. She told Ket Siong about the call with Dad, her shoulders loosening as the words flowed out.
“We’re all in the running—me, Su Beng, and Su Khoon. Dad’s giving himself till the end of the year to decide. Nothing’s set in stone, but the fact he’s even considering putting me forward as CEO of Chahaya…” Renee let out a breath. “I never even dreamt of anything like this. My brothers are older, they’ve been working for the company for years, and—they’re his sons.”
“You’re his daughter.”
“Right, only a daughter. Not even a good one. Dad was so mad when I left home.” Renee tried to smile, but she could feel it had come out wrong, so she stopped. “He said all these things, when we spoke this morning—things he’s never said before. He told me I’ve shown I can make it in business. I have good judgment and I know how to work hard. But I’m too stubborn, he says. He wants to see if I can work with my brothers.”
Ket Siong raised his eyebrows. “These are the same brothers who tried to sabotage your business.”
Renee shrugged. “Dad’s got a point. My brothers are going to remain involved in Chahaya one way or another. If I took over, I’d have to make it work with them. The company’s pitching for a big job at the moment, to do with a development here.”
She paused, wondering whether to mention Low Teck Wee’s involvement in the project. No, better to avoid it. She didn’t want to slip up and talk about something she shouldn’t—a lot of the detail was commercially sensitive. Besides, why would Ket Siong care?
“My second brother, Su Khoon, is coming over to the UK for a few months to try to seal the deal,” she continued. “Dad’s asked me to help him. That’ll be my test.”
“Su Khoon’s test is to win the deal?” said Ket Siong. “And your eldest brother?”
“We’re—Chahaya’s divesting its retail interests,” said Renee. Warmth rose in her face. It had been a long time since her family and Chahaya had been “us” rather than “them.” “Su Beng’s in charge of that.”
If Ket Siong noticed her gaffe, he didn’t mention it. He took a sip of his beer. Renee could practically hear him processing what she’d told him.
“This is something you want,” he said.
“Yes,” said Renee. Even thinking about the possibility of taking over from her father made her chest clench, with anticipation and terror mixed together. “It’s not only getting to be in charge of one of the most successful companies in Southeast Asia. Chahaya is my dad’s life work. I can’t tell you how much it means.”
Renee could pinpoint the precise moment when she’d realised what Chahaya Group meant. She had always known of it, of course, as the thing that took her dad away from home, had bought them their houses and cars, paid the servants and her school fees. But it was more than that.
Aged twelve, home from school and bored, she had come across a business magazine on the dining table, left open at a feature analysing Chahaya. She read the article over dinner, for lack of anything better to do. Renee had most of her meals alone, since her nanny had gone back to the Philippines.
It took a while to work through the piece, with its arcane references to “adjusted EBITDA” and “operating leverage.” But she had no difficulty understanding that it was talking about the most important thing in the world—money.
That evening, she waited up in the nice living room by the main entrance, with the Austrian-crystal chandelier and glass sliding doors looking out onto the swimming pool. The family only used the room when they had guests, so no one noticed her. One of the maids even turned off the air-conditioning without realising she was there.
Renee lay on a leather sofa, getting stickier and stickier as the cool air turned warm, entertaining herself by pressing her foot against the marble floor to feel its chill before jerking it up again.
It was technically past her bedtime by the time she heard the bustle at the door heralding her father’s return, but he wouldn’t remember a minor detail like that. She popped up over the sofa before he could disappear into his study or bedroom and said:
“Dad, can I ask you something?”
Dad had been out at a function. His navy blue mandarin-collar shirt was creased, the sleeves rolled up. He barely glanced at her as he took off his shoes, the smell of alcohol and cologne wafting from him. “If you’re having problems with homework, better ask your teachers.”
“Was the SB Permata acquisition really a bad idea?” said Renee. She held up the magazine. “I looked them up online and they sound like a good investment. But this says nobody’s going to want to go to all the malls they’ve built. Is that true? Should Chahaya not have bought the company?”
Dad put his shoes on the rack by the door and looked her in the face for the first time. “You researched it online?”
Renee felt abashed. “I wanted to find out more. I didn’t know if this guy was right, or if he was making stuff up.”
Dad kept looking at her. It was already the longest conversation they’d had that week. Renee became conscious that she was sweaty, her T-shirt sticking damply to her back.
Her parents expected her to be presentable. She should have taken a shower and changed, but she’d been worried about missing her father.
Dad let out an amused puff of breath.
“That’s the right attitude,” he said. He lumbered to his feet. “Come.”
Renee followed him to his study and he explained the SB Permata deal, taking her through the figures and strategy. Talking to her like she was a person, someone he respected.
It was hard to explain all this, even to Ket Siong.
“It shows Dad takes me seriously,” she said finally. “That everything I’ve done matters.”
Ket Siong’s voice was very gentle when he said, “You’d do a great job.”
“Thanks,” said Renee. She found herself glad of the bad lighting. He probably couldn’t see her blush.
Ket Siong held up his pint glass, and she clinked hers against it.