Business as Usual (14 page)

After
we landed in China’s Shanghai
Pudong
International
Airport, we were met by a driver holding a sign that read Yu
XiaoMing
, who swiftly directed us through the bustling city
airport to a black Acura outside of the terminal. China was busy, crowded,
claustrophobic, and surprisingly reminiscent of American cities like New York
where people were unabashedly direct. I’d only been in the city ten minutes and
two people had already shoved me out of their way, calling me a fatty as they
bustled through the airport with their luggage. Tensions definitely ran high.
The ones who didn’t point or call me a
laowai woman
to my face, stared
as Ethan gripped my hand, carefully shuffling me into the waiting car before
climbing in beside me.

Was I really fat, and pregnant?
Or was I
really just a fatty?
I pouted. Everyone in China was mostly skinny. I felt
like a whale. No, I was definitely pregnant, I thought. It was the hormones
making me feel like a walrus. We were joined in the vehicle by a man who looked
like a security guard. I gazed out the car window at the towering skyscrapers
and apartment buildings. It wasn’t the exotic “oriental” paradise Americans saw
in movies. Shanghai was truly a city that never sleeps.

Ethan
hit the ground running the moment we arrived. He insisted on taking me to his
apartment in a luxury development called the
Shanghai Centre
. I refused,
instead following him to the factory he owned on the outskirts of the city.

“I
won’t be long,” he promised, guiding me into the building.

When
we walked in, we were greeted by an older guy with a toothless grin. He was friendly
enough, as he threw fake punches at Ethan until one landed against his stomach.

“Hey boss, man,” he said in English. “How’d an
ugly guy like you get such a pretty woman?” he smiled.

“Better be careful,” another guy said. “He
might sic his guards on you.”

I looked around as a group of three very large,
very intimidating looking men closed in on us. The first guy’s name was Chan.
He looked oddly familiar.

“Guards?” I asked.

“Things get crazy from time to time,” Ethan
explained, taking hold of a lever on one of the machines.

I choked on the fumes sputtering out of the
machinery as Ethan jumped in to work with the rest of the guys. I’d noticed a
permanent dark cloud over the city since we arrived. The pollution in Shanghai
was as bad as the air in Los Angeles.

“These guys follow you
everywhere
?” I
asked, lifting a brow.

“Everywhere I go. There’s one more, but he’s
not here at the moment.”

I swallowed nervously as the bodyguards stood
around us, unsmiling. Apparently I was standing a bit too close to the boss.
Chan and David were both Chinese, Michael was very tall, and very British with
dark, extremely handsome complexion and the mysterious, Efrayim, was out of
town.

After
an hour of waiting for Ethan to finish checking his books, we high-tailed it out
of there much to my relief, as I waved to all of Ethan’s workers, who looked
neither unhappy or enthusiastic as they finished the day’s work.

At the apartment, I kicked my shoes off as soon
as we arrived, to find my feet were drastically swollen in my high heels.

“I’m so tired I could pass out,” I said,
collapsing atop Ethan’s square shaped sofa.

He collapsed beside me, laying his head back
against the cushion.

“I would travel back and forth from the States
to China more often if not for the plane ride,” he complained.

“I can see why,” I retorted.

Ethan unbuttoned his jacket and tossed it on a
nearby chair.

“We need to talk,” he said.

The expression on his face was serious.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your ring for starters. I haven’t seen it in
over a week.”

I looked down at my hands, breathing sharply.

“Is that why you’ve been acting so weird? Why
you were distant? You lost the ring, didn’t you?” he continued.

I nodded, still yet unable to tell him the
truth about Danny.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You know my family. We’re not the best
communicators.”

I turned my head, unable to look him in the
eye.

“You can talk to me about anything. I love you,
Elizabeth…”

Ethan pushed my back against the sofa and slowly
unzipped my pants. His hands crawled into the lining of my panties. I moaned
softly as his fingers explored the folds of my moistened flesh until it began
to pulsate and throb with need.

I inched out of my jeans and dropped them to
the floor as I waited anxiously for Ethan to finish getting undressed,
stripping down to his underwear and socks.

“When I told you, you were the love of my life,
I meant it,” he said, as he shoved my thighs apart and slid my underwear down
my legs.

“How is that possible? We didn’t see each other
that
often,” I countered, stripping out of my shirt and bra. “Based on
what you’re telling me, I find it hard to believe our coming together as
husband and wife was a coincidence.”

“It wasn’t...our fathers made a pact to marry
us before we were born.”

I bolted upright, practically knocking Ethan
aside.

“What?”

“I knew it would freak you out,” he said,
shaking his head.

“Of course it freaks me out. Eugene will never
stop trying to control my life!” I ranted.

“It wasn’t like that,” Ethan said.

“Oh please do explain,” I retorted.

Ethan sighed.

“They made a pact 30 years ago when they were
in the Philippines, scouting land.”

“Eugene told me about the trip to the
Philippines, and how they were attacked by rebels... but I didn’t know the
details. He’s not the most talkative man.”

“After the rebels
ambushed our fathers, they sent letters back to the States, demanding a ransom.
Luckily, your father had been to Vietnam, and knew how to survive in the
jungle. He eventually escaped, but came back for my father while the rebels
were out looking for him. They hid in the jungle for two days, where they
bonded, like brothers. In gratitude for saving my father’s life, my father
offered his first son in marriage to Eugene’s soon-to be-born daughter. He
agreed, but ultimately didn’t take the pact seriously. After returning to the
city, where they were safe, they went home, deciding not to develop property in
the Philippines. But they kept in touch over the years, maintaining a strong
friendship and business relationship in the process. Many years had passed
before Eugene realized my father still expected their children to get married
one day. An American education and wife would be good for his son. It would
give us
face
.

So we visited from time to time, to see if you
and I would get along. We didn’t. We hated each other. So my father took me
back home and told me to try harder. Next time, I hit you in the eye with a
piece of chalk. It wasn’t until your sixteenth birthday party that I’d taken
notice of how beautiful you were. But I was tall, awkward, and lanky. My
English was not only limited, but my accent was too thick. I knew you wouldn’t
like me.”

“You have an accent now, and I like it…”

“Women love men with accents, I’m not so sure
about sixteen year-old girls.”

“I can’t believe my father would do this...”

“What does it matter? It brought us together!”
Ethan said.

“It’s different for Americans, I guess. People
rarely have arranged marriages in China anymore, but on the other hand, it’s
not usual either. Your father wanted to protect you, so he kept it a secret. He
knew you wouldn’t take it well…and eventually refused to arrange the marriage
when you went away to college. “I waited, hoping he would change his mind.
But he didn’t. So I used Byron Energy to force your father’s hand, eventually
repaying him the stock as a dowry after the wedding.”

“You own Byron Energy stock?” I asked, too
stunned to believe what Ethan was telling me.

“Millions of shares,” he said. “I bought them from
individual stockholders until I had amassed enough that I was able to threaten
to sell them Hammond Industries if your father didn’t comply, giving them a
controlling share. What he doesn’t know is Hammond Industries is a subsidiary
of one of our sister companies. Victor Hammond is merely the face of the
company. My father and I are behind it.”

 
“Why are
you telling me this, now? You nearly ruined my family!”

I was angry with Ethan about the lies and
deception, but I still loved him…after all, he’d done it all for me. He’d also
transferred the stock back to my father, just on his terms.
 
“I wanted you and meant to have you,” he
answered.

“I was just a pawn in your game.”

“You were the woman I dreamt of marrying for
the past fifteen years, and now I have you,” he answered, a calculating
expression in his eyes.

“It’s a lot to take in…a lot of time, money,
and effort wasted on
me
.”

“It wasn’t a waste. If I had to do it all over
again, I would. Although, I’m starting to realize you would have given me a
proper chance if I had tried to win you over the right way.”

“You’re so cocky! What makes you think I
would?” I asked.

“Because you’re still here, after everything I
told you.”

“I’m in China. I don’t have anywhere else to
go!”

“You’re still naked,” he observed.

“Because your apartment is hot.”

The
next day, one of Ethan’s security guards escorted me around Shanghai as I
shopped for clothes. Prices were cheaper in the States, so the only thing I
bought was a bracelet before heading back to the apartment.

When I arrived, I was directed to Ethan’s
office by Chan, who told me in an official voice, that Ethan wanted to speak to
me. I walked in, to find him sitting behind his desk with his legs crossed,
staring ahead with a blank expression on his face. His eyes were cold… harder
than I’d ever seen them. I wondered what was wrong, why the men were standing
around, hands on their waistbands like they were armed and about to attack.

“Have a seat, Elizabeth,” Ethan said, directing
me to a chair on the other side of his desk.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, sensing something had
gone awry since I left.

Ethan laid a manila folder before me and opened
the cover. I looked down. It was the agreement authorizing construction with a
contractor for work on the hotel.”

“You have any idea what you have done?” Ethan
barked.

“They were cheaper than the other contractors
so I made an executive decision,” I responded.

“And now we’re all in danger,” Ethan shot back.
“They’re gangsters. It’s 6 million on paper, and an additional 7 million behind
under the table. I told you not to make any moves without my authorization. We
had to pull out of the deal and now they’re suing us for breach of contract.
The lawsuit alone will cost millions. Do you understand?”

“You can’t be serious,” I said, unable to hide
my shock.

“The hotel is finished. I’m canceling
AmeriAsia’s contract with Byron Energy, effective immediately.”

“Don’t back out, we can fix this,” I cried.
“Eugene will know what to do.”

“You should have listened to me and your father
before it happened,” Ethan snapped, pacing the room.

I’m sorry,” I replied, unsure that there was
anything left to say.

“How sorry are you?” he shot back, slamming
another file before me.

I looked down, a hand lifting absently to cover
my mouth as I reviewed the contents in utter shock. The pictures Danny had
taken were on Ethan’s desk.

The
photos had been altered to make it look as though Danny and I had been intimate.
None of them showing my face, or the distress I was in when the pictures were
taken.”

“I thought the photos were old until I saw the
ring,” Ethan said. “So not only did you fuck me over in business, but you have
ripped
my fucking heart out.”

“It’s not what you think,” I muttered, tearing
up, as I gazed into Ethan’s cold black eyes.

“It’s all here in black and white,” Ethan
ranted. “By the way, I know about the money you took out of our joint account.
The money you gave to your lover. Efrayim followed you. He saw you go into the
Cherry-House Hotel with a briefcase in the middle of the night, only to come
out empty-handed. I checked our account. Did you think you could hide what
you’d done because you put the money back? You screwed him then hid in the
guestroom,” Ethan sneered in disgust.  

“He was blackmailing me,” I cried. “I didn’t
know what to do…”