The Rules Series

by LaShawn Vasser

  Zheng was seething. His face was scrunched up, and his lips were pressed so tight they were virtually invisible. I picked up my purse and put on my glasses. Then, I allowed my womanly curves to sway from side to side as I seductively walked over to Zheng. This meeting was unpleasant; yet I still bent low kissing him on the cheek. I let my lips hover against his skin for just a moment before whispering huskily into his ear. “Maybe if you had pulled my hair and fucked me harder, I would have called you back. At any rate, please give your father my regards.”

  It was unfortunate, but if Xei didn’t come around soon, I'd have no choice but to move on with Plan B.

  Chapter 7

  I finally made it to my father’s long time attorney, Mr. Woo’s law office with my own team of lawyers for the reading of the Will. I wouldn’t put anything past him when it came to last minute shenanigans. Dead or not, Chang knew how to mess with someone’s head.

  My team was the last to arrive. Everyone else, mostly Chang’s trustees from different financial institutions, had been seated around a large round table.

  “My apologies for being late gentlemen. I had business to attend to that couldn’t wait. Please feel free to begin.” I sat in the chair closest to Mr. Woo while my lawyers sat behind me in chairs set up along the walls.

  He was a chubby little man with short arms and small hands. They were clasped in front of him as if he were about to officiate a funeral himself. “We’re glad you could finally join us, Ms. Lee-Xiou.” His tone was sarcastic, but I chose to ignore him. In less than an hour, I was going to be in control of everything and everyone, so there was no need to remind him of whom he worked for. He was the hired help. If one could be hired that meant they could also be fired.

  He nodded to someone, an assistant maybe. That person walked over softly to deliver several sealed documents lying on what appeared to be a silver platter of some sort. Another person, the only other woman in the room, was silently typing away. Figures.

  Mr. Woo’s face was expressionless, and his dark eyes were empty. “Thank you all for joining us today for the reading of Mr. Chang Lee-Xiou’s Last Will and Testament.” He nodded to Gina. “Again, we extend our most heartfelt condolences on the loss of your father.” His heartfelt sympathies seemed to lack any real heart.

  I waved him on. “Let’s get on with it.”

  “I agree. Let’s begin.” A moment later, he broke the seal on the first document then glanced up at me. “I state for the record that this Last Will and Testament was recorded with Woo and Associates and registered with the Chinese government while Mr. Chang Lee-Xiou was of sound mind, body, and judgment. First, I will read for the record his vast holdings, and then I will proceed to read the determination of how those assets will be allocated and to whom.”

  I crossed my legs and opened up the portfolio sitting before me. Patience was a virtue I never really mastered; knowing I was only moments away from having the money, power, and respect my family’s name afforded me kept my anxiousness at bay.

  Minutes turned into over an hour as I listened to Mr. Woo rattle off all of my father’s holdings. Earlier he’d mentioned that they were vast, but that was an understatement. Some countries had less in assets than Chang. His holdings were spread out all over the world with a hefty chunk invested in the United States that easily totaled into the billions of dollars. I now even owned a couple of diamond and gold mines in Africa. Of course, there were many offshore accounts with hundreds of millions of dollars in them. Xiou Industries was the one crown jewel that I wanted to sink my talents into.

  Thank Gooooooood. Mr. Woo seemed to be wrapping things up and coming to the end of listing all of the assets. We could have easily cut to the chase and named me the benefactor to everything since I had no other living blood relatives.

  Woo’s annoyingly nasally voice continued to drone on and on. “Now we’re coming to the allocation of assets.”

  Great.

  “All properties, cash money, stocks, and other assets that have both cash and non-cash value have been held in the Chang Lee-Xiou trust. Those assets are to be divided evenly among any natural born children of Chang Lee-Xiou. If no male heir was born to oversee said assets, they are to be co-managed by his eldest male blood relative as long as they are of sound mind and the law offices of Woo and Associates.”

  I couldn’t believe it. I sat up a little taller as if that would make hearing those words more palatable. Even in death that bastard was still trying to keep me in my place. My heart started to almost beat out of its chest. I looked down at the portfolio because I needed to read that for my damn self. “What page is that on?” I hadn’t really been following along. That’s what my lawyers were being paid for.

  One of my attorneys leaned over and whispered the answer in my ear. My eyes quickly scanned down the pages, and there it was as plain as day - blinking like a cheap sign outside of a seedy strip club.

  Mr. Woo continued speaking, while my head was spinning. There had to be a way around this. I turned to my lawyers for some direction.

  His lips continued to move, but I couldn’t process another word. “In the event the Trustees and the eldest male relative come to an impasse, the final decision-making power rests solely with the eldest male relative.

  My lead attorney spoke up. “What happens in the event there are no male relatives still living or is considered incompetent?”

  I glanced from my attorney to Mr. Woo. “Right. The eldest male living relative is my grandfather. He’s ninety-six years old, is not in his right mind and lives in a nursing home. The only other male in the Lee-Xiou family was my cousin, Joseph. Unfortunately, he died the day before my father.”

  “How . . . convenient.” Mr. Woo uttered his snide remark underneath his breath.

  I narrowed my eyes to slits. I was tired of dealing with that stupid little twerp, and what little patience I had vanished five minutes after walking into the room. “You forget your place, Mr. Woo. It would be in your best interest to remember; I am the daughter of Chang Lee-Xiou. Some things don’t fall too far from the tree. You might want to simply answer the question.”

  My lawyer stepped into the conversation before things got too out of control. “What happens in the event there aren’t any competent and living male relatives?”

  It was evident Mr. Woo didn’t want to answer. That in and of itself made my heart rate calm just a bit.

  “In the event there are no competent living male relatives, all assets within the Lee-Xiou Trust will transfer to Chang’s living children. They would be afforded the same rights and privileges as any male relative.”

  Relieved, I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms underneath my breasts. “That means I would have full control over my father’s assets?”

  “Woo and Associates would co-manage them.”

  I ran my finger down the page again. “Excuse me? It says right here that in the event there was an impasse between your Law firm and me, since there are no other competent and living relatives, I would have sole decision-making authority.”

  He was slow to respond. “Yes, that is correct.”

  “Good. I’m glad we cleared that up. Let’s get these papers signed.” I checked my watch. “I don’t have all day to deal with this.” Another man trying to play me. He knew full well that I had one hundred percent discretion when it came to the financial affairs of the Lee-Xiou Trust.

  “Several items will need your signature.”

  Frustrated couldn’t begin to describe my mood. “Didn’t I just say that?” I turned to my lawyers. “I did just say that right? Am I talking to hear myself talk? If not, then pass me the papers!”

  Mr. Woo placed legal documents about a half an inch high in front of me. “I’ll need you to sign in every place that is highlighted in yellow. Once we have your signature, we can begin the transfer of assets into your name.”

  I leaned forward and picked up a pen so I could start signing. Just as I was about to touch the tip of it onto the first dotted
line, I heard the door to Mr. Woo’s office swing open. I couldn’t see who had the nerve to interrupt this meeting at a time like this because my back was to them.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Woo?” A woman’s high-pitched voice echoed throughout the room.

  This time, he was unable to reign in his tightly controlled temper. “Lucy, if whatever reason you’re interrupting is not a life or death situation, do not disturb me.”

  “I would say this is a life and death situation.”

  I froze holding my pen in mid-air.

  That voice. I knew that voice, and it wasn’t whoever the hell Lucy was.

  It couldn’t be? Am I hearing dead people talk? I’ve got to be losing my mind.

  Slowly, I turned half-way around afraid of what would be there. I had seen and done a lot so nothing should surprise me, but this time I was shook all the way down to my bones. If I had been standing, I would have fallen down. There was no way my legs would support me.

  When I finally turned all the way around, a ghost had risen from the dead and stood directly in front of me.

  Chapter 8

  There was no oxygen in the room. The air had been completely sucked out of it. There wasn’t a person whose mouth hadn’t dropped to the floor, or whose eyes weren’t bulging out of their heads.

  I couldn’t breathe. I was good at masking my emotions most of the time, but this was some made for television madness. I’d have to be superhuman for the shock not to show on my face. My mouth felt like cotton. It should since it had been open from the moment I heard that voice. I managed to utter the first thing that came to my mind. “You’re not real.” Was I dreaming? Was this a hallucination? I wasn’t sure if I could find my heartbeat let alone my voice, but somehow I managed. “You’re dead. I saw them put you in the ground.”

  “That was my intention. Obviously, it wasn’t me because I’m standing right here in front of you.”

  I was on autopilot as I stood up from the chair. I needed to determine if my eyes were deceiving me. I looked around the room as I inched closer and closer. If this was some kind of paranormal event at least I wasn’t the only one experiencing it. The room was so still and quiet you couldn’t even hear anyone breathing.

  My hands needed to feel a body. Would they go through it because I was staring at a ghost, or would I get stabbed in my eye?

  I’m not sure how I put one foot in front of the other until I was standing just inches from my target. I was afraid to blink, otherwise the vision in front of me would vanish. My arms were heavy like lead as I lifted them to touch the person in front of me. I extended my arm as my hand slowly made contact. “My God, Nina. It really is you.” It was like looking into a mirror. My face was reflected back at me.

  She nodded. “Yes. It’s me.”

  I pulled her body into mine and just held her. She was alive! My sister was alive! My voice came out muffled as I spoke into the crook of her neck. When I pulled back slightly, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could contain my emotions. I was overcome by them. My voice cracked just a bit. “Get out! Everyone who is not a Lee-Xiou get out.”

  *****

  I waited until after the room cleared and the door closed before I let my tears fall. I pulled her into another bear hug. Nina was standing here in the flesh. I had my sister back, but how? I didn’t know. Did I care? Not really, but I couldn’t help the questions that were forming in my mind. How was she standing in front of me? Where had she been all these years? What had she been doing?

  “I’m surprised you’re allowing yourself to cry.” Her voice was soft.

  I pulled back from our embrace. “My heart hasn’t beat properly since the day of your funeral, and now you’re right here in front of me. It’s . . . it’s . . .” I couldn’t find the right words. “Surreal doesn’t begin to describe it. I think this deserves a few tears. My God, Nina. I have so many questions.”

  “Yes. I’m sure you do.”

  I took her hand in mine and led her to the nearest set of chairs. The excitement flowing through my veins was uncontainable. My words tumbled all over each other. “What happened? Where have you been? If you were alive all this time why didn’t you reach out to me?”

  It seemed as if Nina looked through me as she went back into the recesses of her mind. “As long as Chang was alive, I had to pretend to be dead in order to protect the people I loved.”

  “I could have helped you. We could have dealt with Chang together.”

  “No. We couldn’t have. We’d all be dead. When Chang discovered that I’d deceived him and that I’d married Luciano, the anger that roiled within him was akin to madness. He couldn’t believe that I’d defied and embarrassed him after arranging my marriage to Tao Shueng. The writing was on the wall for me.”

  “Tao Shueng. Yes. I remember. His is one of the four holdouts in The Family that’s trying to challenge me for leadership. Chang wanted to use that marriage to build a permanent alliance with them.”

  “Yes. Well, when you came back from the United States pretending to be me until the birth of Cecily, it bought me a little time. His patience ran out shortly after she was born, and Chang wanted to set a date for the wedding.”

  “Right. I know all of this. You told me to tell him no, and I did. His anger was pretty intense, and that’s why I hopped a flight back to the United States for a while.”

  “Joseph tipped me off to Chang’s plans. I knew he would be angry but not angry enough to hurt me. At first, his plan was to try and force me to come home for the marriage, but I remained defiant. Then, he figured it had to be a man that would cause me to be so resolute in my decision. You know him, he had to get to the bottom of my “situation” and find out who the man was. In his digging, he discovered my marriage license, and that I was already married to Luciano.”

  “Joseph told you?” It took everything not to vomit at the mention of his name. “He was probably the one who tipped Chang off in the first place, the bastard.”

  “You always hated him because you both competed for Chang’s affections. I was never a threat to Joseph. We had a good relationship. Imagine what would have happened had he not told me about Chang?”

  “I don’t have to imagine it, Nina. I lived it! I’ve thought you were dead for fifteen years. Do you know the hell I went through trying to deal with your death?”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. At the time, I thought faking my death was the only option. Joseph told me Chang was so unhinged when he found out the truth that he was planning to take care of his problem with a car accident. Did you know Luciano was supposed to be in the car with me too? Since I knew of the plan, I was able to prevent that. If Chang had known about Cecily, he would have devised something that would have taken us all out together. I’ll always be grateful to Joseph. He saved our lives.”

  Those words were hard for me to hear. “You do know he killed Luciano right?”

  Quietly, she spoke. “I know. That was because of the disgusting madness of wanting to please Chang pumping through his veins. Still, he saved my life and Cecily’s. He’s the reason that Chang never found out about her.”

  No, I was the reason. I did everything in my power to keep that little girl off of Chang’s radar. I said nothing. I hated Joseph so much I put a bullet right between his eyes. Cousin or not. He must have had a serious change of heart, because he spilled her little secret and was going to kill Cecily. I wasn’t going to let that happen. For now, I kept that bit of information to myself.

  “Chang asked Joseph to rig my car.”

  I listened intently. “He seemed to have always had Joseph doing his dirty little deeds.”

  Nina continued on. “Joseph and I planned it so that I would be ejected before it exploded. I’m not sure who the dead woman was in the car with me, but that’s who you buried.”

  “Nina, why didn’t you tell me? I would have helped you. There is nothing I wouldn’t have done for you.”

  “Do you really want to know the truth?”

  “You come w
altzing in here after almost fifteen years. I sure as hell think I deserve the truth don’t you?”

  “I didn’t tell you because . . .” The faraway look in her eyes came back to rest on me. “You wanted to be the spitting image of Chang. He was a monster.”

  Those words knocked the breath out of me. It was as if she’d shoved a knife into my chest and twisted it around and around.

  “I’m nothing like Chang.”

  “Really? You want power, Gina. That’s no secret. You killed Joseph. You killed Mr. Wong as you’re trying to consolidate your power within The Family, and you killed Chang. Most people suspect he didn’t actually die of a heart-attack, but I know you killed him. I knew you would . . . eventually. Two alpha lions couldn’t roam the same pride for long. Honestly, I expected it to happen long before now.”

  At first, I said nothing. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I did what I needed to do to protect your daughter!”

  “Don’t blame this on Cecily. You wanted Chang’s empire, and nothing was going to stop you from getting it.”

  “You ungrateful little bitch! I sacrificed everything, because I loved you and by extension your daughter. Yet, you walk in here after fifteen years—FIFTEEN years—trying to judge me for my actions? Do you even know what I went through all this time trying to keep him from finding out about her? No. Because you were off doing God knows what.”

  I was feeling hot all over. I needed to calm down. “Where were you? What were you doing all this time! No.” I put my hands up to stop her words. My chest was tight. I’d get answers to those questions another time. “Why are you here Nina? Why not just pretend to still be dead?”

  “Chang is dead. I want my life back.”

  “Wait a minute? What do you mean you want your life back? I know you’re not talking about Cecily?”