Business as Usual

by Hughes, E.

  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 d
idn’t know what to do…”

  “Don’t have an affair! That sounds logical enough, doesn’t it?”

  “I did not have an affair!” I pleaded.

  “So it was a one-off? I hope the sex was worth it…” he muttered, tossing the photos across the room.

  One of Ethan’s men scurried to gather them up, his eyes turned away as he lifted them from the floor.

  “It’s not like that,” I exclaimed, frustrated that I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

  “I told Danny about the green card. He recorded the conversation, and told me if I didn’t get give him two hundred and fifty thousand dollars he would send it to immigration. I would get five years in jail and you would be deported. I tried to protect you and my father.”

  Ethan shut his eyes in frustration.

  “You’re a very adroit liar. I don’t need a green card. I’ve been a permanent resident of the United States for the past six years. It was just an excuse to win your hand.”

  I stared in awe at Ethan, tears swelling in my eyes.

  “And you say I’m the liar?

  Ethan shrugged.

  “What do you want from me, Elizabeth? Just go. Your services are no longer needed,” he said, waving me off. “Efrayim…please escort Miss Byron to the airport. Make sure she’s on the next available flight out of China.”

  “Please don’t do this,” I pleaded, feeling like the air was being crushed from my lungs.

  Efrayim approached from behind and grabbed my upper arm. I looked over my shoulder at his face. It was the man from the photos I’d taken in Paris. He had been following us all along. I looked back at Ethan again, as Chan took the other arm, lifting me out of the chair.

  “Ethan, I’m pregnant…”

  I hoped that would be enough to stop the men before they ushered me out of the door. That it would be enough to make him change his mind.

  “Congratulations,” Ethan smirked, his eyes raking over me. “Who’s the father?”

  I laid my wedding ring on his desk, letting it wobble toward the edge. And with that, I was swept out of the room and dumped at the airport with a one-way ticket to California.

  CHAPTER 8

  “It’s about time!” Claudia said as she opened the door of her cottage.

  I pushed my luggage inside and wrapped my arms around her.

  “Hey, you okay?” she asked, concern warming her eyes.

  I shook my head, confirming her suspicions.

  “He dumped me,” I sobbed into her shoulder. “He left me at an airport in China, alone and pregnant.”

  “Whoa! What did you just say?”

  Claudia dragged me over to the sofa, leaving my bags at the door.

  “I can’t go home. Too many memories there.”

  “I understand,” she nodded. “You can stay here as long as you want.”

  “You sure…? Maybe you should talk to Wayne.”

  “He moved out.”

  “What? I’m so sorry, Claudia. I’ve been so involved in my own affairs I never got back to you. What happened?”

  “We’re getting a divorce. I’ll tell you about it, but I want to hear about Ethan first.”

  I gave Claudia the short version of the story. But when I told her about Danny, and how Ethan had kicked me out of his apartment, she was piping hot.

  “If I had a gun I’d shoot both of those bastards in the ass. You report what Daniel did to the police. That was sexual assault! Doesn’t matter if he touched you or not. He forced you to take those pictures. Ethan said he was a permanent resident so you can’t get in trouble for immigration fraud.”

  “I know… I’ll deal with Danny soon. I’m a little fragile right now, and I need to rest. I swear, Claudia, I’m done with men forever.”

  “You were humiliated, and assaulted trying to protect Ethan, however misguided and stupid that was. No offense, honey. But how could he treat you like this? Hell, I’m upset!” Claudia wiped a tear from her eye.

  “Have you talked to your father?”

  “Not yet.”

  “He’s looking for you. Give him a call,” she sniffed.

  “I’ll use my cell phone. I’m in hiding. I don’t want anyone to know where I am.”

  “Your secret is safe with me,” Claudia said, patting me on the shoulder. “I’ll make some tea.”

  I called my father. He answered my call on the first ring like he was waiting to hear from me.

  “You blew it kiddo. We lost the contract with AmeriAsia. I told you Ethan was in charge of the project. Why did you sign the contract without getting our input?”

  “I wanted to show you I could do the job,” I answered, honestly.

  “And where did that get you?”

  Daddy didn’t even bother to ask how I was or how I was doing. Ethan would never tell him about us, but he had to know something was wrong. He couldn’t be that unplugged?

  “I’m sorry kid, but I have to let you go.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It means you’re fired. You failed the company and the family and I can’t let that slide.”

  “I sacrificed three years of my life to help the company and now you’re firing me? You’d think my sacrifice would count for something… after all, you did get your stock back.”

  “That has nothing to do with it,” Eugene said.

  “It has everything to do with it. That’s why you wanted me to marry him. Now that you got what you wanted, you could care less about what happens to the rest of us.”

  “I was trying to save your inheritance, Elizabeth.”

  “My inheritance?” I huffed. “That’s rich! The only reason you married me off was so I could give you a grandson to inherit your vast empire. You had no intention of keeping me at the company. I’m sorry Dad, but it’s over. You can take your job, Byron Energy, the Gold Dust, and your inheritance, and go to hell. I spent my life worrying that you would throw me away and disown me like you did my mother. I don’t have to worry about that now… because I never want to see you again.”

  I hung up, wiping tears from my eyes. I’d been kicked in the gut one too many times this week and it was time to move away from the people who were hurting me. However, before I fully moved on, I needed to press charges against Daniel. And I needed to do it before he released the rest of the pictures to the public.

  “Everything okay?” Claudia asked, carrying a pot of tea.

  “He fired me.”

  The pot shook as she tried to keep it from crashing to the floor.

  “This is terrible. He can’t do that to you! What was Eugene thinking?”

  “You’re on a first name basis with my father?”

  “Of course,” Claudia answered, sitting down. “I practically run the man’s life, but trust me, not even I could see this coming.”

  “Now…I am officially done with men, and that includes my father. It’s just as well that I’m pregnant. I have everything I need to move on, including a baby.”

  “What about a job?”

  “I have enough money. Money I earned on my own, without my father’s help. I’ll find a job when I need one.”

  It didn’t take long for word to get out about my parting ways from the company and that the Gold Dust Las Vegas had been canceled, pending litigation issues with one of the contractors. The story had been circulated in national news reports. But that was the least of my concerns. Taking Claudia’s advice, I walked into the police department and filed an assault complaint against Danny. I gave them the condensed version of the story, telling them how Danny recorded our conversation and used it to blackmail me, claiming he would have me thrown in jail, and my husband deported, if I didn’t give him money. I then explained that my husband had been a permanent resident for the past six years. I also told them about the naked pictures, and the stolen wedding ring. It was enough to get him thrown in jail a few days later. They found my ring at a jeweler in Daniel’s neighborhood and a few days later, the ring was returned. I had it appraised hoping to sell
it so I could buy a new house for me and the baby. The beach house was huge, but was more space than I needed. And the property taxes were excessively high. I needed a new home. Despite Claudia’s many assurances, I knew I’d overstayed my welcome. I’d lived there for more than a month and a half. I felt guilty, forcing her to keep secrets from my father, knowing he was out looking for me. I had to call the Feds twice, to assure them that I wasn’t a missing person. I wanted to leave but I couldn’t go to the condo in Chicago, either. My father bought it and I wanted nothing to do with it.

  Besides, I liked living at Claudia’s place. It was cozy. I spent my newfound free time watching daytime TV, a luxury I had never experienced before. Me and the baby ate ice cream and other junk foods…also a luxury. But my sleepy days and nights on Claudia’s sofa soon came to an end, when a woman from a magazine in New York called one day. She said she was from “Le New York Fashionista”, an upscale magazine headquartered in Paris.

  .

  “Hi, is this Elizabeth Yu?”

  “Yes it is. May I ask whose calling?”

  “Francesca from Le New York Fashionista. How are you dear?”

  “I’m great,” I said, wondering what she was calling about. Francesca didn’t sound anything like a telemarketer.

  “Rumor has it you were recently separated from your father’s company.”

  “Well, it’s hardly a rumor now,” I said.

  “We were talking to our Paris office about you recently, and wondered if you were interested in working for Le New York Fashionista…we need an interim president for our U.S. based company. We make more than enough money in advertisement, but too much is going out. We need to bring someone from the outside in to audit our expenditures.”

  “That sounds promising but…”

  What would they think about the pregnancy? Could I really take on a full-time job knowing I would have to leave when the baby was born?

  “This may seem a bit odd, but our Paris office adores you. You were on the pages of every magazine a few months ago when you were in Paris. You are quite the fashionista. We’ll sell magazines with you in it. But it’s your brain we’re interested in. Our shareholders are getting nervous about all of the money we’re spending. It will calm them down if someone from the outside joined our team. Who better than a brilliant woman and a style icon like you?”