1 Rich Boy

The assistant carefully turned the door handle and pushed open the door, stepping into the room shrouded in darkness due to heavy drapes on the windows that kept out the morning light.

He paused at the entrance, until his eyes adjusted enough to make out the cloth covered shape on the huge bed that dominated the equally enormous room.

Adjusting the tray clutched in his hands, he walked towards the bed, footsteps muffled by the thick carpet. Setting the tray on a table by the window, he pulled open the drapes, letting in a flood of sunlight.

A string of curses erupted from the occupant of the bed, and seconds later a dark head emerged from beneath the tangle of covers, red eyes glaring balefully at the assistant.

"Lu Han! What the fuck, man?" Ye Jinghan snarled, raising one hand to block out the painful sunlight. He winced and flopped back as his head began to pound and nausea threatened to overwhelm his senses.

Clutching his aching head, he mumbled, "Close the damn drapes for fucks sake."

Unfazed by the order, his assistant calmly picked up a steaming bowl from the tray and held it out.

"Eat, it will help with the hangover."

Ye Jinghan gave the bowl a suspicious look.

"What is it? Another one of those foul soups you like?" Still, he struggled to a sitting position, groaning as his stomach protested the move and took the bowl, sniffing the contents. "I smell garlic."

"It's Haejangguk, a Korean recipe. Good for hangover." Lu Han made a motion with his hands urging his boss to try it, watching as Ye Jinghan took a sip, then another. Satisfied that his boss was eating, he busied himself picking up the discarded clothes from last night.

"What time is it?" Ye Jinghan asked, already feeling the effects of the soup.

"A few minutes till seven."

The spoon froze halfway to his mouth and he cast another glare at Lu Han. "What? Why did you wake me so early? It's Saturday for crying out loud."

Not that he wasn't usually up at this time, he customarily got up at 6am to go for a run, then hit the gym until 7:30, shower and get ready for a day at work. But the weekends where an entirely different matter. He played hard until the early hours of the morning, knowing full well he could afford to sleep in.

Plus, yesterday had been the bachelor party of a friend and they'd partied until 3am and his bloody assistant woke him up at this ungodly hour. No wonder his body felt like it had been pulverised with a sledge hammer.

Le Han had been with him for ten years and knew his schedule like the back of his hand, so to break the routine possibly meant something serious was wrong.

A chill crept down his spine and he straightened, setting the bowl on the nightstand. He studied Le Han, the man was dressed in one of the numerous black suits he owned, not a hair out of place, his usual stoic expression revealing nothing. Behind the lens of his glasses, his eyes were calm.

The man was the very picture of competence, they were the same age, and yet so different.

"Something is wrong, isn't it?"

In response, the assistant picked up a tablet and handed it over.

With a puzzled frown, he took the tablet. The frown changed to incredulity as he stared at the pictures displayed on the page, dark eyes glittering in barely concealed rage.

Pictures of him.

And not just him. A woman in a barely there dress was sitting across his lap, his hands on her bare waist, a goofy drunken grin on his face as he looked down at her. The setting of the picture looked like the VIP lounge of the Colton Nightclub, where the bachelor party had taken place.

He could remember this woman...vaguely. She'd accidentally stumbled into his lap while he'd been chatting with his friend and he'd put his hands on her waist to keep her from rolling to the floor and getting hurt. However, the picture told a different story and made it seem as though he'd deliberately pulled the woman onto his lap. Granted, he'd been already pretty drunk by that time, but even then, he remembered setting her back on her feet instantly and rebuffing her advances. He hadn't been in the mood to indulge in women that night.

He hadn't indulged in women for a while. Not after his last relationship with that actress had nearly ended in his demise.

How the hell had someone taken this picture? The club was very strict about allowing such things since most of their clientele came from the rich upper class society that valued their privacy more than anything. Hell, it was the reason he'd even agreed to attend the bachelor party in the first place because he'd been assured that the paparazi that constantly hung around him, looking for scraps of anything newsworthy would be nowhere in sight.

Apparently, he'd been wrong.

Dragging his eyes from the damning picture, he scanned the headline: The Heir's Wild Night Out.

The article beneath went on to describe how the young master of the Ye family had been at it again; drinking, women and even drugs were reputed to have been at the party.

Ye Jinghan felt his stomach churn, threatening to bring up the soup he'd just eaten. The media painted a gory picture of a carefree playboy who flaunted his family's values as conservatives by acting irresponsibly. The article ended with a question that sent fresh waves of rage burning through him.

"Is this young master capable of taking over the reins of the Ye Corporation?"

Ye Jinghan saw red. How dare some nobody journalist question his capabilities? He was going to find out the filthy person that wrote such nonsense and deal him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

With a curse, he flung the tablet away and rose from the bed, forgetting in his anger that he wasn't wearing any clothes and stalked towards the closet, pulling out black pants and a shirt and began dressing.

"Find out who's responsible for printing that trash."

Le Han nodded, his demeanour unflappable. "I've already contacted the media house and asked them to erase the story." He stepped forward to assist Ye Jinghan with his cuffs. "But there is another problem."

"What?"

"The boss wants to see you."

Ye Jinghan met his assistant's gaze and for the first time, saw something that made chills crawl up his spine.

"Has he seen the article?" His grandfather was an early riser, usually up and about before the crack of dawn. It was possible someone had already informed him of the scandal his first grandson had caused.

"I'm not certain, but I believe it may have to do with you being called to the Gardens."

'The Gardens' was what everyone called the 88,000 square feet estate that had been in the Ye family for over a century. Ye Jinghan had lived there for most of his childhood and early adulthood until he'd been promoted to Vice-president of the Ye Corporation five years ago.

Now he rarely visited the place, except for the occasional dinners organised by Grandmother Ye and for which there was an unspoken rule that all family members attend.

*****

"Welcome Young Master," The servant, clad in the silver and red livery of the Gardens staff opened the door of the sleek black Lamborghini and bowed respectfully as Ye Jinghan stepped out of the driver's side onto the Porte cochere.

Ye Jinghan gave a absent nod to the greeting his eyes - still sensitive from the lingering effects of the hangover - shielded by designer shades. He ran a hand through silky dark locks then straightened the lapels of the cream coloured blazer he wore over a light blue shirt.

As he climbed the marble steps leading to the front door, it opened with a flourish to reveal the Ye family butler.

"Young Master Jinghan," the elderly butler intoned, giving a brief bow. "The Master is in the breakfast room."