Chapter 8 - Gone With The Will Part II

"The glass for most people is either half full or for all you cynics out there, half empty. Most situations are the same, but the one I found myself in that day, even the most blindly optimistic of us in the crowd would struggle to find a silver lining for; simply because it just doesn't exist. There was nothing to be cheerful about, hell, there weren't even any loopholes to exploit which were always the sweetest of victories, or so my father said. I had gone in expecting the worst, what happened was so much more than anything I had expected. Roll up, roll up, and also, buckle up."

Zhao Yingyue's appearance in the room sparked a myriad of different responses from the seated businessmen in the room. The older patrons dotted around the room, who were all seasoned businessmen or investors who had been to many of these asset dividing meetings, most of whom only raised an eyebrow and then settled back in their chairs. The man seated at the head of the table was one who Yingyue knew well, renowned lawyer, William Tang, who had worked for Zhao Bo Hai, Yingyue's late father since before he had started his business empire. The younger and fresher faces broke into a frenzied chatter as they eyed Yingyue up and down like a piece of meat at the butchers in the fresh market. One even had the audacity to read out a large hand to pull her towards him and his leering grin. "Well hello, little girl, I wasn't aware that we would be having such company, William. I would have put in some effort otherwise." The group around him laughed and catcalled, however, Yingyue was not having any of the nonsense. She wrenched her wrist out of the man's loose grip and karate chopped him hard on the more vulnerable side of his wrist. He recoiled and sat back into the chair, nursing his wound.

"Do not touch me," Yingyue spat at the group in general and pointed a manicured finger at the offending man whose smirk had been wiped clear off of his face, " and you, did you grow up in the wilderness? Were your manners eaten by the wolves or the hounds?" She felt Elise's hand on her shoulder and she relaxed her stance and walked with her late father's PA to the head of the glass table, taking her seat next to Elise who sat next to the lawyer. "It's been a while, William," Yingyue nodded towards the lawyer who smiled kindly and winked in her direction conspiratorially before turning back to the room at large. "good morning, Board of Directors, shareholders, and any other personnel involved with the business side of Zhao Hai industries. My name is William Tang, lawyer and one of the advisors on the Advisory Board of Zhao Hai Industries - "

Yingyue nudged Elise who sat with her clipboard, ring binder and work phone positioned neatly on the table, discretely and whispered in her ear, "why am I here? I thought I was to go to the reading for all the personal stuff, not all the business talk. It's not like my father had any intention of having me deal with anything but party planners for the rest of my life."

Elise didn't answer but instead looked down, at her hands which were clasped tightly in her lap. She let her hair swing forward to conceal the smile that was playing at the edges of her mouth. Yingyue kept nudging to no avail and gave up, returning her attention to Mr. Tang.

"Now for the opening and reading of the will. There will be various media outlets waiting outside, please refrain from answering their questions as discussed in the NDA confidentiality clause you all just signed. Speaking to the press would be a breach of the confidentiality clause and would incur a heavy fine which would, of course, follow a very well publicised court case, which of course would not be ideal. For anyone. The room broke into a bout of nervous laughter which died just as quickly as it came about, like a dying sparkler.

The envelope which held the all-important percentages of control over the business empire that is Zhao Hai Industries was opened and all in the room waited with bated breath.

18% - Board of Directors

2% - Employees of Zhao Hai Industries

2% - Valued Family Connections - See Appendix 13.1 b)

13% - Various Prominent Private Shareholders - See Appendix 13.3

7% - Adrian Lee, CEO of Lee Corporations

58% - Selena Yingyue Zhao; New CEO of Zhao Hai Industries With Appointed Provisional Guardian Ms. Elise A. Faulkner For The First Year In Office

"These percentages are non-negotiable and non-transferrable for the first three years of the contract you signed, they may not be traded for any other form of leverage or currency including concurring favors etc. After three years, the NDA disclosure agreement signed as part of the will reading meeting will be null and void, however, as part of the agreement initially signed by all present, the NDA confidentiality clause remains throughout the entirety of the period of time in which the shareholder remains a major stakeholder in Zhao Hai Industries. These shares may not be sold in the public share market by any private member of the shareholder cohort and the new CEO, Zhao Yingyue, will have the right to buy and reassign any shares she chooses to. This privilege remains hers and hers alone, this is non-negotiable." William Tang continued in a no-nonsense tone with an emotionless face, his eyes darting left and right behind his glasses to try to finish reading the document in a timely manner.

He continued to speak, however, Yingyue heard nothing but a blur of white noise in the back of her mind. She couldn't focus on anything other than the last of the percentages that William Tang had read out, 58% in her name, making her the majority shareholder and effective CEO of the company, the empire, and the legacy that her father had left behind. They were huge shoes to step into and suddenly, Yingyue felt sick to her stomach as the gravity of the situation trickled into her conscious train of thought. She had prepared for an ivory envelope, the name of the man she was engaged to, or set to marry or a trust fund account number and password. Nothing more and nothing less than a medieval forced marriage as a peace offering to one of the many business associates of her late father's. She had not prepared for this, anything but this utter bombshell.

While Yingyue was halted in a stupor, trying to figure out that was happening, the room had gone from silent to being an outright zoo. Men in various suits leaped up as if they had just been subjected to an electric shock and started hollering, making the whole room vibrate with the sheer volume of their combined voices.

All except one. Adrian Lee sat still as a statue in his seat, arms crossed and analytical eyes darting as he took in the scene around him, a dent forming in his otherwise blank face. The only thing that betrayed his stony visage was the small twitch of the corner of his lips and the shallow dimple that formed underneath.