Ending a war

Lina was still looking at her husband totally dumbfounded.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how you handle internal conflict in unstable developing economies, hubby."

"No shit."

Shen looked embarrassed as his wife scolded him. He had a doctorate from one of the top three universities in the world.

"Politics isn't business, idiot. Diplomacy isn't a contract. There has to be humanity as well as calculative planning when one advises in policy making."

Shen looked at Lina dumbstruck.

So THAT was what she remembered?

"My wife cares so little about me. Now I understand."

"Stop complaining. Did you expect me to lose my common sense as well?"

Her retorts got sharper everyday. She was so sweet and obedient after she had woken up from the coma. Maybe it would have been better for her to remain lost, instead of taking control. Now he'd have to deal with a stubborn, sarcastic kitty.

But Shen was glad. She reminded him more and more of her real self now.

"I need to meet with the Prime Minister."

Lina decidedly informed Shen of this. She didn't ask, but instead made a point.

"As I said earlier, you are not to leave the estate for some time. I am investigating the attacks on you, and I don't want to have you wandering around with a target on your back!"

Neither one of them wanted to fight over this. So Lina decided to compromise.

"Do I at least have one office in the capital? It doesn't need to be a Moshi Corp skyscraper."

Shen laughed at her scathing remark, yet again. The kitty had her claws out.

"Yes of course you have an office. An important woman like you has her own building too."

Lina gasped in excitement. Her own building!

"Is it actually bigger than yours?"

Her eyes were brimming with joy.

"Sweetheart, actually, nobody's building is bigger than mine."

He hated bursting her bubble, but he had to retain his title as a heavyweight. He was also competitive.

Lina's business was a consultancy and worked in a highly specialised field. She was getting her headquarters rebuilt when they had met, which is why she frequented the café where they met early in the morning too. It was in the neighbourhood!

For the third time in two days, Shen got yet another pillow thrown in his face for trying to test his wife's patience.

"Shen, let's go to my office. I want to get back to work." Lina suddenly felt extremely responsible. If this husband had made a mess of just one situation, what must he have done to the rest?! Weren't all her loyal subjects waiting to welcome her back?

"Actually, baby, I can't go with you."

"Why? You've created a mess, shouldn't we go together to clear it up so everyone knows you're the stupid one and it wasn't me?"

Shen: "....."

Lina decided to rub salt in the wound.

"Don't worry hubby, everyone makes stupid mistakes. If I don't clean up after you, then who will?"

Shen pinched her cheeks and kissed her small nose.

"Nobody knows you are married, that's why I can't make an appearance. I've been working with your clients from behind the scenes using your chief assistant as my liaison."

Lina's eyes flew wide open. Nobody knew she was married?!

"We have a secret marriage?! WHY?"

Everything made sense. Nobody besides Shen, the household staff and his parents had been around them or interacted with her.

Shen suddenly looked very guilty.

"It's for your own safety. You saw what things were like yesterday. You've never seen me act so violently before...taking a life. But you were so casual about it. And the sniper..."

He quickly realised that she didn't know she actually killed someone with a perfect head shot. She probably just thought she thwarted an attack on him.

"Well, clearly we both have chaotic lives, Shen. I don't even know how I had so much power in my body to push you down and the skill to shoot through an invisible hole drilled through a window. Had I never done those things before?!"

Seeing how confused he looked as well, she sighed, knowing that nobody could give her every answer that she needed.

First things first though. Nation B needed to be sorted out. Their people were going through something extreme right now and it was all because she had been absent.

Were these heads of state so incompetent?

"Can you at least reintroduce me to my assistant, the one you've been liaising with?"

Shen nodded and pulled out his phone and dialled a number. He instructed the assistant on the other end to bring a load of files, correspondences, Lina's work laptop and new iPhone with all her contacts backed up.

His wife was going to get back down to business and be the boss he knew her to be.

It excited him. She felt like herself again. But Shen knew that she was overwhelmed. Crazy things were happening. She had so much to take in after 3 long months of darkness.

Lina found out she had no family besides him and his parents, ran a major political consultancy, discovered insane martial arts and firearms skills as well as landed up in a secret marriage.

Internally, he applauded her strength.

But he needed to get in contact with the psychiatrist Dr. Yoshi had told him about. Lina needed the help or her subconscious would swallow her alive.