The Favour (6)

"I hear you are very close to my wife, as close as sisters, one would say," the man's voice whispered beside Joann's ear. The observation, for some reason, made Joann's skin crawl.

The statement came out of nowhere and without reason. Joann was made confused by it and it showed on the frown that was etched between her brows.

Before she could make heads or tails of the situation, Lin Kang continued, "You wish for me to leave Xu Corps be... Sure." At this part, Joann's heart soared even though she knew the condition for a devil's bargain was coming but she definitely did not expect Lin Kang to give such a despicable term, "Leave that weak husband of yours and be mine. Then I'll hold off the aggression on Xu Corps. Become a real sister to my wife."

Joann's body shivered involuntarily when Lin Kang's term drifted into her mind. Her mind went blank because his term was so incredulous. It was as if her mind had shut down in that particular moment.

When the gears of her mind resumed to turn, many different types of emotions raged within her but the one that was at the front and foremost was anger. It coloured all the other emotions like shame, fear, helplessness and disbelief that she felt.

Joann jumped up from her seat and knocked Lin Kang back. She stormed towards the door.

At the door, she turned and leveled a fiery gaze at Lin Kang. For her, the man had become the lowest of the low. She would rather die than beg him for anything.

"For shame, is this how you treat Xiu Ling?" Joann hissed through her gritted teeth and slammed the door close behind her. She then stormed out of Lin Corps.

Since Joann left in such a hurry, she did not notice that the mention of Xiu Ling's name seemed to daze Lin Kang. It seemed like he had been physically punched.

Lin Kang froze in the spot that he was standing for a long time before taking the steps to return to his seat. He returned his gaze to the computer screen like he had returned to work but his mind was in reality elsewhere.

Several minutes later, the man chuckled, but it was not a mirthful laugh, instead, it felt like one that was filled with incredulity. It was as if the man himself had a hard time coming to terms with what had happened.

...

About fifteen minutes after Joann stormed out of his office, the door opened a sliver and Lin Kang's personal secretary poked her head in. She had noticed the whole commotion and she decided to check up on her boss.

Of course, she did not do this out of charity. If she could lend her boss any aid, like a sensual massage to release his tension, she would get some benefits in return. That was how the arrangement was set up between them and the young woman could not wait to make herself useful because it had been quite some time since the last time Lin Kang employed her "services". In fact, the young woman had started to consider seeking employment elsewhere if she did not get any advantage from Lin Kang soon. That day, it seemed like her luck had turned. Joann had angered Lin Kang and the young woman could make use of this opportunity to get close to her boss.

However, when the young woman peeked into the room, Lin Kang was seated at the table with a serious expression in his face. It seemed like he was really deep in thought, probably thinking about business.

The young woman knew better than to disturb her boss at a time like this so she retreated back out and silently closed the door behind her. She would wait, bidding her time.

...

When Joann reached the entrance of Lin Corps, the indignation and anger she felt in Lin Kang's office had pretty much left her. In its place was a heavy load of helplessness and a hard to ignore twinge of regret.

When her mind was no longer clouded by emotions, Joann stopped to access the situation. She had promised her mother-in-law she would help to save Xu Corps but she had only made it even worse. If anything, Lin Kang was going to speed up the take-over as a revenge from being spurned.

Of course, this was just Joann's speculation but she would not put anything past a man who had the audacity to suggest a term that was as shameless as Lin Kang just did.

Then again, it appeared like accepting Lin Kang's term was the only solution to get out of this conundrum. Had she lost the only chance to save Xu Corps? Should she have accepted the trade?

'Of course not! What the hell am I thinking? If I'd said yes, I would never be able to live that down, not before others but before myself! I'd rather die than be someone's kept woman!'

What Joann failed to realize was how similar her situation was to Xiu Ling. If Joann had said yes, then she would be sacrificing herself for the person that she loved, which would be Xu Jing. In Xiu Ling's case, she had already said yes for the love in her life, Lin Xi.

If it was wrong for Joann to accept the terms given by Lin Kang, does this mean that it was also wrong for Xiu Ling to have accepted it? Or was these situations completely different from each other and equating them was a false equivalency?

Food for thought. In any case, this was one of the ways how the two women differed from each other.

In the end, Joann had to concede that perhaps meeting Lin Kang was a bad idea and her mother-in-law had a point. After the disastrous meeting with Lin Kang, Joann did not think talking to Xiu Ling would amount to anything but she could not just do nothing.