Like normal sisters

For the next half-hour, they both continued hashing out the general terms of their agreement. Huang Lihua of course tried very hard to negotiate the price of the shares lower, but Emma stood firm.

Assistant Xu was called back into the office, and everything was taken care of with alarming efficiency. The main points were noted and rushed off to Huang Lihua's lawyer for drafting of the agreement, and Assistant Xu left to start making preparations for the assistance Huang Lihua had agreed to provide to Emma.

After Assistant Xu left, the room fell back into an awkward silence. Now that they didn't have anything specific to talk about, the sisters had no idea how to talk with eachother. After all, they had always had a very antagonistic relationship growing up, and had probably never had a casual conversation like normal sisters.

After a few minutes of silence, Huang Lihua was the first to speak up.

"Why me?"

Emma's gaze, which had been wandering aimlessly about the room, snapped back to her sister.

"Hm?"

"Why come to me for help? Why give the shares to me? Why not Father, or our little brother?" Lihua said as she fixed her eyes on her sister, carefully observing and analysing her reaction.

"Um..." Emma was unsure how to respond, and squirmed a little under Lihua's intense stare. "I know we have never been particularly close, and I always distanced myself from the family, even before Father disowned me. And I can't say that I exactly trust you. But I suppose you are the most trustworthy one in our family."

Emma didn't mention that if not for her dire situation she would have never approached her sister for help like this. She had always planned to sell her shares at some point, once she took control of them on her 25th birthday. But she had envisioned it happening under different circumstances. Although now that she thought about it, it was very likely that she would have preferred to sell them to her sister rather than any of those awful leeches that called themselves 'family'.

Lihua narrowed her eyes, clearly not quite convinced by her explanation.

"Also I-" Emma paused for a second, gathering her thoughts. Speaking from the heart like this didn't come naturally to her. "I think you deserve to take over Huang Group. You are certainly qualified," she chuckled, waving a hand to indicate the room around them which reeked of success.

Then her face grew more serious, as she shrugged her petite shoulders. "I guess I feel that you are both the more capable and the more deserving of inheriting Huang Group."

As she finished speaking her eyes met her sister's. Huang Lihua looked surprised at Emma's words.

Feeling suddenly a bit embarrassed and awkward, Emma stood up and began moving about the room. Therefore she didn't see her sister's reaction to her words, which was a jumbled mixture of surprise, guilt, and confusion.

Emma, unaware of her sister's emotional reaction to her guarded praise, continued moving around the room, inspecting the shelves along one wall, filled with all sorts of priceless artifacts.

"Thank you."

Surprised, Emma swivelled around to look at her sister, her eyes wide with astonishment. Lihua herself looked quite surprised too, like she hadn't actually intended to say anything.

The two sisters stared at eachother for another few seconds, but Lihua's quickly grew hesitant and guarded. Then, she finally opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could get the words out, they were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.

Both sisters jumped at the sudden noise.

"Yes?!" Lihua snapped.

A wary Assistant Xu entered the office. He immediately picked up on the awkward atmosphere in the room. But what worried him, was the displeased look he received from Huang Lihua upon entering the room. Unsure how he had managed to annoy his boss, he lowered his gaze as he spoke.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, CEO Huang, but you asked me to remind you of the meeting with CFO Chen and the representative from Sana Corp."

"Right. Tell CFO Chen to start the meeting without me," Lihua replied brusquely, and dismissed the assistant with a wave.

"It seems like you have business to attend to, so I'll take my leave," Emma said, striding towards the door. When her sister didn't respond, she turned to find Lihua looking at her with a thoughtful expression. Something about her behaviour today seemed to have triggered this unusual reaction in her sister. Emma was used to receiving cold looks, sneers and derisive snorts. The woman before her seemed, more thoughtful, calm and collected.

Then Emma remember how much she herself had changed over the past years since her estrangement from her family. Was it really so surprising that her sister had matured too over those same years?

In fact, Lihua's animosity had always stemmed from her own insecurity. She had been born to a rich father, but had always needed to prove herself to others. It had driven her to succeed at almost anything she put her mind to. But it had also fuelled her fear of loosing everything she had to her sister, who was considered by many in the Huang family to be the only legitimate heir.

However, in the last few years, after Emma left the family and was disinherited by their father, Lihua had started to feel more confident in her own worth and abilities. Seeing her sister again, had made her realise that she need no longer hold onto her resentment towards her younger sister.

They would probably never be close like some sisters were. But maybe they had a chance of being more like normal sisters, without their previous bitterness and rivalry. Of course, Lihua would never say such sentimental nonsense out loud.

Instead she spoke something that had been on her mind since being informed of her sister's arrival at her company.

"You know what I thought we you came? When you asked for my help?" Lihua asked.

Emma looked surprised at the question, but replied with interest. "No. What?"

"I thought you had come to ask for me to negotiate with Dad for you to be part of the family again."

Emma shuddered and shook her head. "Definitely not."

"You don't want me to approach him about it? You have the leverage over me."

"No, why would I?"

"You know that he might find out about us having contact again, right?"

Emma paused. "Does that matter?"

"To me? Not really. But I'm not going to lie to him, if he asks, just so you know."

"I don't see why he would ask."

Lihua scrutinised her for a few more seconds. "Well, if you're speaking the truth, and you truly have no ulterior motive, then that's good," she said shrugging. "Of course I had to wonder, because of the timing."

Emma looked at her, confused by her words. "What do you mean 'timing'?"

"Because of my appointment as the deputy CMO of Huang Group," Lihua said with a raised eyebrow, looking at Emma like she was an idiot.

Emma eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. I had no idea. Well, then... erm... Congratulations. I suppose..." she replied awkwardly.

It was indeed quite an achievement by Huang Lihua to be appointed to such an influential position at such a young age. Especially considering what a conservative and male-dominated company Huang Group was.

Lihua narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she scrutinized her sister. However, the surprise on Emma's face could not be faked. "You honestly didn't know?"

"No, I didn't," Emma replied truthfully. "How many times do I have to tell you I really have no interest in Huang Group or anything in the business world. I truly, honestly just want to live my life the way I choose."

A fire seemed to light up Emma's eyes as she spoke those last words.

Lihua shook her head in wonder. This pig-headed little sister of hers. If she had just been willing to give into their father, she could have lived a life of comfort. And yet she chose to break from the family and live a life of worry and comparative poverty.

Huang Lihua thought she would never understand her.

"Anyway," Lihua said clearing her throat. "As you can surmise, I'm very busy wrapping up things here before I take up the deputy CMO position at Huang Group. Mr. Xu will let you know of the arrangements and then we can meet here tomorrow to sign the agreement."