25: SON
!!!ATTEMPTED MURDER AGAINST DIRECTOR ANG LIM!!!
!!!SON OF CEO INVOLVED IN MURDER CASE AGAINST DIRECTOR LIM!!!
!!!FROM ATTEMPTED RAPE CASE TO ATTEMPTED MURDER CASE!!!
"Don't watch the news, Xiu." Honey grabs the remote control from the woman's hand and turns off the television hanging on the wall.
"I'm nervous." Wang Xiu reaches for the woman's hand to get the remote back. But the lawyer spread her arms high to avoid the woman's reach. And every time Wang Xiu tries to get the remote control from Honey, the woman would change hands.
Honey giggles at how Wang Xiu struggles to get the remote from her hand. They are often like this when they are together. Playful. Mischievous. Like, little kids. Honey is the only daughter of a former District Attorney, though she has a younger stepbrother, she was never close to him. Unlike the cousins, Wang Xiu and Li Jun who got close living together, she detested her brother. Her best friend understands how he loathed him and never mentions his name. They are only connected by blood and that is where their relationship ends.
Wang Xiu pounces on Honey to get the remote. The force of the jump made the lawyer lose balance and they both fell on the couch, with Wang Xiu on top.
"A**hole!" Wang Xiu exclaims and they both giggled.
Hard knocks on the door disrupt their fun moment. They both stare at each other, guessing who is outside the door. Wang Xiu expects her uncle Li Wei to arrive later in the evening after a meeting with the shareholders and department heads of the company. An emergency leave for the old man and an empty position that both Li Jun and Wang Xiu cannot fill at the moment is a tough situation for the company.
Honey stood up from the couch, no one knows this room where Wang Xiu stays other than her. She has another room on another floor where she and her assistant stay together to gather documents needed for Wang Xiu and Li Jun's case.
They both have their forehead wrinkled from guessing the person outside. Honey used the peephole in the solid oak door to peer at the person standing behind the door and her eyes widened learning who it was.
"Xiu, hide…" The lawyer whispered across the room.
"Why?" Wang Xiu mutters with a bewildered stare at the woman's action.
"Just hide!" Honey gritted her teeth while mumbling her words. She doesn't want Wang Xiu to know who is behind the door and the surprising visitor doesn't need to see her best friend at her most vulnerable time.
Wang Xiu walks toward the door and stands on the wall. If the door opens she won't be seen by anyone other than Honey who knows where she hides.
Honey sneered at the woman who hides in the most obvious way. They were about to argue when three consecutive thumps coming from outside the door interrupted their whispering. Honey takes a deep breath and opens the door.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" The lawyer begins to interrogate the person outside the door.
"Ms. Tang, is Ms. Zhang there?" The baritone voice of the man sounds like it's coming from a deep cave. Solid and clear.
"No, what do you want from my client?" Honey lifts her brow while raising a question to the man standing in front of her.
The lawyer scans the man from head to toe. His black clean-cut hair is parted on the side. His shoulder is not broad but he's tall enough to be a basketball player. The deep narrow eyes give him a tough look and thick lips that perfectly match his high cheekbones. He wears a double-breasted gray suit expressing an extremely formal impression. Honey gazes at the man's face once more.
That jawline is to die for, the lawyer thought.
"I heard you lost the plea at the inquest to overturn the charge from attempted murder to aggravated assault," The man inquires, standing at the doorway of the hotel room. The woman didn't invite her in.
"And it's all thanks to one of your lawyers, Ms. Bao." Honey let her arms cross against her chest. She remembers the detective uses the woman's testimony to justify the charge that was given to Li Jun.
"My lawyers are good at telling the truth," The man smirks at the woman who lost her argument at the first step of their case.
"Uh-huh…" Ms. Tang purses her lips, dismissing the fellow lawyer's mocking gesture.
"How's Ms. Zhang?" The man looks down at her feet while raising a question about the woman's state.
"Why are you here, Mr. Yang," Honey asks directly without pause.
"I'm not here to fight. I want to tell Ms. Zhang that I'm sad about the incident but I have to defend my client because it's my job." Mr. Yang explains looking at the door where the light from the wall is disrupted by a shadow.
"Is that all?" The lawyer put her hand on the side of the door, ready to close it if the man tells a wrong word.
"I'm going to be the first chair at the indictment." Mr. Yang sets his hands inside his pocket and straightens his back, lifting his chin to express his confidence.
"Should I tremble in fear at the news that Mr. Yang Sheng Zheng, the senior partner of Yang and Associates Law Firm is going to represent a rapist?" Honey mocks the man for the subtle threat. The woman knows it's a manner of putting pressure on them.
"No. I want you to send a message to your client." The man continues and puts his head closer to the door.
"What message?" The lawyer follows the man's gesture. Setting her body closer to the door.
"She won't win this case even if she sleeps with my mother," Mr. Yang let out a scowl on his lips, "That's all." He added.
The door in front of Mr. Yang closes hard on his face. The force of the air blew a few strands of his hair. He brushes them back in place and begins to step away from the room of his opponent. He has sent his message precisely clear. If Zhang Wang Xiu has shame, she would stop her connection with her mother, CEO Yang Fei Hong.
The man stride fast to get out of the hotel and reach his car. Inside he let go of all of the frustration he holds in his heart.
He closes his eyes and recalls the day he saw a woman in white in the middle of the crowd, greeting her mother on her birthday like they have known each other for a long time. Yet, he can't remember seeing the woman before.
'Is she a new actress?' Sheng Zheng thought.
The woman's beauty differs from all the rest, the subtle confidence, elegance, and grace. It was apparent that the woman is not there to meet producers or other directors like the one accompanying her, she was there for someone, a person he didn't expect to know.
Mr. Yang drives his car at a fast speed. Holding the steering wheel tight as he recollects the scene that drives him to hate both her mother and the woman in white that day.
He remembers the moment he felt his heart throb fast inside his chest gazing at the woman leaning her body against the glass railing. Her eyes scan the people on the first floor while sipping from her glass of champagne and she didn't see him watching her every movement.
Yang Sheng Zheng took a deep breath before putting his feet forward to approach the woman, but he stopped when he saw his mother whisper words near the woman's ear. They begin to have a conversation with their body close to each other. It didn't bother him that they were close, the next gesture of her mother is what shocked him the most. CEO Yang pulls a black card from her suit and gently strides her finger on the woman's chest.
The intimate gesture stunned him from head to feet. He denied seeing it. What made him hate the woman was the next act, Zhang Wang Xiu accepted the card that he assumed was her mother's.
He turned his body away from the scene. Not only did he find out her mother is having a relationship with a woman, but he also admired her.
Sheng Zheng told himself it's malicious to assume the woman in white and her mother have a relationship. He was in denial of what he saw at the party. When the woman slips away after midnight leaving the director that accompanies her, he followed her quietly until the woman reached the door of CEO Yang's room.
Disappointed. Frustrated. Betrayed.
He searched for the woman's name and found out she is, Ms. Zhang Wang Xiu, executive director for marketing at Long Construction and Development Corporation. Niece of CEO Long from his wife. The woman is educated, highly regarded and most of all beautiful.
'Is that why her mother likes the woman?' Sheng Zheng thought.
His car screeching from the sudden turn stops him from reminiscing. He told himself he will forget about Zhang Wang Xiu and not tell her mother what he saw but fate seems to make fun of him. A call from junior associates called him early in the morning about an incident that occurred at the hotel where they are staying.
The worst news came, Zhang Wang Xiu was almost raped by their client. He wanted to punch the director himself but it was an opportunity to meet the woman her mother had an affair with.
He accepted the case and reminded himself that this is a job and he has a reputation of often winning trials.
Yang Sheng Zheng reaches the hotel where he stays and steps to the elevator to reach his room. He took a long cold bath to calm himself and let out his frustrations.
Even if he knew Zhang Wang Xiu and her mother had an affair. He can't stop thinking about her and wish it was him in the room with her.