Chapter 19: Would she be back?

It has been more than a month now since the incident and Li Naihe was feeling disturbed. He had tried to dismiss it as a mirage from being too tired, stressed and overworked, but it didn't sit right with him.

The woman who was his executive assistant continued to be just as bland and submissive as when he hired her originally. It was true he didn't need more, and her performance was adequate but where was the woman he met that day.

Every spare second his mind got from the multitude of business deals and documents he had to go through, he spent thinking about that woman.

'Who are you Raven Vaughn? And where are you?' he thought for the millionth time since she disappeared.

Miss Jisuanji Liehen was knocking on his office's door, no doubt to inform him he had another lunch meeting to go to. Today he had to show his bad side. Lanhua Corporation decided to take on a small project as a favour to one of their long standing partners, but the company they partnered with kept pestering them. It was like they didn't know who they were dealing with. Likely they didn't because they were newly established and got this deal through connections rather than a well put together proposal.

This company they were partnering with was a startup originally meant to help the second son of their long standing partner, Shenshen group, start his career in the business world. Shenshen group, similar to Lanhua, was a family business started around the same time.

Even though the Shengua family was not as established and as successful as the Li family, they were a reliable business partner and long standing family friends. Li Naihe would not disregard their proposal at his grandmother's request. She was very fond of the third daughter of the Shengua family and treated her almost like her granddaughter.

On a shallow level, Li Naihe disliked the woman, she was very flimsy and a bit of a white lotus he thought, but since his grandmother was so fond of her, as long as it didn't interfere with his actual business, he would allow it.

A couple of years ago, Elder Madam Li tried to set Naihe up with Lianhua since they were old family friends and the girl came from a suitable background, but he wanted no part in that. The woman, Shengua Lianhua was too fake for him to be able to stomach it. If she was in his world, he would've gotten rid of her at the speed of light. The woman was bound to cause trouble, and he was right.

He didn't have the heart to tell his grandmother how much trouble this woman had caused him, but if it started to interfere with his business, he would find a way to quickly erase her from the face of the earth, grandmother or not. He'd find a way to explain her disappearance after all, it was what he did.

The woman was somewhat delusional anyway, so maybe getting her committed in an institution could also be kept on the table as an option.

He needed to focus to keep his annoyance in check. This was not such a big deal, but he was really starting to be frustrated with the incompetence that surrounded him. He took a deep breath, remembering to stay calm and not to rock the boat, follow the script and figure it out.

"Come in" he said with a gruff voice, and quickly coughed when he saw his assistant entering.

"President Li, your 1PM appointment for lunch is next on your schedule. Given the traffic outside, it will probably take about 20 minutes to get there, are you ready for me to call the car?"

He couldn't help the disappointment when the woman came in. He still had hope that the feisty vixen personality would come back. He repeatedly tried to find out if the woman maybe had multiple personality disorder, or maybe some form of bipolar syndrome, but it didn't seem like that was the case. Of course if she did, he would get her the help she need, but secretly he was hoping the other personality would take over. It was an evil thought to have, and he chided himself for thinking it, but he couldn't stop thinking about that woman, whoever she was.

Alas, this was not the case. The Liehen in front of him looked like it was the same person as the original, with no mental conditions out of the ordinary. She was a good executive assistant to him so he wouldn't fire her, he had no reason to.

Li Naihe valued performance and loyalty, and his executive assistant was rising to the challenge. She has seen some not so good parts of him but still kept her mouth shut and did her job. In that regard, he was pleased.

Putting aside his disappointment, he got up from his desk and headed to his car. It was time to frighten the hell out of some noobies.

[In the same time, in a galaxy far far away… haha joking!]

Raven was pleased with the progress Pinky was making and she was now starting to slowly return to her own project. If he needed help, he would say so. She was pleased with herself that now Pinky had a personality, so she started attributing human traits to the little piggie, like thinking about it as a he/him rather than an it. It was a good feeling to have.

Now it was time for her to start her series of experiments on the book. She would start with swabbing the pages and cover for the residual material she discovered when she came back, and then continue to monitor any energy readings from the book while waiting for the results of the chemical compounds.

Just as she was about to get the book out of the casing she asked Dominic to put it in this morning, he suddently popped on her screen. He had a very worried look on this face "Madam, the energy readings are going through the roof, please be careful".

Without wasting any time she slammed the casing back onto the book and instructed Dominic

"If I disappear for any reason, you're in charge of the daily operations until I'm back. Do not inform anyone of my disappearance, I will be back."

Before she could say another word, a blinding light encompassed her and she could feel the pull.

This time she was ready and she was excited. 'Here we go!'