Chapter 5 I Only Love You

"Do you think she's trying to get close to you by using Precious?"

Luke assumed his brother would have a pretty good reason to think so.

After all, he was the CEO of Oliver Group, and the company engaged in real estate, hospitality management, jewelry lines, department stores, entertainment networks, and a host of other industries.

In addition, all of Oliver Group's subsidiaries had secured positions in being the best in their respective fields.

Just how much money did the man possess?

It was a ridiculous thought to even ponder.

Suffice it to say that a single strange move from his brother would send the global financial circle scrambling on their feet.

Over the years, a lot of people had attempted to establish a connection with his brother by getting close to his daughter, Precious. A lot of women had come and gone, but this was the first time that the man in question had actually wanted someone's background investigated.

"Ryan, what is going on?"

"Precious likes her very much."

Well, the reason made perfect sense for Luke.

The little girl was the prized treasure of the Oliver family.

That much was evident by her name, and it had been intentional from the start.

Ryan was turning thirty this year, and not once had he ever been interested in a woman.

But three years ago, a baby had been left at the gate of their villa, along with a note saying that the child was his.

The poor baby had been in a terrible condition when they had found her, crumpled into herself like a little monkey. A doctor's examination had revealed that the little girl's bones had been broken. Her body had been full of bruises, too. She had been almost dead at that point. The Oliver family had immediately sent her to intensive care, and had had a paternity test done to ascertain the baby's identity.

And it had turned out that she really was Ryan's daughter.

Since his parents had always been looking forward to news of their sons eventually getting married and having children, the news had made them both happy. But there had been sadness and regret as well.

Perhaps it was because she had no mother to call her own that the elders lavished the little girl with all the love and attention they could give. It reached the point where she began to act willful and arrogant, especially toward people who were not part of the family.

In particular, she had been rejecting all the women who had showed interest on her father. Even those who had been discreet about their intentions had not escaped her wrath.

And while Precious' actions seemed to have pissed off Ryan's blind date, this was indeed the first time that Luke had seen the girl throw herself at a woman, and a stranger at that.

She had even declared something he had never imagined would come out of her mouth-"I like her".

If someone were to use Precious on purpose...

Luke got to his feet. "I'll go check on it right away!"

Back at the VIP room Roger had booked, Wendy had barely stepped inside when Raymond pounced at her and clutched her legs.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"Mommy, what took you so long?" the boy whined. "I thought something bad happened to you."

His words brought warmth to her heart.

She picked up the boy and patted his butt before walking into the room. "What can possibly happen to Mommy? I just happened to meet this very cute girl outside who needed my help."

A very cute girl?

A girl?

Raymond had never heard his mother praising other children before!

An alarm was ringing inside the boy's mind.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asked, noticing the small frown he sported.

He hesitated for a couple of seconds before finally asking, "Mommy, do you like girls more?

Why wasn't I born a girl?" He looked genuinely upset by this.

Amused, Wendy planted a big, sound kiss on his cheek. "Mommy likes Ray. I love Ray the most!"

The little boy's ears turned red and he wriggled in his mother's arms. "I'm a man of four years old," he announced proudly. "You can't kiss me like that from now on."

"No matter how old you are, you are still Mommy's good boy!"

Raymond grinned despite himself.

Roger smiled as he watched them, pulling out chairs to accommodate them at the table. "All right, all right. Come and eat!"

"Here we are!"

An hour later...

"Wow! It's hot! It's so hot!"

Luke was panting, his shirt drenched in sweat. He burst into the VIP room and made a beeline for the pot of cold tea at the corner. He hurriedly poured himself a cup and drank it in two big gulps, grateful when the drink helped him cool down a little. He plopped down on the chair nearest the air conditioner. "Ahh, that's better. I finally feel alive again!"

"Did you accomplish your mission?"

"Yes!" Luke replied, mockingly hiding the folder behind his back. "Hey Ryan, guess what I found out."

"Just tell me!"

"Gosh, you're so boring!" Luke threw the file over to his brother. "That woman is called Wendy Finch, and she's only twenty-three years old. She is actually connected to us. In a way, anyway. She is Rosie Finch's cousin."

"Rosie Finch?"

"Yes, the wife of our good friend, Kane Evans. We were invited to their wedding four years ago. This is where things get interesting. Do you remember that funeral service we attended with Kane three years ago? That was supposed to be Rosie Finch's cousin's funeral! This very same cousin!"

Ryan's eyes glinted with a sharp edge as he opened the folder and began to peruse the documents.

Luke continued to talk. "Wendy Finch is truly unfortunate and pitiful. Her mother died when she was only six years old, and her father remarried shortly after. The stepmother had a daughter of her own called Eris. Wendy has another sister, though, who shared the same parents as her. This other sister is six years older, and was married off by their father to a rich old man when she turned eighteen. And another important fact-Wendy Finch apparently fell in love with Brian Oliver at the age of sixteen!"

"Brian Oliver?"

"Yes! The Brian Oliver, our nephew!" Luke shrugged his shoulders and carried on. "They were supposed to have been in a relationship, but all of a sudden Brian fell in love and got together with Wendy's stepsister three years later. And then... Well nobody really knew for sure what happened, but news came out that Wendy just "died." Her family held a funeral for her and everything. It turns out she's alive and had left Ywood for the US."

Ryan flipped through the pages and got to the section of her relocation to the US. The paper was blank.

He looked up at his brother.

"Don't ask me. I don't know either! There wasn't any information available about her life in the US, as if that part of her life was completely wiped out from public knowledge. Even with all our resources, we couldn't find anything at all."

Ryan frowned.

"Nevertheless, I can say for sure that she had no intentions to get close to Precious whatsoever."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because she just returned to the city today. She got off the plane roughly two hours ago," Luke explained. "She couldn't have perpetrated such a lucky encounter."

Ryan said nothing and looked back at the file.

"Don't worry. She isn't going to do anything to Precious."

This earned him a glance from his brother. "Are you absolutely certain?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Wendy Finch is an actress, and the purpose of her return is to audition for the play of The Story of Concubine Ivanka."

"And this is enough to convince you that she is not a threat to my daughter?"

"Of course not!" Luke said, visibly affronted. He leaned over Ryan's desk and said in a teasing tone, "Guess who her agent is."

"Okay, stop trying to play games with me!"

"Humph! So boring! Her agent is Roger Johnson. He probably also has something to do with the data blackout on her time in the US. They must have been acquainted there given that Roger also went to the US three years ago. Besides, didn't he asked us for an opening at the addition just a few days ago? Same audition, same play. It must have been for Wendy Finch!"

Ryan's fingers paused mid-air.

Roger Johnson!

He was not the kind of person who would treat people well for no reason.

So

what could the relationship be between Roger and that woman?