254 Zhu Cheng

"Why do you think has she come back here?" Mrs. Li asked her husband softly.

She was worried about Yimei's reaction when she will get to know about Sam's arrival. Though Yimei had been married for six years now, the emotional trauma, which she had suffered because of her step sister's deception, was still fresh in her mind. She didn't want a repeat of it, especially now when she had just discovered that she was pregnant. The couple had been trying to have a child for the past few years now but it was only now that they had been blessed with the good news.

"I don't know but I don't trust her one bit. Let's wait and watch her for now. And make sure to keep Yimei away from her," he instructed her sharply.

"Her arrival could not be linked to the papers which he had sent her, could it?" Li Yichen thought to himself.

"Where is Zhu Cheng? We have to go for a very important meeting with our new partners, the Wang father-son duo, today," he asked his wife.

Zhu Cheng was Yimei's husband. Born and brought up in a prestigious family, he had been treated like a prince since childhood, partly due to his looks, partly due to his being the only male heir to the bloodline. By the time Cheng grew up, the family business had taken a hit. Debt ridden, he had clung to his tattered prestigious fame desperately, up until he met the very naïve Li Yimei. He was in his final year of post-graduation when his assessing eyes had spotted the fresh undergraduate, within the first few days of entering college.

After a few discreet enquiries, he had discovered that she belonged to the prestigious and wealthy Li family and more importantly, was the only child of the family. Pursuing her with all his might and charm, he had succeeded in having her fall crazily in love with him. Though her family had initially objected to his background being not as remarkable as their own, Yimei had been blinded enough by his persona to not pay any heed to their words. Even the family had eventually been enchanted by the humble, polite and well-mannered boy, well almost all of them.

He seemed ideally suited for their timid and over protected child. Without much ado, the family had announced the engagement of the love birds. For all practical purposes, he was now the heir to the Li family business.

"Yimei told me that Zhu Cheng will meet you directly at the designated meeting place,' Mrs. Li informed her husband.

Mr. Li frowned at the news. It had been decided that they would meet here and decide upon the finer points for negotiation before leaving together. In the recent times, Mr. Li had started to feel that Zhu Cheng was trying to exert his influence over every business dealing. It was alright if he contributed to the to business since he was probably going to own everything once Mr. Li retired but the way he went about it was furtive and not transparent. Yichen remembered his late father's wariness about Zhu Cheng. He never trusted him fully.

"I will need to have a frank conversation with him about it," Yichen thought to himself before leaving for the meet.

Samantha lay on her bed, thinking back to the extraordinary meeting which she had wrapped up, before coming to the Li mansion.

Last week her mother had received a mail from her father's office, which stated that some shares were left to Samantha by her late grandfather, as part of his will. Her father wanted her to transfer those shares in his name by signing the papers which had been couriered to her. He had further stated that appropriate compensation would be accorded to her versus that transfer.

No one in the Li family was aware about the change in Sam's line of education from medicine to Business management and accountancy. She had spent the last five years trying to master as much as she could, in the financial field. This included doing apprenticeship during every semester break. She had worked really hard to prepare herself for the future. She had a vague plan in her head. Though, she hadn't expected the opportunity to showcase her skills to arrive this early, she was battle ready!!

After scanning the papers carefully, she realised that her grandfather had left her 50% of the total shares, the other half being in her father's name.

"So he wanted to deny me the inheritance and give it all to the new family, is it?" Sam had been belligerent when she realised the bitter fact facing her.

She had contacted her grandfather's attorney firm which had been mentioned in the documents. After a lengthy conversation with the elderly gentleman who had serviced her grandfather personally for so many years, she had formulated a plan.