The grand ploy to escape was quite a simple one. She had to make sure she wouldn't be discovered all evening by the housekeeper and the butler.
She knew they wouldn't disturb her if she said she would sleep all day. They wouldn't dare enter her bedroom. And if the security guards at the front gates didn't report her leaving, then they would have no reason to believe she was anywhere but in her bedroom.
Besides, Shen was also out for a business dinner tonight and may not return till later.
Tonight was the perfect opportunity.
She locked the bedroom door tightly shut from the inside and opened her window. There was a twenty foot jump below her, and anyone else probably would have thought a million times before trying to get out that way.
But Lina had come to know her own agility and capabilities as of late. Her body seemed to know what to do in every situation.
There was a tree with long, strong, thick branches before her. She held on to one of them and easily swung her body out, quickly and quietly. Like a professional tr.a.p.eze artist, she swung from branch to branch, pulling her weight with efficiency.
She then scaled down the tree like a leopard, dropping carefully to the ground without a scratch and a hair out of place on her wig.
She chuckled to herself at how easy that was and began to inconspicuously sneak towards the driveway to the main gates.
One of the security guards looked at her approaching, confused.
"Hey, who's that woman coming from within the mansion?" the first security guard asked the other one.
The second guard looked up lazily and shrugged.
"Who knows? The morning guards must have let her in. It's not as if a little lady like her could break in here."
This was also true. It was hard to believe this woman could have ever scaled up the high walls of the Moshi mansion, that had jagged shards of glass laced on top of them.
Moreover, the only entrance gates were always guarded and any and all visitors, familiar or not must log their names in a book whenever they stepped in, not matter how familiar they were.
Lina walked steadily and confidently towards the two guards and then cleared her throat, speaking in a much high pitched voice to disguise her identity.
"Hello! I'll be leaving now, so can you please open the gates?"
The first guard spoke up.
"Miss, please identify yourself first."
"My name is Mina. I came in early this morning with miss Mei to attend to some work with Madam Moshi. Miss Mei left to go back to the office earlier, while I stayed with Madam."
She finished her sentence with yet another charming smile.
The first guard walked over to check the entry log.
His tight expression softened. She was write, miss Mei did write her name there.
He nodded politely at her and opened the gates.
Lina chuckled to herself. Mei had sneakily written 'Mina' as well when she entered this morning. The morning guard hadn't bother to check because he was familiar with Mei.
She breathed a huge sigh of relief as she beckoned and caught a cab.
'It's really hard getting in and out of the Moshi mansion!' she thought to herself.
But then she thought about her husband.
'Is this how much Shen must watch his security? Is he always so worried, that he must keep looking over his shoulder?' her heart ached for her husband, a little.
Soon she was at the consultancy office building, where Mei was already waiting for her.
As she got out of the cab, there were several employees loitering outside who took due notice of her. The whispers began immediately
"Who is that cute woman there?"
"Wow, she would not be my type, but her face is exquisite!"
"Should I ask her out on a date?"
"Keep dreaming! As if a cutie like that would date you!"
Lina instructed Mei to drive them out of there in the company car. Mei was prepared as usual.
As they headed towards the riding club where they would find Lila Lim, Mei turned to her boss to gloat.
"Boss, you're amazing! I can't believe you actually snuck out of the mansion with such ease!"
But Lina ignored her.
"Meimei, why were there so many employees loitering around at this time? Have they no work to do? Is this how the office is run in my absence?"
Lina sounded stern, and Mei cringed in fear.
"Actually, boss, it's lunch time!"
The truth was, lunch time had ended a few minutes earlier. They were just being lazy.
"Then cut the lunch hours! Productivity and discipline are key."
"Yes boss!"
Lina could also be a heavy-handed, strict boss. Her beauty often led people to underestimate her toughness. But there was a reason she was successful.
Soon they pulled up outside the elite riding club. They sat in the parking as Lina looked at her watch.
"Meimei, it's only 2pm, we should wait here for a couple of hours and keep a watch on who comes and goes. We are bound to catch Lila coming out."
Mei nodded enthusiastically.
Spending a couple of hours alone in a car with boss -- hell yes!
"So, tell me, how is it going with that Shu Yi?" Lina asked.
Mei blushed.
"It's good. He's a very nice man. He's down to earth, and he's kind and he makes me laugh!" Mei's eyes lit up as she spoke affectionately of him.
Lina smiled at her. You could see a girl glow when she thought of her sweetheart, and that was exactly what Mei looked like.
"Are you meeting him again?" Lina probed.
"Yes, boss! Hopefully we can go out tomorrow. He doesn't have much time, you know. He's quite busy with his work!"
Line laughed to herself in her head. Between transitioning as the new CEO of Yinan Industries and moonlighting as a lab technician at Sakura hospital and handling his pesky sister plus demanding mother, she wondered how he ever found the time to romance her little assistant.
She unconsciously giggled as she imagined Mei's expression on learning that horrible Sara Yi was Shu's sister, and how horrified Sara would be if she found out her brother was courting her assistant.