Chapter 132 - Risky investments

In the office, Lina sat at her computer, quietly pondering over the financial state of her consultancy. They had always been doing well, and her niche market was solely dominated by her people.

Therefore, they never ran out of business and could charge elaborate fees to clients who could afford it.

Moreover, she owned billions in assets and had another fortune tucked away securely in investments. After her coma, she had gone over the state of her company thoroughly. There were no holes or leakages, and things had luckily been running smoothly.

A part of her ached for Shen. His conglomerate was massive. He had a lot more to keep track of as compared to her. Her one business was the equivalent to a fraction of his total empire.

No wonder a mole had snuck in. No wonder people had found various positions to attack him from. She was resolute, though. She would protect her husband, no matter what the cost.

"Oh! Of course, how could I forget!" she exclaimed to herself.

She quickly dialled Ayu's number.

A firm, smooth female voice answered at the other line almost immediately.

"Hello, Madam." Ayu's tone was cold, unlike the bits of warmth and concern she had shown Lina the previous night.

A part of Lina's heart fell at the thought. She remembered Ayu's gentle touch, and awkwardness. Things she didn't think that beauty was capable of.

Lina coughed awkwardly.

"Uh…did you get home alright and sleep well?" Lina asked.

Ayu was stirring a cup of coffee she was making with all the courage she had in her body. Of course she hadn't slept well!

Not only had she left her beloved Lina in the arms of her love rival and boss, but that very same boss had punished her for giving in to Lina's demands!

She had been up all night, reviewing the lowest level staff's payslips to make sure it 'all tallied up' because she was 'the only one I can trust'— Shen had said to her sarcastically.

She grit her teeth. Was her revered boss getting more and more annoying or was she falling even deeper for her idol boss' crazy wife?!

"Of course, I slept well." she responded curtly. "Is there anything Madam wanted?" she asked, dodging anymore small talk, before she said something stupid or revealing.

Lina snapped back to reality.

"Oh yes, of course! I called to postpone the time you pick me up. Noon is too early. Can you get here a little later — say, at 1:30 pm?" she enquired.

Ayu sighed in disappointment. She had to wait an hour an a half longer to see her love's face?

But Lina misread her sigh.

'I must be such a burden to her. She probably feels like my babysitter.'

"Ahh…never mind, Ayu, I know you're busy! I'll just drive over myself!" Lina offered, in an attempt to lighten Ayu's burden.

"No!" Ayu shouted.

In a moment of shock, both women were silent on their respective ends. Lina was slightly taken aback. She wasn't sure if Ayu was really angry at her. She wasn't used to being shouted at.

Ayu was internally beating herself up. She was terrified of having hurt Lina, but at the same time mad at herself for letting her emotions show so explicitly.

What was Lina thinking, Ayu wondered, not knowing what to say next.

Lina was tongue-tied. Not getting a response, Ayu tried to explain herself.

"Uh-umm…I'm sorry. I can't let you do take the trouble. Please let me help."

Ayu's voice was awkward, but soft and slightly pained. Lina felt bad for Ayu in that moment. Maybe she was being threatened by her devil husband.

Lina smiled to herself. She wouldn't get Ayu into more trouble.

"Okay! Then I'll be waiting for you!" she answered pleasantly and hung up.

Ayu breathed a sigh of relief and put her hand on her chest. Her heartbeat was racing.

"Keep yourself in check, idiot." she whispered to herself softly as she got up to go finish some more work.

At the consultancy, Lina logged into the company bank account. She knew what she had to do now. She had spent enough time sitting on the sidelines. She looked at all her investments. Wise decisions from the past had paid off.

She smiled as she made calculations on a piece of paper next to her. After a few clicks, she grinned to herself. Phase one had finally begun.

She picked up her intercom and called Mei in.

The little assistant came knocking to her door almost immediately.

"Boss, there has been progress. But I'm afraid the news isn't too good" Mei said, huffing. She knew, for some reason, this case was important to boss.

The Country A case. Their contact was missing. He was a high ranking official from the government who had tipped them off about restricted arms deals between Country A and Country J. But for some reason, the consultancy had lost contact with him.

Takashi Hino walked in behind Mei. He was the consultancy's head of operations and communications. Lina had left him in charge of investigating the disappearance.

"What news, Takashi?" Lina asked, grave expression clouding her face. She was preparing for the worst.

"Boss, it seems unlikely that our contact is still alive"

Takashi's words were solid as rock. There was hardly any doubt in his implication. Even though he used the word 'unlikely', Takashi knew that the man was dead.

"We recovered a body from a reservoir near the building where he works. Our trusted allies in the police force of Country A investigated it thoroughly. His wife identified his personal belongings."

Lina slammed her fist on the table. The officials in Country A who were plotting were a force to be reckoned with. They were so well informed and their execution was ruthless.

But this was confirmation that the threat was real.

"You know what this means don't you both?" Lina asked slowly.

Takashi nodded.

"A war is coming, isn't it Boss?" Mei asked quietly.

Lina nodded. She didn't know what firepower Country A already had now that their contacts in Country J had been exporting them through a gold pass shipping company that didn't require stringent border control checks.

Lina snapped her fingers.

"Takashi, did you make a list of all the shipping companies in Country J that have the gold pass recommendation?" she asked hopefully.

Takashi nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. This was their one lead. If they could narrow down the likeliest organisation assisting this trade, they could acc.u.mulate a lot more information.

As Takashi passed a slip of paper to her, Lina remembered something important. Didn't her husband's very own conglomerate have a top rated shipping subsidiary?!

As her heart was filled with dread, she looked at the sheet in her hand. And sure enough, one name stood out like a thorn.

'MOSHI CORPORATION SHIPPING'