Read The Two Sisters of Borneo for Free Online Page B

much interest on the fifty million I agreed to repay when your share came in. But at the core, in his heart, I think he wants me — he wants us to fail so that things can go back to the way they’ve always been.”
    “And you’re trying to tell me what? That we’ve failed?”
    “No, but we have a problem.”
    “That so far I know nothing about.”
    May slipped the last olive into her mouth and sucked on it as if she were trying to extract every last drop of gin. “Our new company has put money into three businesses in very short order. We bought Jack Yee’s trading company outright, as you know, because that was the only way we could get Amanda. But it’s a mature business that almost runs itself. We invested in a distribution business in Shanghai that I’ve had my eye on for some time. I’ve known the married couple who own it for years, and the wife is really the brains behind the operation. The husband died about six months ago and now she has free reign to expand the business. She came to me with a proposal; I gave it to Amanda to assess and she said it was a solid investment. We gave the woman the capital she needed to add warehouse space and to update and expand her truck fleet. It’s already looking as if the returns will be very good.
    “The problem investment is the only one we had no previous detailed knowledge of. It’s a family business that produces fine furniture in rosewood, teak, rubberwood, and bamboo. When we looked at it, there were four equal partners: the two sons and two daughters of the founding family. Their parents, who started the business, have been dead for a few years.” May paused as the server appeared with Ava’s coffee.
    “Another drink, Madam Wong?” he asked.
    May Ling looked at her empty glass and then shot a small smile towards Ava. “No, thank you,” she said.
    Ava took a sip of her coffee. “How did these brothers and sisters find us?”
    “Through Amanda. It was her project. She went to business school with the younger of the two sisters.”
    “No wonder you didn’t want to discuss it with her before the wedding,” Ava said.
    “It could have ruined her day.”
    And might have jinxed the marriage itself , Ava thought. “But May, are you suggesting that maybe Amanda was somehow negligent?”
    “No, this isn’t Amanda’s fault, believe me. She did thorough due diligence and I went over all the paperwork myself.”
    “Then why do we have a problem, and how did it happen so quickly? I mean, this investment is how old?”
    “Four months.”
    “Good God.”
    “I know, I know. But the thing is, the more I look at it, the more I think we were set up from the very start.”
    “What do you mean? The family did this to us?”
    May shook her head. “I wish it was so simple.”
    “Then what?”
    May stared out over the harbour, her profile captured by soft overhead lighting that made her look young and vulnerable. “I think the two brothers are trying to fuck us over,” she said, turning back to Ava.
    Ava sipped some more coffee. Her fatigue was beginning to dissipate. “Not the sisters?”
    “No.”
    “How have you come to that conclusion?”
    “The brothers are useless, both of them.”
    “May, that’s not telling me anything.”
    “Sorry, I just get so angry when I think about them.”
    “I’m listening.”
    May stared at her empty glass. “The parents built the company from scratch. They started by exporting timber overseas and then gradually eased their way into furniture production. The sons and the eldest daughter — her name is Ah-Pei — joined the company right out of high school. She was the only one who really worked at it. The brothers, Tambi and Mamat, did marketing and sales, but all that meant was that they went to trade shows, drank with buyers, and paid off enough of them to increase their sales. The actual heavy lifting in the business — anything to do with finance, administration, purchasing, or production — was managed by the