In a high end private room of one of the Lu owned Restaurant.
After a satisfying hearty dim sum breakfast, the three siblings begun to converse with more vigor and ease. The atmosphere was pretty relaxing with the sound of traditional Chinese musical instrument music playing softly in the background.
"April, what are your future plans? You are twenty two this year, right?" Jade asked earnestly. April was taken aback by the sudden question. Initially she thought Jade was looking down on her because of the three she is the only one without much qualifications for anything. However, she could see no malice in Jade's tone or action. In fact it was concern. In the past, she would have already misunderstood Jade because mother would make a comment indicating Jade was looking down on her. Now she is beginning to suspect if mother was the one who is looking down on her instead.
April stared at her hands and after some time, she answered, "I don't know, at one point I was thinking of being an actress or a model but now I don't think I like being in the spotlight, I don't have skills and lack knowledge in most things. I don't know what to do, most probably marry young?"
"It is alright to marry young, but it is even better if you have things that you can do because I am sorry if this offends you, the reality is, we don't know how long relationship can last, one moment a couple can be very much in love and inseparable and in a blink of an eye, the couple can't even stand the presence of one another. This is the sad reality. As women, we need something that we can fall back to, at any point, you feel being in that relationship is fruitless, you will always have that courage to walk away because you are independent. A man that really love you would want you to be independent as well and would not fear you would soar higher than him. He would allow you to grow together along with him. If you lack skills, you can always learn some, if you lack knowledge you can always gain some. It is whether you want to or not"
Adam who came to pick April up overheard every words Jade spoke and he agreed with her wholeheartedly. He had made up his mind to allow April to bond with her siblings, maybe their influence on her would have some good outcome. Hence, he decided to give the three siblings some alone time. Derek who was also standing out there was indecisive if he should make his appearance or not and in the end he decided not to. That is my wife! His heart swollen with pride. Two outstanding men, both standing outside the private room in their own thoughts and then only to realise that they are not alone. They both eyed each other suspiciously.
Derek dragged Adam away with forced away from the room and asked in a chilly tone, "Who the hell are you? Why are you intruding on private conversation? Who let you in?"
Adam was taken by surprised when he was forcefully dragged against his will that he didn't have time to react and gave a response. "Get your hands off me. Who are you? Why were you also intruding on private conversation?" he said as he broke free from Derek grasp.
"Who I am is not important! Stop avoiding my questions." Derek roared. He called his hidden guards to restrain Adam and do a quick search. Adam was furious with his violation of rights but could not do much about it. The guards were just too strong. Derek was going through Adam's identification card. He gave Jason a call and asked him to run a thorough background check on Adam and want results in 5 minutes. Jason cursed Adam as he furiously type on his keyboard.
Oblivious to the commotion outside, April was pondering every words that Jade had uttered. She thought she would have feel offended with it instead she felt an inexplicable feeling of warmth spreading around her heart. Mother educated me since young, to learn the art of seduction and white lotus acts to attract men and get them to eat from the palm of my hands. Mother did not even teach me to empower myself, to be self reliant and have self respect. Oh, Mother, were you brought up the same way?
"I need some time to think about my interest." April said softly.
"It is okay, baby girl, big brother will guide you. Are you interested in our family business, if yes, why not tour our facilities and see if anything caught your interest then we will work things out from there" Chris spoke in excitedly. "I really hope the three of us can work together to bring Mama's company to a greater heights and achieve new things." he added on.
"I am looking forward to it too. I can and will support your education but the rest is up to you to prove your worth. I have said it to Chris before and I will say this to you, I can create opportunities but after that you need to put in your own effort, blood and sweats into it. I am not going to pull any strings for your advancement, you need to advance yourself by your own means with no underhand methods. Can you do that?" Jade explained.
"I think I can. I will go back and think things through. Thanks in advance for the opportunity. It means a lot to have someone believe in you." April said gratefully.
"Do you want to move out of the house? The environment there is suffocating and stunt one's growth." Chris looked at April.
"I want! I want to be free from Mother's grasp" April said with great determination. Jade and Chris both nodded in agreement and support.
"Where do you want to stay? You can move in with me" Chris offered April. After that, the just spoke of unrelated but interesting things about themselves. Finally, after 3 hours of bonding, they decided to call it a day.
hope you all enjoy this light chapter
love author