“I’m seeing some of the Freshview people tomorrow,” said Su Khoon. He paused to yawn. “You should have the invite. There’s a lawyer there, Lin, she’s Jessie’s old JC friend. She said she’d introduce me to some of their team who’re leading on the London development.”
“OK,” said Renee, without missing a beat. If Su Khoon was so relaxed he was yawning over the phone at her, she could act likeeverything was normal and cool, too, as startling as he was being. “Let’s meet this evening. Do you have profiles of the people we’re meeting tomorrow?”
His lawyer connection hadn’t mentioned any names, said Su Khoon. It was an informal get-together. No need to read up.
“You think this is school or what?” he said. “Relax.” He yawned again. “Are you done? I’m going to try to get more sleep. Woke up at four a.m.”
Renee let her brother go.
What was going on with him? There had to be more to the meeting tomorrow than he’d said. That must be it—she’d show up and it would turn out Freshview were expecting a presentation with slides, data, the lot, and she’d be humiliated.
The alternative was that Su Khoon was being upfront with her and letting her in on the action. Even though it was what she’d been gunning for and what they had agreed, it was hard to believe he was reallydoingit.
Maybe he still thought she was going to tell on him to Jessie and the family. Or maybe he believed her promise to be discreet, and appreciated it.
Renee couldn’t afford to get tangled up in speculations about what her brother thought of her. That was too close to caring. There was nothing she could do about tomorrow’s meeting except prepare as much as she could and turn up ready for anything.
Focus on the work. That she could do. She picked up her phone to tell Louise to clear her diary.
They met the Freshview lawyer and her colleagues at the bar at the Savoy. It wouldn’t have been Renee’s choice of venue: it was her favourite place to go with Nathalie for a gossip over cocktails, though admittedly they’d only managed to go once since Nathalie had moved to London.
Besides the cocktail menu, Renee liked the art deco style, plushseats, and impeccably courteous white-jacketed waitstaff. There was no reason having an informal work meeting there with her brother should taint it, she told herself. Su Khoon was being professional, by his standards. And there were outsiders present, which made it even less likely anything unpleasant would happen.
The Freshview team seemed nice enough. Lin turned out to be short for Hazlina, rather than being a Chinese name. She was a curly-haired woman in her early thirties, in an olive trouser suit and nude heels. Besides her, there were two men, around Su Khoon’s age.
They spread out over a sofa and three armchairs below a large mirror reflecting the black-and-white photographs on the opposite wall. In about five minutes, Su Khoon had the men launched on a discussion of luxury watches.
It was strange to watch Su Khoon when he was trying to charm. Turned out he had social skills after all. He’d simply never exerted them on Renee’s behalf. But then, why would he?
Lin smiled at her. She was wearing bold red lipstick. It suited her, and it was an interesting choice for a work do—it hinted at personality. “You’re Su Khoon’s sister? Our other colleague who’s coming knows you. He said you two met at uni?”
It took a moment for this to sink in. Renee hadn’t met many Malaysians while she was at university, and only one of them had had any connection with Freshview Industries that she knew of.
“Ah, he’s here,” said Lin. She half rose, waving. “Mr. Yeoh!”
Renee made the most of the two seconds she had to rearrange her face. By the time she met Andrew Yeoh’s eyes, she was confident it gave nothing away.
She rose, despite Andrew waving at her to sit down. She wasn’t the only one—the Freshview team leapt to their feet in a way that would have made Andrew’s nepo baby status obvious, if she hadn’t already known about it. Not that Renee was in any position to judge him for sliding into a cushy job in the family business.
She was conscious of her brother’s eyes on her. So this wasthe trap he’d set her.Come to my informal networking drinks with Freshview, Renee, and meet your nightmare ex-boyfriend while you’re at it.
The stratagem was even more effective than he knew. Su Khoon hadn’t been there when Andrew had stormed into her flat, all those years ago. For weeks afterwards, she’d jolted awake every night, her heart pounding—convinced someone was outside the door, in the hallway, shoving his way into her bedroom, coming to get her.
She could be certain Dad would receive a report of how this encounter went. Especially if it went badly.
The thought stiffened her spine.
The last time she’d seen Andrew, he had been about to throw a punch at her. She’d only escaped because the neighbour had knocked on the door. Renee met his eyes and smiled, radiatingFuck you, assholewith every fibre of her being.
“Renee!” said Andrew, without so much as a flicker of an eyelash. “How long has it been? Ten years, right? Crazy. You haven’t changed at all.”
His eyes tracked over her appreciatively. Only the awareness that Su Khoon was monitoring her every microexpression kept the smile on Renee’s face.
“It’s been a long time,” she agreed.
She could have returned the compliment, if she’d felt so inclined. Andrew looked pretty much the same as he had ten years ago. He’d always given off the vibe of a middle-aged investment banker, even in his early twenties. Of all her poor choices of boyfriends, themostbaffling, Nathalie said.
Was Andrew suffering from amnesia? Did he really not remember how appallingly he’d behaved at their last meeting? If not for the fact that every last detail of that day was burnt indelibly into Renee’s memory, she would have started wondering if she’d made it all up.
