Page 40 of The Friend Zone Experiment

It might have worked better if she was insecure about her abilities.

“Of course,” she said. “But deciding I’d mess up if I took over seems a big assumption to me. Do you think it’s really justified by the evidence? I appreciate there’s no reason you should have been following Virtu.”

This was a deliberate jab. She knew Su Khoon and Su Beng had to have been watching Virtu closely in order to do what they did a few years back, and they knew she knew.

“But Dad has, and he thinks I could do the job,” Renee continued. “We’re going to have to work together on this pitch to Freshview for the construction contract. Why don’t you give me a chance, see how I do? I might surprise you.”

“Sure,” said Su Khoon. “I should bring you to meet Low Teck Wee. Hope he doesn’t remember you’re the one who fucked things up with his nephew.

“Oh, you thought I didn’t know?” he said, at Renee’s expression. “Andrew Yeoh told me you called the cops on him back then, when he was only trying to apologise. Now Dad’s saying you’re going to help us strike a deal with his uncle’s company.” Su Khoon snorted. “I should get Dad tested for dementia.”

Big talk from a man whose father pays his phone bill,Renee didn’t say.

Her first instinct was to defend herself—explain that Andrew had stormed into her flat, screamed at her for daring to break up with him, and thrown her phone out of the window. She hadn’t even involved the authorities, despite all of that; that was the neighbour’s idea. But her flush of indignation was succeeded almost immediately by weariness.

If Su Khoon cared about what had really happened, he would have asked Renee. This was just another bid for leverage.

“Have you ever told Dad about that?” said Su Khoon.

“He hasn’t raised it,” said Renee. “But you’ve reminded me, I saw Uncle Low the other day. I’m going to meet up with his daughter, she’s interested in getting into the fashion industry. I should mention it to Dad.” She leaned back in her chair, watching her brother’s face work.

“I wasn’t the first woman to dump Andrew, or the last,” she said. “I doubt Low Teck Wee is going to let that influence his business decisions. So how about it? Are you going to work with me, or not?”

Su Khoon had to have expected that she would put up some resistance to his negging campaign. But he’d never been any more patient than Su Beng, merely better at hiding it. His patience was visibly fraying now.

“Work with you?” he said. “Might as well torpedo the deal. I’ll lay it out for you. You can tell Dad you’re not the right person to run Chahaya, withdraw yourself from consideration. Or you can go ahead and destroy your relationship with the family for good. Take up Dad’s offer, and you can forget about seeing the kids.You won’t have brothers anymore, or nieces and nephews. Mom will never talk to you again.”

Renee had been prepared for this threat from the moment Su Khoon mentioned the kids.

It was probably no use pointing out that she had moved to London precisely so shewouldn’thave to see her family. She was fond of her brothers’ kids, but it wasn’t like she kept sending them birthday and Christmas presents because not seeing them had left a void in her life. The pleasure of hanging out with the kids had always been balanced out by having to deal with their parents.

But she figured it was worth reminding the kids they had an aunt who cared about them, whether or not they met their parents’ standards for satisfactory offspring. That was what Auntie Mindy had done for her.

“Dad’s made his decision. He wants to consider all of us,” said Renee. “It’s not my intention to offend you and Da Ge, but it’s an interesting opportunity for me. I’m not going to withdraw.”

Su Khoon sighed. “Wasting my time. I knew you wouldn’t listen, but you’re my sister. I thought I should try to reason with you first.”

He sat up, crossing his arms. Renee tensed. They were coming to what Su Khoon had really come here to say.

“I didn’t want to do this, but you’re forcing my hand,” he said. “I’ve got photos of you from Jason Tsai. If you don’t tell Dad you’re pulling out, I’ll release them to the press. It’s your choice.”

For a moment, Renee didn’t feel anything. Then her brain caught up with her ears.

Here she was, telling herself the breakup with Jason hadn’t bothered her much, she thought dully. It was true she’d never allowed herself to get too attached to Jason. A part of her had always held back, never quite sure how much she could rely on him. She probably hadn’t been in love with him for a while, even before he dumped her.

But she had never thought he would do anything like this. It hurt astonishingly to find out she was wrong.

And Renee prided herself on her judgment of character. What a joke.

She must have betrayed too much emotion. Su Khoon couldn’t resist the opportunity to rub it in. He put his elbows on his knees, looking grave and concerned.

“I understand Jason has video, too,” he said. “I haven’t been able to get his agreement to pass that to me yet, but we’re in negotiations.”

“You know, there are laws against this kind of thing,” said Renee.

Su Khoon shrugged. “Sue me if you want. Once the images are out there, they can’t be taken back. Stupid thing to do,” he added, in a tone of fraternal reproof, “sharing that kind of thing with a man.”

A freezing calm descended on Renee, numbing emotion. Su Khoon’s condescension didn’t register as more than a pinprick, incapable of causing any real sensation.

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