Page 56 of The Friend Zone Experiment

“What the hell are you doing here?” said Su Khoon, though he couldn’t really intimidate with lipstick smeared on his ear and his jacket hanging off one arm. He yanked the jacket off savagely, as though the situation was its fault.

“I texted you,” said Renee. “I’m here to negotiate.” She glanced at the blonde woman. “Should I come another time?”

Su Khoon unbent a little, scenting victory. “If you’re ready to be sensible, let’s talk.” He said to the woman, “You’d better go.”

“Oh my God, Er Ge, at least call her a cab,” said Renee.

She expected bluster. Her brothers weren’t gracious winners, and they were even worse losers.

But Su Khoon seemed unsettled by her reaction, enough that he forgot to be aggressive.

“My phone’s not working,” he said, looking mulish. “They’re getting it fixed in the morning.”

Renee managed not to roll her eyes.

“Come on, I’ll get you an Uber,” she said to the woman. “Where do you need to get to?”

15

After Renee wavedEva off in her Uber, she paused at the base of the steps up to the door to the house, biting her lip.

The Virtu team worked standard business hours. They’d be home, or with friends, or at a bar or restaurant or something—doing normal evening things, not expecting to get a weird message from their boss. She could text Nathalie, but Nathalie never checked her phone in the fraught hours from five to eight p.m., until she finally managed to wrestle Thomas into bed.

And that was it. Renee had exhausted the people to whom she was close enough that she could call on them in an emergency.

Which this was. She was going back into the house to be alone with a furious man who’d had reason to resent her even before this evening’s loss of face. A man who had historically shown little sign of caring about her well-being—rather, the reverse. She’d never seen Su Khoon get physically violent, but there was a first time for everything. Andrew Yeoh had never used force with her, until the day he’d pushed his way into her flat and grabbed her phone because he was convinced she was texting a new boyfriend.

Renee slipped her phone out of her bag. She would ring Nathalie.

Or there was one other option. One other person in London who understood the context. Who wouldn’t need any explanations about her family history, or what was at stake here.

For the second time that day, she typed Ket Siong’s name into WhatsApp. This time, she sent a message.

Long story, but if you don’t hear from me in an hour’s time, could you ring me? And if you can’t get through to me, could you ring the police and ask them to check I’m OK? I’ll send you my location.

(Sorry for the drama. I’m meeting up with my brother.)

That was probably the best she could manage by way of precautions. Hopefully Ket Siong would check his phone some time within the next hour. Even if he didn’t, the messages were some assurance that if they found her body in the Thames the next day, suspicion would fall squarely on her brother.

She had just placed her foot on the second step up to the door when her phone buzzed.

It was Ket Siong.

Of course. Call me if you need anything.

She was smiling as she came back into the reception room where she’d left her brother. Su Khoon was sitting on the grey moleskin sofa. Renee dropped her eyes when he looked up, ironing out her expression.

Su Khoon had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. The dampness at his hairline suggested he’d washed his face, and he’d even managed to get the lipstick stains off his ear. An espresso cup was cradled in his hands, the smell of coffee hanging in the air.

He was still pink, but he was probably as sober as he was going to get tonight. Good. That he’d made the effort showed he took Renee seriously. And she wanted him in a state to negotiate.

Renee dropped into a white leather armchair across from Su Khoon.

“Poor Jessie!” she said. “I really thought you loved her.” She shook her head. “I always thought she was too smart for you. But I figured you knew that.”

Su Khoon put his cup down on the coffee table with more force than was necessary, sloshed dark liquid over his hand, and swore. Renee extracted a tissue from her bag and held it out. He swiped it from her.

“Didn’t know you got along so well with my wife,” he said, drying his hand off. “You know, it was her idea to get that model on board. The girl who…”

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