"Well, well," Asher said with a smile on his face. "It seems I've been overlooking a valuable asset."
He stood up, gesturing to the chair beside his desk.
"Sit."
I walked slowly, and sat.
"Stay there." He said reaching for his phone. He pressed a button. "Immediately send up the senior deal team, and bring the full Shanghai Zenith documentation."
He set down the phone and looked at me.
"When they arrive, let me handle the initial presentation. Follow my lead."
"What are you…"
"Trust me." He pressed my hand softly. "You found the error. Now watch how we leverage that finding."
Within three minutes, the door opened, and five people entered. They looked at me with calculative eyes.
"Director Liu, team, I've been reviewing the Shanghai Zenith proposal." Asher began.
"Yes, Sir. We've…."
"I found an error in the valuation model. A double counting in the Year Five revenue forecast that inflates the company's value by approximately 380 million yuan."
The room went absolutely silent. Liu's face paled.
"Sir, I…we reviewed the model multiple times…"
"Apparently not thoroughly enough." Asher opened the file, pointing his finger to the Year Five projections. "Here."
Director Liu saw it and his eyes widened.
"You're absolutely right, Sir. How did we miss this?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Asher's tone was dangerous now. "This proposal was reviewed by your entire team before reaching my desk."
"Sir, I take full responsibility."
Asher paused, and after thinking for a moment he spoke.
"Let me tell you how I found it." Asher turned slightly toward me. "Mrs. Wang, you reviewed this. Explain to them."
The request landed like a bomb on me. I drew a breath, and started explaining. After I completed explaining, they agreed on their mistake.
"May I ask…" One of them said, hesitating , glancing at Asher for permission before continuing. "Mrs. Wang, do you have a background in financial analysis?"
"I have some training."
And I could see Asher smile.
"It won't happen again." Liu said at the end.
"See that it doesn't. Dismissed." Asher said, and they all left.
Now with them gone, there was just Asher and me in the office.
"Why did you ask me to explain to them?" I asked.
His hand came up, brushing a strand of hair from my face.
"Because I'm managing how you're positioned in the power structure. By tomorrow, word will spread that Mrs. Wang sits besides me during deal reviews and asks the questions the experts missed. That's worth more than any announcement I could make."
Before I could reply, he was already walking towards the door.
"Come on, let's go home now. Its late" He said.
As we walked to the elevator, his hand was on my back while I tried to process what had just happened.
Was I more than his asset now?
The next morning, I arrived at Wang Corporation alone as Asher had to go somewhere else for a meeting. I expected to return to Asher's office. Instead, Asher's assistant met me.
"Mrs. Wang, if you'll follow me. Your office is ready."
"My what?"
"Your office." She turned, already walking. "Mr. Wang had it prepared last night."
We walked past Asher's office, and stopped at the next door. She opened it. The office was smaller than Asher's but it had the same floor to ceiling windows with that stunning view of the Huangpu River. The furniture was minimalist: a walnut desk with leather chair, a small meeting table with built in bookshelves. And on the desk, there was a nameplate.
Rysa Wang, Special Assistant to the CEO.
"Your system login is being set up now." The assistant continued. "You'll have access to the shared drive, financial systems, and deal databases. If you need anything, you can call me anytime. Mr. Wang requested I support your administrative needs as well as his."
She started to leave, then paused at the door.
"Congratulations on your appointment, Mrs. Wang."
I smiled at her and she left.
I moved slowly to the desk, my fingers tracing the nameplate. He'd given me real authority. I sat down on the chair, it was perfectly adjusted to my height. Iopened the file placed on the table.
Guangzhou Logistics Corp. Purchase Price: 1.2 billion yuan.
My hands trembled slightly as I opened it. This was real work. For the first time in two years, since I'd become Mrs. Wang, I was using my mind for something other than acting in public settings.
I turned on my system. I opened the Guangzhou Logistics file and started reading. By noon, I'd filled three pages of notes on the first company alone. A knock on my door made me look up. Asher stood in the doorway with two containers of takeout in his hands.
"Lunch." He said, entering without waiting for invitation. He set the containers on the table. "You've been working for four hours straight."
Had I?
I glanced at the clock, surprised.
I didn't realize…"
"That's a good sign." He opened the containers. It was sushi.
I stood up.
"This is a lot."
"It's according to your capabilities." He handed me chopsticks.
"What if I can't do it?" I asked.
"Then you don't. But I doubt that will be the case." He said as we started eating.
We didn't talk during lunch. He finished his lunch, disposed of the containers, and then he was gone. I returned to my desk, and got back to work.
By 4 PM, I was deep into the third acquisition file when my focus wavered. My eyes burned from staring at spreadsheets, and my neck ached from hunching over documents.
I leaned back in my chair, rolling my shoulders, and looked towards the window, and suddenly I remembered a past memory.
It was at a charity gala, exactly an year ago. I'd been standing alone near the dessert table, Asher was busy with his business associates, when Vikki Li came.
She was Asher's ex-fiancée. The woman he'd been engaged to before our families had arranged our marriage. She was everything I wasn't. She was confident, and ambitious, founder of her own venture capital firm.
"Rysa. Still here, I see."
"Vikki. How nice to see you.
"Is it?" She laughed. "I wasn't sure you'd still be around."
"I'm Asher's wife. Where else would I be?"
"Oh, darling." Vikki had leaned in. "Don't get too comfortable. Asher has a very short attention span for trinkets."*
"I'm not sure what you mean." I replied.
"Don't you? "You're very pretty, Rysa. But Asher gets bored easily. He needs someone who can match him. Someone who understands business, not just how to arrange flowers for his events."
My face had burned. Because she was right.
"Asher and I have an understanding." I replied.
"Oh, I'm sure you do.He married you for your family connections. And now that your father's company is not like before, one has to wonder what can you provide. Anyways, enjoy the party." Vikki had said, already turning away. "And the marriage, while it lasts. Trinkets are pretty, but they're easily replaced."
I blinked, the memory vanished, and found myself back in my office. I looked around. I wa sitting in an office, doing real work. Finally, I could say, I was not a trinket anymore.
Brushing aside past memories, pulling myself up, I started working again. I didn't know how much time had passed. The light outside my window changed. It was evening now. I was deep into my work when I noticed someone watching me. I looked up.
Asher stood at the door, leaning against the frame with one shoulder, arms crossed loosely over his chest. His tie was gone, his shirt collar unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He looked tired.
How long had he been standing there?
"You're still here?"
I glanced at the clock, and was surprised.
"I didn't realize what time it was."
"Clearly." He entered inside the office, walking to stand by my desk. His eyes scanned the papers spread across. "How far did you get?"
"I finished preliminary reviews."
"You've been busy." He said and suddenly he asked me. "Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"The MBA in secret."
"How do you know that?"
"I know everything about my things, Rysa!" He replies causally.
MY THINGS?
I was stunned. He knew about my MBA, but still never mentioned it. What else and how much he knows about me?
I was in no mood for asking more questions to him, and then answering his, so I decided to answer him honestly.
"Because I needed to prove I could." I replied. "My father said that business was too complicated for my pretty head, and I needed to prove to myself that he was wrong."
He just smiled a little in response.
"That's enough for tonight. Let's go home now. The car is waiting. We'll continue this tomorrow."
I nodded. I was tired. I needed to rest. I gathered my notes, organized them back into their files. Then, we walked toward the elevator together. The elevator arrived immediately.
"I misjudged you, Rysa Lin." He said as soon as we entered inside the elevator.
The elevator descended smoothly but I stood frozen, not sure how to respond.
"I thought you were exactly what you appeared to be, a strategic marriage that served its purpose. But for the two years, you've been hiding who you actually are, what you're actually capable of."
"You never asked." I finally replied.
"Yes! And I guess, I was wrong."
The elevator opened onto the private parking where our car waited. We walked towards it in silence. We sat inside, and the drive to home began.
I didn't reply to him, he didn't say anything else. We drove in silence but his words were echoing in my head.
Is he noticing me? Is he acknowledging me? Does he not see me as an asset anymore?
I had so many questions, but not a single answer. The answers were with Asher, and I knew he will only answer them when he'd want.