"Now, we shall commence the half-decade shareholder and board of director’s meeting altogether."

In the center of a spacious room was a large oval table enough to seat only the most prestigious people of the elites. Everyone there had a hand in Yang Enterprise, one way or another. It could be through high possession of shares or stocks or the sheer position they held in the departments and decisions of Yang Enterprise. The room was the size of a luxury apartment complex, yet everyone’s aura turned it into a shoebox apartment found in the most expensive city in the world.

Currently, only the directors were present. The shareholders were nowhere to be seen or found and this intrigued Yang Mujian who was silently witnessing the scene as trouble brewed in front of him. How amusing. This meeting wouldn’t last long. To begin without the shareholders, was the highest sign of disrespect. What was his idiotic grandson thinking? Oh right, he doesn’t think about anything but himself.

Yang Mujian sat at one end of the table, calm and collected, completely different from his behavior yesterday. It had taken a whole lot of meditating and self-encouraging words to bring him out of his previous state. Now, he carried himself as a Monarch should. Neatly combed hair, placid face, analytical eyes, and lips firmly sealed. His dismissive nature made the people around him to inch away. It was as if the man from yesterday never existed. It was eerie how quickly he was able to fix himself up and this level of professionalism was harvested throughout his extensive years in the business field.

"Thank you for coming here, ladies and gentlemen." Yang Feng sat on the opposite end of the table, facing his grandfather with an equally mellow behavior. His expressionless eyes surveyed the people in the room, his flawlessly smooth face devoid of human emotions. "Today, the meeting will start with the retirement of the Head of Directors, Yang Mujian."

Yang Mujian’s lips twitched into a cunning smile. Did this brat think it was that easy to remove him from his position? The reason why he was able to still have control within Yang Enterprise and the Yang triad was because he held a significant amount of shares in both places. Though it couldn’t rival Yang Feng’s, but when combined with his partners, it could overthrow his grandson without a second thought.

Yang Mujian was content with his people. He didn’t treat any of them kindly, just as none of them had treated him kindly aside from faux words of compliments. He was content that his influence will never be hindered, for everyone had already pledged loyalty to him. Everyone was as loyal to him as they had been ever since he took over the CEO position; it remained even when he handed it down to Yang Feng.

No one was going to betray him. Half the men in this room belonged to his faction and he only temporarily gave Yang Feng to reign over them.

"I refuse."

Yang Feng ignored his grandfather’s words, "Per protocol, all of those who agree, please raise your hand."

Simultaneously, the hands of the other directors were peacefully raised, but never past their shoulders.

Yang Mujian chuckled. He was entertained by this childsplay of a meeting. It happened every half a decade, and Yang Feng was acting like an amateur here. "Child, you have forgotten our obligations to the stockholders." He tilted his head, "All of them hold respect for the current Head and have obligations to me as they have to you." His lips tugged into a cunning smile, "It will be very easy for them to override this decision—"

"Presented on the screen is a letter from the Head of Attorney over the shareholders with the most percentages. When collectively added together with President Yang, nothing can overturn the decision. They have collectively agreed to entrust the power to President Yang." Chen Gaonan ruthlessly spoke up, "Many have expressed words of flattery to everything you’ve done for the company; however, they were dissatisfied by your inhumane acts and crude methods."

Yang Mujian’s arrogance slipped. His eyes widened by the smallest inch, so little, no one had seen it. There was one name missing on the letter and it was the single person who could flip the table upon them. "Impudent child, you have no power over me. Zhao Moyao’s signature is yet to be on the letter—"

The door opened and in walked a man and woman. The man wore a crisp grey suit whose dark shade mimicked his white and grey hairs, neatly combed back. His commanding presence was hard to miss and no one dared to pass a chance to please him. Chairs scraped onto the floor as everyone rose to their feet, ready to greet Zhao Moyao but that was not it. They were also ready to greet the short, elderly woman that accompanied him.

Yang Mujian’s breath hitched. He was dreaming. This was another nightmare. It was not possible. None of this should be possible.

The woman was dressed in a black wool blazer with slightly bellowed out sleeves. Traditional knot buttons were implanted towards the top of the blazer that elegantly parted in the middle, splitting the red blooming peony into halves. Underneath it, she wore a black v-neck paired with a set of golden-toned pearl necklace, earrings, and bracelets, all of which contained cuts of emerald and jade. Her face had gracefully aged with fine lines that illustrated her boundless pool of wisdom.

"Welcome, President Zhao and Matriarch Ge Yafan."

Yang Mujian’s entire body became as still as a statue. Never in a billion years would he expect to run into her again, especially since he hadn’t seen her in what felt like an eternity. Standing before him, well and alive, was his smiling wife, as beautiful as he had remembered her to be. As a matter of fact, she was even prettier than before for there was a healthy and happy glow to her. Her lips were stretched into a smile that reached her eyes revealing the three lines beside it.

"What is the meaning of this?" Yang Mujian shook his head, rubbing his eyes to make sure this was reality and not a dream. Why...why was his wife standing in front of him?! "You’re not real! Are you here to haunt me?!" He snarled, standing up, slamming his hands onto the table. "What blasphemy! To find a look-alike, you son of a b*tch, how fvcking dare you?!" He pointed his finger towards Zhao Moyao who looked unbothered by this eruption of noise. "No one is going to take my position, no one is going to replace me! It’s going to happen over my dead body!"

"It’s time for you to face the truth and your dead body is the welcome mat to it." Zhao Moyao mused, shaking his head in mirth.

"All of you are sick in the brain to even fathom this plan—"

"If this was inhumane, then what shall we call the sins you’ve committed?" Yang Feng finally spoke up for the first time since this meeting.

"Why, you—"

"Your reign is long over. Why clutch onto a throne that doesn’t belong to you?" Yang Feng waved his fingers and this small action was enough to command the attention of the directors. "Meeting adjourned."

- - - - -

Nothing could destroy Yang Mujian more than knowing everything he had built up and given Yang Feng was the very thing that stabbed him in the back later on. The grandson that he raised with his blood and sweat was the ultimate betrayer of his life. The grandson who he beat senses into had abandoned and ruined him without a second thought.

Everyone had deserted him.

He was alone in the meeting room. No one bothered to leave the lights on for him as he sat in the office chair that suddenly looked foreign to an elderly man like him.

Ge Yafan stood at the center of the entrance and finally said, "You were always a weak little man who needed the assertion of his position to give you confidence. It is what your self-worth was pathetically built on."

Ge Yafan shook her head with a pitying look on her face, "You were a coward who couldn’t go against your father, so you had to exert power over your grandson. Your excuses had always been inferior, invalid, and stupid. Nothing can justify your actions. It’s time for you to reap what you have sown."

Yang Mujian didn’t know if he was hearing things. This was the first time his wife had insulted him like this. "You’re not even real. You’re only a figment of my imagination."

"Just as the happiness I showed you were a figment of your imagination." She responded.

"You...you never loved me?!" Yang Mujian shot out of his chair, turning around, but she was nowhere to be seen. Was... was he truly hallucinating and imagining things now?!

And little did he know, Ge Yafan was hiding in the shadows, similar to how she had done when she faked her disappearance.