Hero and Perfect

Chapter Fifteen.

  Chongan Hulin sat at the intricately carved 110 year old desk that had been commissioned by his great grandfather, Chaoxiang, when he had first gained success with what would become Jianyu Corporation.
He had a folder open on it.  It contained the complete personal history, to date , of one Kim Perfection.

The young man his grandson, Hero Chanthara , had just married.
Chanthara.
A name he despised.

He had wondered if he would be able to tolerate the son of the man he was sure had murdered his sheltered and headstrong daughter.
He blamed himself.
He had spoiled her too much.

He should have had the wretched slug done away with before he had managed to persuade his willful only child to run away with him.
But the wife he had grown to love had seen the look in his eyes and had persuaded him to keep trying to make their indulged daughter see reason.

Until...she had injured her own mother.
It had been so unexpected.
He had heard the loud ' smack', of the forceful, open handed blow.
Causing her to lose balance and fall, hitting her head on a coffee table , just as he had entered the room.
He had rushed to his dazed and bleeding wife's side , and angrily informed his daughter that if she did not end the relationship with the unscrupulous man, he would cut her off without a dime .
That if she chose to go  with him, they would no longer acknowledge her.
His wife had told their daughter that Chanthara had tried to extort money from them in exchange for ending the relationship.

It had only been the truth.

She had become hysterical and reacted violently, then had run away with the lying bastard that same night.

Hero looked nothing like his father.
Physically and characteristically, he was nearly a carbon copy of Chongan.
The resemblance was so striking , that anyone who saw them together , could hardly refrain from mentioning it.

The vivid scars on his grandson's face were a stark reminder of how badly he had failed as both a father and a grandfather.

He frowned.

Regret solved nothing. It could consume your soul.

Ignorance dwelt in comfort , where you did not learn from your mistakes.

He read the file . His grandson's chosen one was interesting.

The file was worth reading.

It contained many words that were often repeated.
Brilliant. Dedicated. Well mannered. Organized. Gifted. Extraordinary.
Genius.

There were several photos.

Perfection as a baby.
A picture of a slender, handsome man.
A delicately beautiful woman, and a girl of about fifteen, wearing braces, holding the hand of a pretty toddler who looked very alert.
The parents had died young. An unfortunate accident.
The sister had shouldered the responsibility of raising him, with the help of her long time friend.

They had  chosen to give Hero the safety of their home, away from his vile father.

There were photos of Hero with Perfection.
Three pictures.

Two of them as young boys. In the first, Hero was clearly holding Kim Perfection's  hand .
The pretty, smaller boy was smiling and holding up two fingers. Hero appeared to be looking at him. It was difficult to tell, with the long hair...they looked to be about ten or eleven .

In the next , they were perhaps two or three years older.
Perfect was holding Hero's hand and smiling up at him. The size difference was noticeable.

'Loyal', could be added to the list of  glowing descriptives.

They had been separated for nearly five years. School. Work.