One Night Changed Everything (PAUSED)

33

The man stammers "Wei-wei Wu-xian, um sir, s-she's not uh available r-right n-now."

Wuxi is getting angry "What is your name?"

"Chang Bin Yi sir." He is able to say without stammering.

"Ok Chang Bin Yi, I want to speak with my grandmother so please tell me where she is." He says with as much patience as he can muster.

"S-sir I c-can't tell you." Chang Bin Yi says swallowing audibly.

"Then put me on the phone with someone who can, I want to speak with her and I want to speak with her now. If you can't help me with that then put me with someone who can." His hard-won calm losing ground as he speaks.

He nods nervously "Hold one moment please."

He is put on hold and a deeper more mature voice picks up the phone "Mr. Wei it's a pleasure to speak to you finally, I am Mr. Huan Su, the CFO of this company and your grandmother's husband."

Wei Wuxian stops speaking and just stands there "Hello? Mr. Wei, are you there?"

He shakes his head and clears his throat "Um yes I'm here, I want to know where my grandmother is, apparently no one has seen her in over two years and right now her being MIA is hindering my engagement, so will you tell me where she is?"

The older man's voice is pleasant "Of course I will be happy to tell you, to be honest, I didn't think your family cared since we haven't heard a word from any of you in years."

Wuxi scoffs "That's rich considering she left me in an abusive home for six years before I was kicked out unceremoniously, so please do go on about how inconsiderate I have been."

The man is quiet for a moment then softly says "She didn't know, I'm sorry, we didn't know."

Wuxi huffs out a humorless laugh "Yeah well, she was never around enough to know anything about us anyway so whatever, I just need to know where she is so I can get approval from my fiancé's family. Without knowing what is happening with her they won't give their consent and since he is the father of my children, I would like to be able to give my babies a complete family since I didn't have one. Now if you would kindly tell me where she is I would be ever so grateful." He says the last laced with sarcasm.

Mr. Su clears his throat "I'm sorry Wuxi, she was in a car accident, she's in a coma, and has been for nearly four years."

Wuxi's eyes widen "A coma? Why were we not informed of this?"

Mr. Su answers quickly "You were, the day it happened we informed your guardian about it, she kept tabs on your grandmother for about a year then stopped checking. We assumed you knew and just didn't care enough to contact us."

Wuxi looks at Carmen "Why was this information not given to Carmen Lan when she called and spoke with Chang Bin Yi or my solicitor who has been sending regular updates?"

"Your grandmother is a very powerful woman in the business world who hasn't been seen for several years, there are a lot of enemies that were made as she climbed to success. We have kept this private from everyone because her enemies would no doubt try to harm her business and your inheritance with this news. We chose to tell only those who absolutely needed to know and we didn't contact your solicitor because your guardian said she had already informed him of the situation. She said we would still get regular emails about you and your sister but that she would handle the matter of your grandmother's accident with you children, we never heard from you or Jia Li so we figured you had refused to contact us." He states matter-of-factly.

Wuxi's shoulders drop "How is she? I mean I know she is in a coma but hell I don't even know what I am trying to ask here."

Mr. Su laughs lightly "Yes, she has the best care money can buy, she gets physical therapy and muscle stimulation regularly so her muscles do not atrophy and she has round-the-clock personnel to ensure that she remains stable. What about you? You said you have children now, will you, do you mind telling me about them? I am after all their grandfather and I would like to know how you and they are, and your sister is she ok?"