The Last Heiress

Chapter 7 - Left Penniless

Chapter 7

Faint traces of burnt agarwood and sandalwood took up residence in my nostrils even before I stepped out of the elevator at my grandmother's apartment overlooking Reservoir Park. Even as a child, I dreaded opening that moldy old door to her three-bedroom apartment. We arrived at my grandmother's apartment around 9 a.m., which meant she was already up. There went my hope of sneaking in and resting before greeting her before the morning sun came up.

My mother used to bring me here when I was barely old enough to form memories. For what reason, I couldn't fathom. I would prefer to be slapped in the face every morning back in the coastal city of Fengxian than to live under the watch of my unpleasantly mad grandmother. In this damp, smelly hallway, I already missed our summer home with its golden sand and fragrant winds.

I had only been in this foreign city for a couple of hours, and already I hated it. I hated the loud, perpetually rowdy people, the skyscrapers aglow with their alien lights, and the smells of garbage around every corner.

One might wonder why my grandmother, the mother of one of the wealthiest men in the world, was living in squalor here in a building that had once been a tenement home. My father always said it was hard to convince an elderly woman to give up the surroundings where she had become comfortable.

"This is as far as you go," I barked at Orion and his bodyguards. I softened my tone as I once again reminded myself to be polite to these parasites my father sent to escort me to this so-called place of safety. "My grandmother is often confused. If you bring three armed men into her apartment, there's no telling how she'll react."

"I understand, completely," Orion insisted and motioned for his men to line up with their backs to the elevator door. "My men will stand guard here."

"As will you," I snapped and then rolled my eyes. This boy was trying my patience again. This wasn't some friendly house call between friends. "I am Liang. You are Oslen. My grandmother's apartment is no place for a business associate. My father, if he were here, would insist on it."

Orion finally nodded and gestured to the door. I supposed that accusing him of trying to steal our business secrets shamed him into giving up his foolish display of chivalry.

Little did he know, I know absolutely nothing about my father's business except that it has taken a toll on his health and his blood pressure is high again.

I had no secrets to diverge. But my grandmother was often confused even when I was a toddler. I didn't want an outsider to think we were weak.

Not even if my presence here in Manna City confirmed precisely that.

No, I am Angela Liang. I've always known that I was born to thrive in the depths of the darkest winter.

At the last minute, seeing my hesitation at entering my grandmother's apartment, Orion reached out and opened the dirty old door for me. He smiled at me. Oh, sweet child. I wondered if he had any idea how much I dreaded walking over that threshold.

But it was time. There was no delaying it anymore.

Putting one foot ahead of the other, I stepped into my grandmother's kitchen.

~*~

The first thing I noticed was the shrine sitting on the floor by the front door. There were fresh blossoms, nuts, and peaches. The altar had been cleaned of incense dust. I was amazed at how well-kept this kitchen was since my memories were of my mother complaining to everyone who would listen about how my grandmother lived in embarrassing squalor. My mother offered to send her maid over, but my grandmother threw a tantrum every time the word "help" was mentioned.