The Details of Their Mutual Betrayal – Part 1
Tuesday, continued…
Anna Jones realized that by asking Hou Yi to sit down, she might have sounded harsh, given the sharpness in his question. In a much softer voice, she added, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. It’s just…”
As Hou Yi sat down beside Anna, he could see that she was in shock. The harshness in her tone wasn’t directed at him, but it was a reflection of her shock.
Once they were seated, he said, “There’s no need to apologize. Something’s happened to you, and you’re in shock. Can you tell me what happened? I want to try and help you if I can.”
“Thank you,” Anna replied softly. She took a breath and continued, “Rather than getting into a long, complicated story, to put it simply, I was meant to marry my fiancé, Lu Jinhu, today. Here, rather than in Australia, where we live and where I always wanted to get married. He convinced me to do it here by saying his parents were too afraid to fly to Australia and didn’t want to miss their only child’s wedding, with a blessing in Australia for my family who couldn’t be here.”
Anna took a deep breath as she had to convey the hurtful part. “However, I found out it was all a lie. He never intended to marry me. He just needed to string me along until today, and when I arrived, he took pleasure in telling me he had married Yang Lin, as had always been planned.”
Tears filled Anna’s eyes again as she recalled everything that had happened to her over the last few hours. She glanced at her watch—only ten minutes had passed—and she realized how drastically her future had changed. She took a few steadying breaths and looked at Hou Yi, who was simply watching her.
“Go on,” Hou Yi said in a calm voice, making Anna Jones instinctively feel that she could trust him.
“Lu Jinhu and…” started Anna, then stopped and shook her head. “No, I guess I should start calling him that evil ex. I’ve recognized that not only did he never love me, but I was simply a means to an end, and he just used me.”
“How did he use you?” came the calm but prompt reply.
Rushing what she had to say, Anna explained, “He took glee in telling me I had been used from the beginning of our relationship. He used me to gain Australian citizenship, likely for a tax advantage or some other reason, and he used my trust in him to gain every asset we built up, debt-free, while leaving me with all the debt.” She took a deep breath before continuing.
“What did he do?”
“I’m not certain, but I’m guessing at this stage he misused the Power of Attorney I gave him to act for me. I really don’t know. Powers of Attorney without going into their technicalities, which will have me go into some long-winded technical statement…”
“Are you a lawyer in Australia?” Hou Yi interrupted.
Suddenly, Hou Yi’s earlier sense of recognition came back to him. It almost clinched it for him—the woman he had fallen for at first sight in Melbourne, at Hou Enterprises’ Australian Lawyers, ANX Lawyers, particularly since he knew Lu Jinhu lived in Melbourne.
Hou Yi felt his heart racing, knowing there was a possibility he could form a relationship with the woman he had fallen for on sight. However, he didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Could fate have stepped in on the day he was supposed to marry another woman, which now seemed unlikely, and the woman he fell in love with on sight entered his life, giving him a chance he wanted?
Hou Yi decided not to push Anna on where she worked, as he didn’t want the crushing disappointment if it wasn’t her.
“I am. Lu Jinhu has done everything I advise my clients to protect themselves against,” Anna replied. “To go back to what I was saying. I gave him this Power of Attorney so he could deal with things like the Power Company, Phone Company, Internet Supplier, etc., as his name was on none of the bills. Without it, those companies wouldn’t have dealt with him, so I thought I was making our lives easier.”
Anna paused, took a deep breath, and then continued, “What he told me was that he has taken everything I own, and I’m guessing he’s left me with about a million Australian dollars in debt while he enjoys more than that in assets. He seemingly laughed about what he had done. He and Yang Lin will enjoy everything I worked for and ruin me.”
Anna Jones noticed Hou Yi’s expression as she spoke and realized something was wrong at the mention of Yang Lin’s name.
“What’s wrong?” Anna asked Hou Yi.
“I guess we both have been taken for a ride by Lu Jinhu and Yang Lin,” came Hou Yi’s harsh reply.
“What do you mean?” questioned Anna.
“Well, I was meant to meet Yang Lin outside the Civil Administration Bureau today at 3:15 pm for our civil ceremony, but I guess that won’t be happening now because it would be too much of a coincidence with the marriage and what I saw when I looked around the corner a few minutes ago.”
Anna looked at Hou Yi, realizing there was more to the situation than she initially understood.
