An Ning frowned. She didn't even know what this guy she's supposed to be with did for a living. The house they lived in now was big. The opulence was unmistakable. Even without her memory, she understood wealth and the evidence was all around her.

She took a shower, dressed then went where her stomach was leading her into the kitchen. Sarai, the old lady in charge of their meals, was already there whipping cream on a batter. She turned around when An Ning entered and smiled.

"What do you want to eat for breakfast this morning?" she asked, pausing in her work.

An Ning looked at the batter.

"Pancakes would be good. And bacon. Do we have any cacao chocolates anywhere? I couldn't find any when I looked the other day."

"I could make some for you if you like. They're not that difficult to make," Sarai said, pouring batter on a pan.

"I'd like that," An Ning said. "What time did Richard leave this morning?"

"Sevenish. He said to let you sleep. He looked kind of in a hurry. I guess this movie business is keeping him busy."

"Movies?" asked An Ning, startled. "Is he an actor?"

Sarai laughed, shaking her grey head.

"He manages talents like Du Lu."

"Du Lu?"

"He's a very famous actor. Richard I think discovered him when he went to Europe some years ago. He's really famous. Girls are crazy about him. Even my ten year old granddaughter likes him."

"I don't know him."

"Of course you don't remember him. It's no wonder."

"Where does Richard work?"

"I think he went to the main office in the city this time. But he has another office here in the compound. You can go there if you like and watch Du Lu's movies. I heard the building has an in-house theater for private showings."

An Ning nodded noncommittally.

But after breakfast she did just that. She discovered that she was a very energetic person. Even pregnant, her energy was very high. She didn't suffer from morning sickness, she wasn't burdened by mood swings, and she can't sit still even when she's doing something.

She asked Sarai for directions and decided to hike the two mile distance on foot without telling anybody. An Ning was staggered by the vastness of her surroundings. It was almost like another world. The valley, which was farmed commercially, was irrigated by a river, which turned and twisted around the hills and mountains like a moat.

The one-story building where Richard worked was hidden deep between tall trees. It was artistically designed in the manner of a gla.s.s house infused with the warm presence of wood. The door to the entrance opened when she twisted the k.n.o.b. The lights turned when she entered and the gentle pattering of water falling on gla.s.s was heard.

There was a short flight of stairs that led to a loft. She climbed the steps and saw, in the middle of the room, a ma.s.sive table facing north. Beyond was a cliff overlooking the panoramic view of the valley, the mountains and the river. It was breathtaking and very unexpected.

An Ning sat on a chair behind the table and turned the computer on. She didn't even hesitate when she typed the pa.s.sword. The computer went black then blinked. Her fingers flew on the keyboard. She had typed a total of about 20 pages on Word when she stopped. She read the words silently then her fingers again flew to open another program then another.

By the time she finished, there were about a dozen programs running on the computer at the same time. Then she clicked on them one by one and closed them all off. She then started messing with the database and was inputting codes when she raised her head and saw Richard watching her with a smile.

"How did you guess my pa.s.sword?"

"It's either caps or a lower case of the letter P in the word pa.s.sword. I guessed caps. Easy."

"Hmnn…"

"You should really change it though. Too easy for any hacker to mess with."

"I always forget the d.a.m.n things whenever I changed them."

"Anyway, I changed it for you. It's my name all in caps."

"You've been at it for a long time," Richard said, pointing at the computer. "Find anything?"

"It seems I'm not ignorant about computers at all. I know the basics. I might not be a great programmer but I seem to understand codes a lot. What the heck did I do before all this happened, anyway?"

"You played games. Video games," Richard answered. "And you were good at it."

An Ning stared at him, shocked.

"You mean I have all this education and all I did was play video games on computers?"

"A lot of people do it. What of it?"

"Not as a living surely," An Ning protested. "How old am I now?"

"Twenty-two. Your birthday is on the 5th of August."

"That old and I'm still a b.u.m," An Ning said, slumping dejectedly on the chair. "Turns out I'm a freaking loser."

"Your family is enormously wealthy. n.o.body expected you to work," Richard shrugged indifferently.

"Your family is also obviously wealthy but you still opted to have a career," An Ning pointed out.

"You can still start a career if you want. Up to you."

"As what? I don't even know if I'm good at anything or not."

"Why not help out here?" Richard suggested. "I run the company with Du Lu but I'm the sole owner. We have about 50 talents in our stable plus two boy bands that another group is handling. I set up this place because my father got sick some months back and n.o.body else was around to look after him. You can work here or go to the main branch. Up to you."

"I think I'll work in the main branch. I need to know the staff, the talents and how the entire thing runs anyway. I have the suspicion though that I don't like to watch that many movies. It didn't ring a bell at all when I saw the CDs on the shelf. How many movies did we see when we were dating?"

"Not that many. I only got into it when I met Du Lu."

"He's that famous actor?"

"That's him."

"Let's try it out then. Anyway, I'm bored with nothing to do."

"Taking care of yourself and the baby is your main job," said Richard, walking closer and gently touching her stomach.

"Take me to work tomorrow?" she asked, eyes imploring.

"Ok, I'll take you there tomorrow....no, not tomorrow. Tomorrow we're going to your parents' house and staying there for a week," Richard announced.

"That bad, huh?" An Ning made a face.

"Your dad is worried about you. I understand how he feels. I'll be worried, too, if our son or daughter go through the same things you did. If it was our daughter, I'll probably kill the guy who hurt her. Your father is kinder. He only wants to flay me alive."

An Ning laughed.

"My dad really sounds like a cool dad. Both he and my mom sound cool parents."

"They love you very much. And they spoiled you a lot so you don't have to worry about anything. Even if your memory doesn't come back, it doesn't matter. Just get reacquainted with all of us all over again. No big deal."

"You sound very confident," An Ning said, her smile dimming a little.

Richard took her in his arms and kissed her. The kiss was warm and undemanding, as if he recognized her uncertainty and was trying to tell her it was okay to be uncertain because he was there to help her over the rough patches.

"Not confident, just confident of you. Come on. Let's go home. I don't want to p.i.s.s off your dad anymore than I need to," Richard said, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "He scares me a lot," he admitted ruefully.

An Ning laughed then took his hand and together they walked outside.

An Ning's father was getting more and more irate as the afternoon wore on. But he was civil enough to hide his displeasure when his daughter and Richard finally arrived some hours later. An Ning hugged her dad and kissed her mother on the cheek. She liked the look of her mother. An Yu Yan looked the same as her name implied. She had a beautiful smile which lighted up her serene face like a thousand light bulb. She wasn't very tall like her daughter but like An Ning was beautifully slender and small-boned.

There was another woman who stood behind her mother that An Ning hadn't seen before. She was pretty in a very Eastern way. Her hair was short and cut in a pageboy style that showed off her pointed chin. Her clothes were exquisite. A pair of slim black pants topped with ivory white s.h.i.+rt. A pendant of pure jade dangled from her long and beautiful neck. She was tall but that could be because she was wearing a stunning pair of red Manolo Blahnik on her slim, white feet.

The woman smiled when she met An Ning's inquiring gaze.

"Of course, you wouldn't remember me. I'm Maya."

"Maya is your foster sister," An Ma said, his tone abrupt. "Have you eaten yet?"

"We had something before we left," Richard answered.

An Ma pointedly ignored him and took An Ning's arm.

"Your mom had the cook prepare all your favorite food. You're feeding two people now so you have to eat more."

Father and daughter made small talk as they made their way to the dining room. An Ma seated An Ning on his left while he took the place at the head of the table. Richard pulled out a chair for his mother-in-law then seated himself beside her. Maya quietly took the chair next to An Ning.

That it turned out to be a pleasant dinner was mostly due to An Ma, who focused his attention exclusively on his daughter. He told her stories about herself when she was young; how his mother doted on her, how she won first prize in a spelling bee, how excited she was when he took her to Disneyland in California for the very first time.

An Yu Yan watched father and daughter with an indulgent smile, occasionally injecting a word or two here and there. Maya looked bored, like she had heard all of this before and just wanted to eat and run. But of course she couldn't because An Ma was leading the court and needed an audience to hear him out.

Afterwards, An Ning's mother showed her to her room. An Yu Yan suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Your father put Richard in the back room. I'm sorry, honey. I tried talking him out of it but your father can be so stubborn."

"Don't worry about it," An Ning still felt uneasy calling this woman mother. "Richard warned me about this so it's fine."

"Your father tells me you won't marry Richard until after the baby is born? Do you think that's wise?"

"I think I need to get used to all of this yet. And I don't know what I really feel about Richard. I know we've made a baby together but...," An Ning stopped, unable to explain herself fully. "I need time."

"I understand."

An Yu Yan fell silent.

"I remember how you used to follow Richard around," she said after a while. "I didn't really liked him for you, you know. I felt you were too obsessed with him. It wasn't healthy. There were a lot of boys who wanted to go out with you, parents who asked your father if their sons could court you but you were adamant. It was Richard or no one."

"Was I really that stupid?" An Ning asked. "I sound like a total wimp."

An Yu Yan smiled.

"You were merely in love," she said, with a quiet chuckle. She hesitated. "If after the baby is born and you find that you don't want to marry Richard at all, don't let it worry you. Your father and I will accept whatever you decide. Just come back to us and we won't even ask any questions.

"In a way, this has been a good thing for your relations.h.i.+p with Richard. Now that you've lost your memory, you're now seeing him through more rational eyes not before when you would like fall on a sword just to be with him."

"I sound scary. And after all that, he never liked me at all."

"Did he tell you that?" An Yu Yan was surprised.

"I guessed it after he told me he and I were divorced. And there was this matter about this other woman..."

"What? Richard cheated on you?" An Yu Yan was furious.

"Cool it, mom," An Ning said, not realizing the name she called her mother. "He said he made a mistake and that he only wants me now and our child."

"And you believed him?" her mother was outraged.

"Not really," An Ning shrugged. "He could be lying and is still seeing this other woman but who really cares about that? The thing is I'm not married to him anymore. If I find out it's all lies, then it's easier to leave than argue a divorce from him."

An Yu yan looked at her, stunned.

"Do you know, if you had been like this before and you told me about Richard and his little affair, you would have been crying all over. Now, you're so calm and so blase about it I suddenly find myself feeling sorry for him."

"The lady's got to grow up sometimes, no?' An Ning shrugged indifferently. "And I need to start a career. I can't be forever dependent on you, dad and whatever man is in my current life. I'm going to be a mother soon. From now on, I'm going to base all my decisions starting from that point of view."

"I like this new you," her mother said. "And what if you recover your memory and find that you no longer want to marry Richard?"

"Then it's over. Not even for the sake of my child will I marry anyone just to give my child a father," An Ning said, her voice firm.

The door opened. Richard stood at the doorway, obviously having heard An Ning's last sentence. His expression was dark, his eyes stormy, his lips in a grim line. An Ning met his gaze and didn't even flinched. The two of them stared each other down, An Ning growing mutinous while Richard balled his hands in tight fists as if antic.i.p.ating an ugly brawl. An Yu Yan watched the two of them curiously, her lips parted in a smile.