Woman of Intelligence (Book 2 in the series)

Chapter 30 (Part 2)

Riya and Samantha were doing their Christmas shopping. Sebastian decided to tag along. Ying, Zoe, John and Antonio went to Starbucks to get some things to celebrate their achievements so far. After they had done with Christmas shopping, they were going to the beach. Samantha was looking for something for Ling and Baozhai. Riya had a list of things she needed to get for her friends and family. There were so many things on the A3 paper. She was looking for things that her friends and family could keep forever. Samantha was looking at the dresses for her mother. Baozhai did like dresses especially the summer dresses. Ling did like clothes but simple ones. So, Samantha decided to buy those things for her family. Samantha already done her other Christmas shopping for her friends when it was Black Friday in Singapore.

Riya was looking at the mini statues of Los Angeles. She was also paying shirts. There were so many things in the shop that she did not know what to choose. Ying, Zoe, John and Antonio entered the shop. They had two packets each in their hands. They found Riya, Samantha and Sebastian by the clothes section so they went to join them. Sebastian was admiring the Christmas decoration for a moment. Riya took some of the mini statues of Los Angeles and placed them in the basket. She had to be gentle because they were fragile. Sebastian finished looking at the decorations. Now he was looking at Riya. 

"So, what is Liang like?", he asked random question.

Riya looked at him. "Why are you asking?"

"Just want to know."

"He is handsome, muscular and has good facial features. His personality is so cool and he is a chill person.", she answered. 

There was some jealously appearing in Sebastian's eyes. "Well, he is a charming man when I saw him on your laptop screen. He must be very good in bed."

"Excuse me, just because we are housemates doesn't mean we do all those things. We just live together because we both like each other's company.", she explained then picked up two Christmas shirts and placed them in the basket.

"Oh okay.", there were still some jealously in his heart.

"So, what are you doing in your current practice?", she asked about his work.

"Well, there are many accidents happening during this festive season. I need to perform a lot of surgeries. You know the drill.", he was looking at the clothes. He found something that looked nice. "Oooohhh, this look nice on you.", he took out a see through short chiffon red dress.

Riya looked at the dress blankly then back at him. "I'm not going to wear something like that.", she made it clear.

"Why? It will be perfect for the party."

"It's too revealing.", she continued looking for some presents. 

She picked up a necklace that had the name Los Angeles on it. It was silver and simple. She took six of the necklaces and put them into the basket. Sebastian was shocked to see Riya planning on buying so many presents. 

"Wow, do you have the money to buy so many presents?", he pointed at her basket. 

Riya looked at her basket that had many things. "Some are mines and some are Samantha's. We are sharing a basket.", she corrected him. 

"Oh. So, who do you think is an imposter?"

"I don't know. Do you have anyone in your family that hates Antonio?"

"Not really. Well, my grandmother hates him. My aunt's mother because Antonio wasn't the man my grandmother wanted Aunt Maria to marry.", he explained.

"Why?", Riya asked, looking at the Santa Claus earrings. 

"She wanted Aunt Maria to marry someone rich like my late father. My late father was a businessman before he died. Antonio was working in a Pharmacy when he married Maria. My grandmother cut ties with Maria because of that."

"The usual old fashioned stories.", Riya put the earrings into the basket.

"But I doubt my grandmother will do something like that. Right now, she is more worried about her husband."

"Then who you think did it?"

"My father is a well-known owner in this city. He has many enemies who want to be higher than him. He has so many competitors that wants to steal his business.", Sebastian said.

Riya did not want to tell him about the Will and Testament. She did not want to over excite him. "So, you think his competitors are after him. The other modelling owners."

"Possible."

"What does you aunt do?", she asked. 

"She is a lawyer.", he answered.

"Oh. Why is she not representing your uncle?"

"Because she doesn't want to represent criminals like him. I know what question you are going ask next. The reason I call her Aunt Maria than mom because she told me not to. But Antonio doesn't mind me calling him 'Dad'. At the end of the day, he is like a father figure to me.", he explained.

Riya was impressed that he knew what question she was going to ask. "Oh."

She was finding his background pretty interesting but she stopped asking him questions. She wanted to get her Christmas shopping done. Ying, Zoe and John were also doing some Christmas shopping. Riya's basket was getting filled up with so many things. Before she could go to the cashier, she needed to divide the products so she would know which items belonged to whom. It would make life much easier for her and the others. They continued doing their shopping before they went to the beach to celebrate their achievements so far.