Ashton looked out of the car window, deep in thoughts. It took him a while to answer, “He is after money, but not from me.”
I looked at him, puzzled.
He raised his eyebrow and warned, “Look out! Red light!”
I turned back to look ahead and jammed the brakes, startled.
He clapped his hand on his forehead and mocked, “I managed to escape unharmed from Shane, but in the end, I die from my wife’s carelessness. That is a little outrageous, don’t you think?”
I frowned and chided, “Stop spouting nonsense.”
He chuckled and the atmosphere lightened.
The traffic light turned green and I drove on.
Along the way, he filled me in on the details. “It is Armond. He must have faced a lot of pressure from his family when he lost big due to the incident in Moranta. He hired Shane to make a scene, officially declaring war on me. I suspect he planned to pursue a long-neglected matter.”
“What long-neglected matter?” I was clueless.
He started telling me a story.
Thirty years ago, the Murphys were not involved in the oil industry. They had some factories and a pharmaceutical company. Their business then was not as diversified nor huge as compared to now. The main player in the oil sector was the Sanders, one of the most prominent families in K City during those days. The oil sector wasn’t a major industry at that time, so the Sanders assigned the concession of that business to their adopted daughter, Winona Stovall. When Winona married into the Murphy family, she brought the oil business into that family as well.
I was shell-shocked. “The Winona Stovall you mentioned is my grandma?” I had to clear my doubts.
Ashton nodded.
“Isn’t she adopted by the Sanders? Why is her family name Stovall?”
“Mrs. Sanders had difficulty conceiving, so they adopted a daughter, naming her Winona Sanders. However, Mrs. Sanders got pregnant not long after and had her own baby. Due to some personal reasons not privy to us, the Sanders changed your grandma’s last name to Stovall, which was Mrs. Sanders’ family name.”
I nodded and probed, “What happened next?”
He gently swept back some messy strands of hair from my forehead and continued, “After Winona married into the Murphy family, the industrial revolution and development of the electronics sector caused the oil industry to grow by leaps and bounds. As the exploration rights in the country were in your grandma’s hands, the Murphys jumped in and did big-scale exploration and extraction. Instantly, they rose to become one of the richest families in K City. Some of the old-money families tried to cozy up to the Murphys. Others felt threatened by their rise, so they plotted against the Murphys. As your grandma held the key to the rise of the Murphys, she was targeted and suffered much. Your grandma knew the importance of oil to the family and the country, so she planned to control the development to make it sustainable in the long run. The Murphys were blinded by greed and did not heed her advice. Out of desperation, your grandma hid the oil concession document in a secret compartment of a box and left with it.”
“The box with the secret compartment is the sandalwood box grandma left for me, isn’t it?” I made an intelligent guess.
He nodded. “Yes, that is the one. Armond tried to get close to you because he was eyeing that box.”
I recalled when I first met Armond, it was at my grandma’s burial ground. He stood in front of my grandma’s tombstone for quite a while. I did not really pay attention at that time as I thought he was just a casual passerby. Looking back, I should have suspected otherwise as he had an unusual expression.
“I had already given Armond the box!” To me, that was just an ordinary box. That was why I gave it to Armond without any hesitation when he asked me for it when we were in Venria.
Ashton looked at me and nodded, “I know.”
My eyes popped out of my head. “How can you be so calm when you knew?” I could not imagine the consequence, now that the oil concession agreement fell into Armond’s hand. Although the oil concession had reverted back to the state, it was previously a private asset. There was no official handover, so the Murphys could bring up the issue and seek legal redress.
He grinned and confessed, “I had the foresight to switch the box.”
I was stunned. “If Armond knew about that, he would kill us. The document in that box is worth an obscene amount of money. If the Murphys get hold of that money, they will have some breathing space and can continue their fight with the Fullers.”
“From the look of it, he had not opened that box.” Ashton confidently smiled. I was intrigued by his nonchalant manner. “How can you be so sure he had not opened that box?”
“If they had opened the box, knowing how the Murphys are, they would have publicized it to bring attention to themselves. They would also have contacted the Finance Ministry to taken legal recourse to relook into the matter. This would bring in loads of money for the Murphys. It would be difficult not to hear about that,” he quipped.
