PART 3: The Contract
Mr. Chen led me down to the living room and placed a thick blue binder on the coffee table.
“Ten years ago, when Marcus married Li Mei, it wasn’t a romantic union,” Mr. Chen explained. “Li Mei was a wealthy industrialist with no living heirs, diagnosed with terminal cancer. She needed someone honorable to manage her vast estate and protect her charitable foundation from corrupt distant relatives.”
“Why Marcus?” I whispered, my heart racing.
“Because he saved her nephew’s life during a university exchange program years ago,” Chen replied. “She offered him a contract: live in China, oversee the transition of her business, and take sole custody of her wealth. But there was a ruthless condition set by her former business partners—Marcus had to remain isolated, completely cut off from his previous life, so no one could use his family as leverage.”
“The money…” I realized, clutching my chest. “The $80,000 every year…”
“It was the maximum tax-free gift allowance he could transfer internationally without triggering legal audits from the syndicate monitoring his movements,” Chen said. “He lived in complete solitude, acting as a figurehead while fighting off corporate predators to save thousands of factory jobs.”
Where was Marcus right now? Continue reading Part 4 below for the confrontation.
