chapter 157: art of plotting

[Wong Family House]

7th sister (Teresa Ha) was surprised to open the door and see that Joey (Bernice Liu) had returned. "Joey, what are you doing home already? I thought you said you were taking a vacation to get away from it all."

"A vacation isn't counted by number of days, but by satisfaction and I am pretty darn happy right now!" Joey beams. She was in very high spirits after discovering what Rose (Kenix Kwok) did to Ah Nin (Frankie Lam) that involved Ah Hoi (Michael Tong), which led to his murder.

7th sister sticks out her hand. Joey looks at her and blinks, confused.

"Where's my present?"

"What present? Your birthday is not for months! I don't think it's a holiday..." Joey scratches her head.

"Don't you know it's an unwritten rule that whenever you go on vacation, you have to bring back souvenirs for your family and friends? Unless... you don't consider this old woman as either." 7th sister jokingly teases Joey.

"Uh..." Joey bites her bottom lip.

"Joey, you didn't really go on 'vacation' did you?"

"I really can't put anything against you. Yes, I went to Shanghai, but it wasn't for a vacation," Joey confesses.

"What? You went all that way and no sight seeing or good eating? What did you do there then?"

To avoid further questioning, Joey says, "You'll know soon enough. I have jet lag... I need to go rest a bit." She kisses 7th sister on the cheek before going upstairs.

7th sister shakes her head. "Silly girl."

[Joey's Bedroom]

During the plane ride, Joey had begun formulating a plot. However, she had no one that she could talk to about her plans. She knew that the only person she could turn to was herself, so she closed her eyes as she lay on her bed. Sleep soon invaded her body.

[Dream]

Joey found herself looking at a full-length mirror. "Where are you?" She looks around, trying to find her clone.

"Back so soon?" her reflection in the mirror asks.

"What are you doing in there?"

"It's a change so you don't get bored," Clone Joey winks.

"You're really something."

"Hey, I'm just you."

"Yeah, well, thank you so much for clearing everything up today on the plane!"

Clone Joey beams. "Sometimes tough love is necessary."

"I'm so happy. I have a plan!"

"Let's hear it girl."

"I plan to expose Rose's true nature to Chris."

Clone Joey crosses her arms and looks unconvinced. "That's your brilliant plan?"

"I never said anything about its quality... I just said it's a plan. At least it's a start, right?"

"You're being unrealistic. What makes you think you can rip off her mask? No one else but you knows about the evil Rose. She is too careful and calculating for anyone to expose her. Heck, she has the Kams thinking she's a saint. No one will believe you if you tell them that she's evil or that she has done all of those horrible things."

"I don't need 'everyone' to believe me. I just need Chris to."

"Chris is even harder to convince. He's her fiancé. Who do you think he will believe?"

"If he's still Chris, he will believe in the truth."

"The problem is that he's not."

Joey frowns.

Clone Joey continues, "Don't you learn anything from TVB? Whenever there's a villain fighting with the main girl for the main guy, she will always pretend to be so 'kind' and 'innocent.' However, the main girl will discover her secret and try to expose it to the main guy. But the villain is not dumb. She will use the situation and turn it against the main girl, framing her and causing misunderstandings and leading the main guy to doubt and lose faith in the main girl. Do you really want to see that happen with you and Chris?"

"Definitely not. I am so sick of misunderstandings."

Clone Joey shrugs, "Misunderstandings make life go round... well, at least for the Kams anyways."

"This is so hard..."

"Uh, yeah. It's no walk in the park."

"But we can prove that she's guilty in murdering Ah Hoi. That has to put a dent in her character," Joey insists.

"Yes, but the wheels of justice are slow to turn."

"So what do you suggest that I do?"

"Joey, you have to decide for yourself. I'm just here to listen and help sort things out."

"Was my first idea really that bad?"

"It's bad only if it goes wrong. Knowing Rose, she will frame you and she will be able to manipulate and turn the situation around to her favor."

"What if I confront her about her actions?"

"That's dangerous. She's capable of cold-blooded murder. She can do anything. Do you want to risk being alone with her... let alone confronting her about her deep dark secrets?"

Joey sighs. "Rose is so tricky and smart..."

Abruptly, Clone Joey steps out of the mirror and gives Joey a hard slap on the face. "Stop thinking and saying those things! Do you want me to go hard-core on your behind again?"

"Ouch!" Joey grimaces.

"If you want to waste time, I will go away... but if you're serious, I will stay and listen."

"I have to find some way to get Rose to reveal herself and have Chris be there to witness that."

Clone Joey rolls her eyes, "We established that already. How do we get her to do that? How do we get him to witness it?"

"If only there was an invisible cream..." Joey gasps. "I know! What if I hide Chris somewhere? He can witness our confrontation and at the same time, he can save me if something happens..."

"Do you really think that will work? Why would he be willing to do that? Why would he go against his fiancé?"

"He won't. That's why I have to do some manipulating of my own... Then, I have to get Rose to maybe not necessarily confess, but to show that she is wicked..." Joey frowns. "Gosh. I feel so bad. I'm starting to think and be like Rose. I'm supposed to take the moral high ground... but here I am, plotting..."

"Don't fret. You're a woman. We manipulate. It's in our genes," Clone Joey smiles.

"But how, oh how?" Looking at her reflection in the mirror, a light clicks in her head and she gasps. "I've got it!" She snaps her fingers. "Chris has to see and hear what's happening, but Rose can't know that he's watching. She will never reveal her true nature unless I'm alone with her."

"What makes you so sure she will expose herself?"

"People do desperate things under desperation. Rose will definitely do something if she thinks it's just me and her... at the confrontation."

[End of Dream]

Waking up from her dream, Joey feels refreshed and energized. She reaches for her cell phone, which had been charging on her night table. She excitedly calls Ah Biu (Raymond Lam). "Hey, it's me, Joey."

"For what favor do I owe this call?" Ah Biu asks in a serious tone.

Joey blushes and feels a little uncomfortable.

However, he can't suppress his laughter and gives it away that he was just teasing her.

She exhales a sigh of relief. "Thank god! I was so embarrassed just now."

"So you do want something. It would be nice if one of these days, you could interact with me without wanting something."

"After all of this is over," Joey promises, "there'll be no more baggage."

Ah Biu sounds unconvinced. "I wouldn't be surprised if I don't see you ever again after this thing is over and you end up with your knight in shining armor riding a white horse." He pauses for a moment before saying, "So what's up?"

"I need your help."

"I figured that."

"I have a plan to make Rose expose herself."

"Interesting..."

"Do you have any invisible rooms that I can use?"

"Huh?"

"You know... those rooms that researchers use for observations. The person in the room doesn't know he or she is being watched, but the people next door can see everything that's going on."

"Uh, do you think I'm some sort of freak? Why would I have a room like that?"

"It didn't hurt to ask..."

"Your impression of me is still so poor. You think I'm some pervert who has an invisible room so I can peep on girls?"

Joey is silent.

"What is it that you're planning on doing?"

"I want to confront Rose about everything and have Chris witness it all... so he will know what she's really like."

"How about I wire you and you can record the confrontation?"

"That's no good. Rose is too smart to fall for that. Do you think it's as simple as me going up to her and asking, 'Hey Rose, did you kill Ah Hoi?' and then she answers, 'Why, Joey, you are quite a clever detective! I did.' No, she will never let such a flaw happen."

"How about I set up a hidden camera to record it all?"

"Rose is very aware and observant about her surrounding. She'll know and won't do anything."

"Have you ever thought for a second that you're over-estimating her?"

"I know her. She will not do anything unless she's thinks no one else is around and that there is so trace or evidence of what she did. The only reason I grew suspicious of her was because I accidentally overheard her in the bathroom one time. She was so angry that she didn't realize I was there... and so she let herself slip."

"This is hard..."

"I know. If it wasn't hard, I wouldn't ask you for help."

"A simple plan but a difficult execution," Ah Biu states.

"Exactly."

"You said she slipped when she didn't think anyone was in the room, right?"

"Yeah."

"What if Chris hid somewhere?"

"She'll notice."

"Not if it's behind a door."

"Hmm?"

"A closet! You can confront Rose in a living room somewhere and Chris can be hiding in the closet, hearing everything!" Ah Biu's voice has a proud and satisfied tone.

Joey gasps, "You're right. He'll be in the room, but it won't be obvious, so she won't know he's there." She ends her phone call with Ah Biu and starts constructing her plan. She didn't sleep that night. Her excitement was too high. Finally, at the brink of dawn, Joey's plan had completed construction.