Chapter 544 - 352: Good News and Bad News

Chapter 544: Chapter 352: Good News and Bad News

Perhaps realizing her tone had been a bit harsh, Anya looked at Li Wei after she finished speaking, her lips pressed tightly together in silence.

Li Wei, for his part, acted as if nothing was wrong and handed a piece of clothing to Anya.

Anya took the garment from Li Wei’s hand and laid it back in the suitcase. Her whole body seemed to relax a little.

"True," Li Wei said. "Your father is only forty-eight this year. A sudden transfer of such a large sum of money is definitely unusual."

"Yeah, he’s always been in great health. His annual checkups never show any problems," Anya said, smoothing her hair. "He doesn’t drink excessively, he’s very restrained with his smoking, and he even rides horses at the estate every morning."

"Mm-hmm." Li Wei walked over and squatted down beside her.

"Every other time I’ve had to sign for assets, it’s been on the scale of tens of millions," Anya said as she packed her suitcase. "And it was always handled remotely by lawyers. Aside from that one time last year, I never had to fly back to Moscow in person."

"But with such a large amount of money, it’s true that it can’t be handled remotely," Li Wei said. "It’s normal that you’d have to fly back in person."

"But there’s no reason he couldn’t have explained it to me clearly," Anya said, biting her lip and gripping the suitcase handle. "Auntie Kaja said my dad just called her and told her to have me come back as soon as possible."

For a moment, Li Wei couldn’t come up with a good, reassuring explanation either, because Anya’s concerns were not unfounded.

Sergey was a super-oligarch in Russia’s energy sector. He consistently ranked high on the Forbes list, sometimes even breaking into the top five or even top three in Russia.

For a man of his stature, a large-scale asset transfer could never be as simple as "normal financial planning."

Especially with the unpredictable international situation, the United States of America was imposing increasingly strict controls on funds from Russia. Although Sergey hadn’t been affected yet, no one could predict the future.

But as Li Wei watched Anya put two different colored socks into the same small bag, it was clear that now was not the time to discuss this.

"Try not to overthink it for now," Li Wei said, pulling Anya to her feet and helping her put her passport case back into the suitcase. "You’ll find out when you get there. It’s better to ask him face-to-face than to sit here guessing."

"Wait," Anya said, stuffing one of Li Wei’s t-shirts into her suitcase. "I want to pack this, too."

"Don’t act like this is some life-or-death parting," Li Wei chuckled. "Aren’t you coming back next week?"

"Your scent will make me feel a little more at ease," Anya said.

"Let’s go." Li Wei caressed Anya’s face. "I’ll take you."

「...」

The Cullinan headed north along the Hudson River, turning onto the George Washington Bridge and crossing into New Jersey.

Anya sat in the back row. She had taken off her shoes and was curled up on the seat with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring out the window at the Hudson River.

The car was quiet. Li Wei drove on without a word.

"Do you think," Anya suddenly began, "something might have happened to my father? Is the president going to... do something to him...?"

As the only daughter of a super-oligarch, she had grown up seeing many of her father’s friends—people she used to see often—suddenly disappear one day, never to be seen again.

In fact, the very reason Sergey had sent her from Moscow to New York was that it was far enough away, far from that frozen tundra.

"Anya," Li Wei interrupted her wild thoughts, "you know better than anyone what kind of man your father is. And you know how he feels about you. If he were really in some kind of immediate danger, he wouldn’t be calling you back to Moscow. He’d be telling you to get as far away as possible."

Anya froze.

That was true.

If Sergey were truly in danger, his first instinct would be to hide Anya, not summon her back.

"Then why..."

"There could be many reasons," Li Wei said. "Maybe it’s a tax restructuring. Maybe he’s making some long-term arrangements. Or maybe his legal team gave him some new advice."

He paused. "But whatever the reason, you can ask him directly."

Anya grunted in acknowledgment and said nothing more.

In the private aviation section of Teterboro Airport, Anya’s private jet had already completed its pre-flight checks. Kaja was standing by the airstairs, a stack of documents in hand, confirming the flight path with the captain.

Li Wei handed the luggage to a ground crew member.

Before climbing the airstairs, Anya turned to look at Li Wei.

"One week," she said, holding up a single finger. "I’ll be back in one week."

"If you run into any trouble, call me," Li Wei said.

Anya nodded and gave Li Wei a quick kiss. "No matter what happens, you’ll be there for me, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Li Wei said. "Not even death could tear us apart."

"Don’t say something so unlucky." Anya managed a smile, then climbed the stairs and disappeared into the cabin.

The cabin door closed, and the Gulfstream private jet taxied toward the runway.

The roar of the engines grew louder as the plane accelerated, pitched up, and climbed, eventually becoming a small white dot receding against the horizon.

Li Wei pulled out his phone and made a call.

It was answered after two rings.

"Liz," Li Wei said, "is now a good time to talk?"

"It is," Elizabeth’s voice came through the phone. "What’s up?"

"Anya just took off for Moscow," Li Wei said. "Sergey is transferring 2.7 billion USD in overseas assets into her name, all at once. And he’s specified that she has to be there in person to sign."

"2.7 billion? In USD?" Elizabeth’s voice grew noticeably wary. "All at once?"

"That’s right."

"That’s a bit rushed," Elizabeth said. "Sergey has always moved assets in small batches through offshore trusts. My family has worked with him for over a decade. A sudden, one-time transfer to Anya’s name doesn’t sound like a normal tax-avoidance measure."

"That’s what I was thinking," Li Wei said. "So I was hoping you could ask around on your end. The Mellon Family must have its own information channels in Europe and Russia. Could you see if there have been any unusual movements from Sergey recently?"

"I can ask my Aunt Beatrice," Elizabeth said after a moment’s thought. "She’s very well-connected in the private banking circles in Geneva and London. If there’s a large-scale movement of Sergey’s assets, she should have heard some whispers."

"Thanks," Li Wei said. "As soon as you can."

"I know," Elizabeth said. "Anya’s my best friend. Don’t worry."

The next morning, Li Wei was in his Vision Holdings office in Manhattan, processing the signed confirmation documents for the LV and LW collaboration.

Even though the collaboration had sold out on Super Bowl Sunday, due to billing cycles, the revenue from the 10,000 regular collaboration items had only arrived a full month later.

Li Wei checked the documents as he signed them.

He was on the last few pages when his phone rang.

It was a call from Anya.

"Hello?" Li Wei said. "Did you make it?"

"It’s me," Anya’s voice came through the phone, sounding much more relaxed than when she’d left yesterday. "I’m here. I’ve seen my father."

"How did it go?"

"There’s no major problem," Anya said. "I asked him. He said it’s mainly because he has several projects moving forward at once and can’t focus on everything. He’s moving some assets to my name so he can concentrate on more important things."

"Did he say what kind of projects?"

"No," Anya said after a pause. "He just said there’s a major energy project in Africa that’s at a critical stage of negotiations. The stakeholders involved are very complex, so he needs to free himself up to focus on it."

’An energy project in Africa,’ Li Wei thought to himself.

"How’s his condition?" Li Wei asked. "Is he physically okay?"

"He’s fine, much better than I imagined," Anya giggled, her voice at least ten times more cheerful than yesterday. "He even scolded me, saying it’s still snowing in Moscow and asking why I didn’t dress more warmly."

"That’s good." Li Wei brought the conversation back on track. "So when are you coming back?"

"I’ll spend tomorrow and the day after in Moscow handling some of the documents—mainly trust amendments and changes to the UBO, the Ultimate Beneficial Owner, for some shell companies," Anya explained. "Then I have to make a trip to Geneva. It’ll be similar to last time and should take a day or two. My father’s legal team will be with me."

"Okay, good," Li Wei said. "Call me before you head back."

"Why?" Anya teased. "Afraid I’ll walk in on you and Liz having an affair?"

"Sounds like you’re really okay now," Li Wei said with a laugh. "You’re even cracking jokes."

"Hmph... I’m going to hang up," Anya said, stifling a yawn. "It’s almost midnight here, and I have to be up early tomorrow."

Li Wei hung up and breathed a sigh of relief.

For now, it seemed things weren’t as serious as he had feared.

But the situation didn’t sound as simple as Anya made it out to be, either.

Li Wei didn’t suspect Anya of deceiving him, but he did doubt whether Sergey was telling the whole truth.

Still, as long as everything was fine for now, he could figure out the rest later.

He picked up his pen again and signed the next document. This time it was a distributor confirmation for LW Beverages.

Just as he signed the last page, his phone rang again.

This time, it was Elizabeth.

"Liz."

"Aunt Beatrice just called me," Elizabeth said.

"And?"

"There’s good news and bad news," Elizabeth said. "Which do you want first?"

"Just tell me."

"The good news is for Anya," Elizabeth said. "Aunt Beatrice confirmed through her channels in Geneva that Sergey is not currently on any preliminary sanctions list, nor are there any asset freeze orders against him in the European or United States of America’s financial systems."

"My guess is that his asset transfer is just a precautionary measure," she continued. "Because he does currently have a large oil field project in Africa, and he’s maneuvering against a very powerful local warlord. That warlord has a lot of influence, not just locally but also in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Aunt Beatrice’s exact words were ’a not-insignificant problem,’ but it’s not what you’d call a life-or-death crisis."

"I understand," Li Wei said. "So what’s the bad news?"

"The bad news concerns us," Elizabeth said, then hesitated. "Hmm... It’s not something to discuss over the phone. I’m actually on my way to see Aunt Beatrice. Why don’t you come with me?"