‘Grace, I had a meeting with Mr Hagen,’ he began.

Grace winced. ‘Oh, dear. I hope not just because of me.’

‘I understand your situation,’ he said gently. ‘The product is excellent, fantastic. A step up from the first version on the market. I agreed to meet with Mr Hagen and host him at a friend’s hotel and I loaned him a driver from here.’

‘That was generous of you. Had I known I would have warned you not to do anything for him. Especially if you felt you had to do it because of me,’ said Grace.

‘We are always cautious, Grace. Johnny made a few enquiries. And indeed, it was a good thing he did, because when we contacted the company in Singapore that took this product to the next level, they had never heard of Lawrence Hagen or had any dealings with him. They think he might have gone directly to the young inventor and persuaded him to let Mr Hagen have certain rights to which he is not entitled. So we declined Mr Hagen’s offer.’

‘Oh dear,’ Grace groaned. ‘I was afraid something like this would happen. I’m relieved you didn’t get involved.’ She took a breath. ‘He told me he was going to Singapore. I guess his dealings were not with this company you mention after all, though.’

Mr Pangisar looked at her piercingly. ‘Was this a sudden decision of his? It is not easy to establish oneself in business in Singapore . . . unless you have connections. And money.’

‘I have no idea,’ said Grace, shaking her head. ‘I am so sorry my personal life has crossed over into my working life and affected you, Pak Harold.’

‘I understand. We like you very much, Grace. You work hard and you think like we do. You are now part of the Kamasan family,’ Harold said kindly.

Grace had to turn away as tears came to her eyes. Fortunately, Andy was suddenly beside her.

‘Grace, can I check some details with you about the filming of the banquet?’

‘Of course.’ She clasped Harold’s hand as she thanked him and then left with Andy, who was enthusing over Johnny’s plans. But outside the boardroom, Andy stopped.

‘What’s up? You looked a bit upset in there and I thought you might need some fresh air.’ He smiled at her.

‘Oh, I’m so embarrassed and angry. Lawrence tried to spin a deal to the Pangisars, of all people! He used me to get to them, but now it looks like he tried to hoodwink the inventor of the cybersecurity product he’s peddling, who must have thought Lawrence was working with the company that actually owns the rights.’

Andy nodded slowly. ‘Right. So Lawrence on-sells the rights, takes his money and moves on, leaving them to fight it out.’