Tuesday, continued …

With Butler Ge’s words, Hou Yi and Anna sat upright, but remained close to each other. Hou Yi, turned to his bride and quietly asked her “Do you want me to sit beside you as you talk to the police officer? Otherwise, I will simply move across the room, and you can call me if you need me for support, if things get too much.”

Anna, paused for a second, and spoke “Yi, I think the latter. I have to be strong enough to deal with it myself. If I cannot, I will not be able to get revenge on Lu Jinhu and Yang Lin or deal with matters in court over it, when I have no support beside me.”

Before Hou Yi could respond, they were interrupted by Butler Ge “Young Master, Young Madam, here is Officer Mu Tong.” And with that Butler Ge stood aside and a young man walked down into the Lounge area.

“CEO Hou, Madam Hou, I am police officer Mu Tong. I have been informed by your Assistant Wang, CEO Hou, that Madam Hou was assaulted at the Key Plaza Hotel, and you wished to make a report. Before coming I spoke to the manager and security staff who informed me that they would provide a copy of the CCTV footage from the timeframe Assistant Wang informed me of tomorrow. They advised me they needed to review it to protect the privacy of other customers.”

Hou Yi, decided he had to say something before Officer Mu proceeded into his questioning. “Officer Mu you need to discuss what happened in the Key Plaza Hotel with my wife, as I was not present. However, as Hou Enterprises own a twenty-five percent stake in the chain owning it, Assistant Wang is already arranging for a copy of the CCTV footage to be provided tonight direct from the off-site CCTV back-up recordings.”

Hou Yi paused, and glanced at Anna, who nodded to him, before continuing. “My wife has informed me, despite my wishes to remain by her side as she is shaken by what occurred, she is determined to do this. I cannot deny her request, however I will be across the room in case she requires my support at any time.”

With that Hou Yi stood up and shook Office Mu’s hand. He moved to a chair across the room and sat down. While he seemed disinterested in what was occurring across the room, he was paying attention to what was occurring so he could assist Anna if required.

“Hello, Madam Hou. My name is Officer Mu Tong, and I was assigned by the police to come and speak to you about the assault on you. As I can see you are not from here, our practice is to record your statement on this recorder, which produces a digital file which we keep, and a copy on a USB stick, which I will give you as I leave. Subsequently a typed version of this is prepared, and you will be required to sign the original. Please note that I am going to start the recording now.” With that, he placed a recording machine on the table to record the conversation, and pressed a button, which Anna presumed was the record button.

“This if Officer Mu Tong, and I am at the apartment of CEO Hou Yi and his wife, for an interview in relation to an alleged assault of Madam Hou, the wife of CEO Hou of Hou Enterprises. Madam Hou, could you please confirm your information for the record, including your nationality.”

“My name is Anna Jones. No Sorry, I should correct that My name is Anna Hou. My husband and I obtained our marriage certificate today at the Civil Administration Bureau, so my new name will take some time getting use to. I am 26 years old, and am Australian Citizen by birth, born in a place called Warrnambool, but I have until now lived and worked in Melbourne as a Lawyer for the last 5 years, so professionally I will still be known as Anna Jones.”

“No Madam Hou, at some stage I will need to obtain a copy of your Australia Passport and your marriage certificate, but this can wait.” Officer Mu paused for a second and then realised what Anna has said “I did not realise that you were a lawyer. Do you mind me asking which area or areas of law you work in?”

“While employer’s specialty is commercial law, there is a more generalist practice as there was a recognition that clients can have overlapping issues so they do not want to use multiple firms. The Commercial Law team solely works on commercial law matters, and the generalist team where I work covers areas of law including Family Law, Criminal Law, Wills and Estates, Property, and some associated areas, but we also do some commercial work. I do not have a specialty, but generally undertake Criminal and Family Law matters.”

“Thank you Madam Hou. In some respect, due to your background you would understand that there are consequences legally for making misleading and false statements to police. However, as you have foreign citizenship in addition to obtaining citizenship here through marriage, I will have to give you the formal warning we give foreign nationals.”

“I must warn you that if you lie in providing your statement, you are open to criminal charges for such a statement. These false statements can be used against you in court if charges are pursued against you for making such statements. If a decision is to charge those who assaulted you, your statement will be provided to them and can be used against them in those charges. As of your dual nationality, resulting from your marriage, you are entitled to consult a local lawyer or in your case the Australian Embassy, if you wish to clarify anything before proceeding. Do you understand this?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you wish to exercise any of these rights?”

“No, I do not.”

“Madam Hou, can you please let me know what happened today at the Key Plaza Hotel.”

“After my husband Hou Yi and I had collected our marriage certificate from the Civil Administration Bureau. Oh, I recall that the issuing of our certificate was issued was recorded, so we can get you a copy if you need it”

“That will not be necessary at this time Madam Hou.”

“Well after we obtained our marriage certificate, my husband’s assistant Wang Long collected us and drove us to the Key Plaza Hotel where I had been staying to collect my belongings. Yi, apologise, Hou Yi offered to come in with me but I refused as I wanted to do this myself. On entering the lobby my former fiancé Lu Jinhu, who also married someone else today but before my husband and I married confronted me.”

“Mr Lu was verbally abusive and called me names including b**ch. He demanded to know who I was with. I knew I owed him no explanation so refused to answer his question as I wanted no confrontation between him and my husband, today of all days. Mr Lu invasion of my personal space was such that I felt unsafe, and clearly informed him I was refusing to answer his questions.” With that Anna had to pause and take some deep breaths to prevent the tears from spilling over.

Meanwhile, as Office Mu had commenced speaking to Anna, Hou Yi, sat down watching what was happening, looking for any sign Anna needed his help or support. However, this did not stop him thinking about six months ago, when he first saw Anna.