After ensuring Su Ma had everything that she needed, the group left to return to the yacht. They were to spend the next few days at sea. Everyone was back on board, then they set off for their next port of call, Manilla, Philippines. It was an exotic port, and nothing like anything any of the group had experienced before. They had a wonderful time seeing all of the sights. Then they set sail for Singapore, Malaysia. This trip was a smorgasbord of many different cultures and sights, not to mention landscapes. Singapore was a bustling city, full of high end shopping centers with branded stores, as well as the local cultural sights. Museums, art galleries and the like. The kids especially liked the Singapore Zoo. It was filled with all of the animals that they had studied in school. The adults were partial to the Singapore Botanical Gardens and the National Orchid Garden. They all enjoyed the trip to China Town. It was a taste of home for them, but in a different way. There was really
The day dragged on as George frantically looked for his missing man. Since the man had no pockets, he didn't have his cell phone on him. So he could not call the general to tell him what was going on. He had all of his contact numbers in his phone, so he had not bothered to memorize any of them. After a long afternoon of being interrogated by the police, they at last let him make a call. He decided to call the resort, and if nothing else, he could leave a message for his boss. After this was done, the jailer put the man in a cell to wait for further instructions from the police Chief in charge. George finally went to the front desk to ask the desk clerk where the nearest police station was, thinking that it was a place to start looking, and to file a missing person's report. The desk clerk then remembered to give him the message that had come in for him, and it just so happened to be from his missing man. George went and sought out Matthew and Rick to accompany him to the p
As time flew by, Lois had been in Jelang and had been doing very well with her shop 'Second Chance'. The local population had, for the most part, forgotten about her sordid past. She was a valued member of the business community. Last yesr, she had been nominated to run for the local Chamber of Commerce Chairman. She was of course flattered to be nominated, but was very surprised when she actually won the position. It was the peak of her life to have been given this post. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine that she would reach such a height in her life. Even though it was just in a small village such as Jelang, the fact that she was overwhelmingly the popular choice humbled her even more. Rick and Debbie both were just so proud of Lois, and even came to her investiture ceremony, along with all of the rest of the Thomas family. Howard had really been putting his all into the Thomas Shelter. Along the way, he met a very nice lady, who had come in for an interview fo
After the kidney transplant, Debbie's health improved tremendously. She had regained her strength and stamina to the point that she was able to resume her duties at RBG LLC. Over the years, she had expanded offices in all of the major cities in the south. Every big company clamoured to have RBG LLC handle their accounting needs. It became a status symbol to have Debbie work for them. After such a huge expansion, Debbie and Rick had set their sights in a more global presence. So they started with Cairo, Eygpt. Since Anita had done such a good job organising that pharmaceutical office years ago, it had become the premier branch of RBG Pharmaceuticals. So it was a natural place to start the global expansion of RBG LLC. Rick and Debbie spent several months in Cairo setting up the branch, and even acquired a residence in Eygpt. It was an expansive villa right on the banks of the river Nile. Larry had designed it to reflect the location and local culture. The villa was named 'Alhudu
It was a sad day for Rick. Today, he was to bury his beloved mentor, Old Wilson. Old Wilson had been frail, and his health had declined slowly. If someone didn't see him every day, they would notice a vast difference . But since Rick would go down to see his old friend regularly, he did not realise just how bad Old Wilson had gotten. It was on such a visit that Rick found Old Wilson sitting in his favorite chair out in his back garden. At first Rick just thought he was asleep, as Old Wilson would nap out there almost every day. But after sitting down beside him, Rick finally realised that Old Wilson had passed on. It broke Rick's heart. Old Wilson had left instructions as to what he wanted done after his death. He asked that Rick bury him next to Ruth, his wife, and their son, Christopher. It was out in the countryside, north of Fing City. Rick had made all of the arrangements, and that morning, he and Debbie headed out. He had made the announcement of Old Wilson's death to the com
Rick Green was exhausted. He had come to his wits end. He was tired of the arguments, the insults, the derision and the put downs. He and Debbie had been married for 5 years, and in that time, he had not had a single comforting or supportive word from his mother-in-law. She thought of him as a pain in her backside, when she thought of him at all. Rick loved his wife and she loved him, much to the chagrin of Lois Blain, her mother. Lois had become a widow early on after she gave birth to Debbie. She felt that she had been cheated out of a life of luxury and privilege that her husband had not been around to give her. Afterall, he had come from a very prestigious family. So Lois took all of her frustrations out on Rick. But he had had enough. Debbie was equally frustrated at her mother as she witnessed the reprehensible treatment Lois heaped on Rick on a daily basis. She understood Rick's tolerance was wearing very thin to the point of explosion. She was in awe of him for being able t
Rick gently took Debbie's hand in his and kissed her palm before asking her "Now what do we do?" Although he was pleased that Debbie had defended him against her mother, he was at a loss as what they were to do next. Debbie was just as clueless as Rick was. She had not thought that far ahead. There were so many things tied together between Lois and Debbie, including the house ownership, the bank accounts and various loans, that Debbie became overwhelmed by it all. But, as an accountant, she knew that she had to act swiftly if she was to get ahead of her mother's wrath. Debbie knew her mother well, and could guess how she would retaliate against both Debbie and Rick. That would be by trying to grab up all the money available between them. So Debbie advised Rick to go into his banking apps on his mobile phone and change all of his passwords immediately as she was about to do herself. By doing this, Lois would not be able to drain their bank accounts as Debbie knew that her mother wo
As Debbie and Rick hailed a taxi to take them to dinner, Old Wilson had just heard some heartbreaking news. Rick's father had been in an accident up in the mountains where he was staying with his wife for a few days. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Rick and his father had never been close, thanks to Byron's Mother, but that did not stop Byron Green from caring for his son a great deal, as well as his welfare. Although Rick had been estranged from the Green family for so long, his father had been secretly building Rick his own fortune. He had started this just after Rick was born. He knew what kind of personality his mother had, and knew that Rick was in for a rough life under her thumb if he ever came back. Building Rick's fortune seemed the only way for Byron to help his son in the long term. Over the twenty odd years, it had turned into quite the fortune indeed. None of the rest of the family knew about this as Byron wanted Rick to not have to worry about the family infighti