Chapter 2:
The Blackmail

"Mother, we are getting married."

Sakura was dumbfounded and terrified. When she had heard those words come out of her boss's mouth – she just froze. She felt his hand envelop hers, and it took her almost all her willpower to not to recoil her hand away from his. She wanted to know what gears were turning in her boss's mind as she faced the majestic and qualified, President Li Yelan, and her other superior, Li Meiling who had similar expressions like her.

"I don't believe it, Syaoran! What do you mean you are getting married?" Meiling broke the silence. Syaoran had turned his attention to his cousin.

"You heard me, Meiling." Syaoran said. He could see his mother and his assistant looking at him for an explanation. "Isn't she your secretary, Syaoran?" Meiling asked, giving Sakura an once-over. "Yes. Yes, she is," Syaoran started, "It is just titles, dear cousin. It's not the first time one of us fell for our secretaries, Meiling." He knew that he hit the nail in the head with that one. His mother had approved the eldest Li daughter, Fuutie to marry her secretary almost 6 years ago.

"Explain, Xiao Lang," his mother breathed out – she was curious about the development of this relationship. She too looked at Sakura, noting the surprised look on her face.

"Well, Mother. You can say that all those late nights in the office and deadlines. Something happened." Syaoran spoke, hoping there were no changes in his tone while he spoke to his strict mother. It didn't matter if she was the President of the Corporation because right now, she was Li Yelan, Syaoran's mother.

"Why didn't you tell us in the first place?" Yelan asked, her voice softened. Syaoran sensed her tone and guilt overcame him. He didn't want to betray her but it was necessary. His 3 years of hard work was at stake – he had to lie. "Mother, I wanted to, but it would call into everything I did into question. Not to mention, I didn't want to subject Sakura to rumors that go around the place." Syaoran said, clutching Sakura's hand tighter. "We wanted to wait till her contract was over," he finished.

"Xiao Lang, if this is true, you should have told us about this." Yelan huffed, her eyes narrowing at her son. Syaoran felt a shiver run down his spine; he had an inkling that whatever they were talking in here would leave the room with them.

"I am sorry, Mother. We wanted to tell you at the right time," Syaoran apologized. He bowed respectfully to his mother. Sakura just stood here, processing everything that happened before her. Her hand was still held by her boss, the President and her other superior had been gawking at her.

"About this visa, I think I'll give the lawyer a call and tell them about your situation. We will find a course of action to your problem. I'll see you in my office in an hour then to discuss everything, Xiao Lang," Yelan replied. Syaoran nodded, he knew he would now get some leeway with this ruse of his. "You two may go now." Yelan concluded. Both Sakura and Syaoran bowed to her and head towards the door.

"Sakura, is it? Do you have anything to say before you leave?" Yelan started, curious to how the auburn haired girl might act.

Sakura, startled by the words addressed to her, stopped walking. She looked at her boss and felt his fingers brush across her hand, as if trying to get a message through. She knew what he wanted her to say. Before she left the room with her boss, Sakura managed to squeak out.

"Mrs. Li, we are just two people who weren't meant to fall in love but did. Thank you for understanding."

Sakura had never been this frightened in her life. She just lied to her superiors. Just as she had exited and closed the door of the conference room after her, her boss let go of her hand and walked back to his room. She walked behind him, following him to her desk. Her brain was not able to process what just happened in that conference room. She was just following orders. What had just happened?

Her boss had walked further away – she was stuck in a daze. As she walked back to her desk, she passed Asuna who looked like she had heard the strangest news ever. Asuna looked at Sakura with a stunned expression, Sakura didn't care and walked by. When she entered the area where she had stained her shirt earlier in the morning, she could hear the whispers that had erupted around her.

Sakura did not even notice the looks she was given by her colleagues: most were looks of astonishment, but some looks were marred with betrayal and jealousy. It confused her. The conversation she witnessed in that conference room still zoomed throughout her head.

When she had finally reached her desk, she looked at her now bright computer screen. There was the office messaging system with one message:

Did you know that Sakura and Li are getting married? I didn't even know they were dating.

Dating.

Married.

Sakura and Li.

It was then she registered what happened to her. She got up and stomped up to Li-sama's office. She closed the door behind her and Syaoran had looked at her like she had committed murder and placed the blame on him. "What do you mean by we are getting married, Li?" Sakura spit out, honorifics had gone out the window. Her thoughts were still zooming by, she felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.

Syaoran fiddled through some papers and placed them into their respective folders. "Relax, Kinomoto, it was also for you too," Syaoran said.

"I do not understand. Do explain it to me," Sakura replied, her frown was visibly showing up on her face.

"Well, they were going to make Meiling take over the branch," Syaoran said.

"So naturally, I have to marry you?"

"What's the problem? Do you have a boyfriend I should know about?"

"N-no! What I mean to say that this is illegal!" Sakura stammered. Syaoran had stopped arranging the files and looked her in the eyes. "I don't think the CEO of Li Corporations is of any danger to the country of Japan. But for you, well, this means that once I am gone, there isn't any guarantee that you are going to last here long," he replied.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Kinomoto, if I go back to Hong Kong, I reinstate my old secretary. I won't have any use for you anymore. So the chances are that you are going to be fired."

"I am not going to marry you, Li."

"Sure you are, Kinomoto. Didn't you say you wanted to be the head of the marketing department? Even if you don't become one here, the chances to be one in other places are as good as dead. This means that you will be out there looking for a job." Sakura was shocked by his words.

Syaoran continued when he had noticed his secretary's reaction, "That means, all the coffee runs, the late night shifts and not to mention, the two years we worked together. It would all be for nothing and your dreams would be gone." Sakura was clenching her fists so hard. Each word he had let out from his mouth had made her angrier and angrier.

Syaoran smirked, "Don't worry, Kinomoto. After the required amount of time, we will get divorced and then you will be done with me. But until then, you are now my fiancée, okay, darling?"

It was then the phone started ringing, otherwise, Sakura would have done something worse to her boss.

"Kinomoto, get the phone."

"Jerk," Sakura muttered under her breath. She had turned on her heels and walked out of his office, slamming the glass door behind her. Syaoran smirked – he had enjoyed getting her so worked up. He had made up most of the things he had said but he owed her his life.

Meiling hadn't spoken a word, but she knew that the behavior her cousin currently displayed was very suspicious. She knew what his motive was – it was an automatic assumption, but it was easy to know what her cousin's priorities are.

Meiling had known that Syaoran probably knew that his reason to stay in Japan was a selfish one. He had his mind set on making the business's Japanese counterpart as strong as its other counterparts. Meiling knew he needed one more year to do so.

She also understood why he wasn't going to agree to his mother's conditions and let her take over temporarily. Meiling was proud of her cousin – although his methods to stop this had been a stupid and desperate one, however he had definitely retained Meiling's respect.

Meiling inhaled in air and forcefully exhaled it all out of out of her body. She knew that Syaoran had a plan, but she was worried. She was worried about the other innocent and probably unwilling participant of his plan.

Meiling had been in her little temporary cabin on the other wing of the building. It was near the conference room and well, a long walk away from Syaoran's room. Her aunt's cabin was opposite to her and her one was marked "Li Yelan. President." It was probably made for her and strategically placed away from her son's. Meiling stretched and walked out of her room and to her aunt's door, knocking once. I wonder if she is thinking the same thing I am, Meiling wondered. She knew that her aunt would have considered that this was a ploy, but Sakura's sentence had probably changed her mind. Only one way to find out, Meiling thought as she had heard her aunt telling her to enter.

Li Yelan had a pensive look on her face. Meiling took a seat next in front of her, trying to enter into the mindset that her aunt had possessed.

"Do you think this is a plan to not leave Japan, Meiling?" Meiling looked to the old woman, her words were soft and her eyes bore into her soul. Meiling could guess that she knew why her son would even retort to such an idea.

"I don't know, Auntie, I just don't know." Meiling admitted.

"He wants to prove to the world that he is capable as they expect him to be," Yelan muttered. She looked at the file placed right in front of her. There was a picture attached to the file – a girl with auburn hair and emerald eyes staring straight with a smile on her face. "Do you think you can keep an eye on them, Meiling? I think I am going back to Hong Kong in a few days and I want to be reassured."

Having stayed with her aunt and cousins ever since she was a kid, she could predict her aunt's movements somewhat, and she anticipated some kind of request. "Of course, Auntie, just count on me!" She smiled, her ruby eyes gleaming. Yelan could now breathe easy.

Sakura sighed; she could feel the eyes on her back. She had walked down to the cafeteria to get some food and have some sort of relaxation from this horrible day. Alas, it wasn't possible. She could still hear the hushed whispers from the tables around her. Some people were just bluntly staring at her and then pretending to look at something else when she met their eyes.

Sakura was frustrated. On top of the injuries she had gotten when rushing to work; the burnt toast she had eaten for breakfast; the stained shirt she had gotten; the whole conference room incident and not to mention, the threats Li had given her. She could officially deem that it was the worst day of her life. She had a feeling that as the day progressed, she would want to descend to hell to spare Kami-sama the decision of her fate.

Yuri had sat down opposite her, taking out a bento and chopsticks. Sakura groaned; she knew what was to come. "So you and Li-sama?" Yuri began, pushing a morsel of chicken to her mouth and waited for Sakura to answer.

"I'd rather not talk about that, Yuri." Sakura sighed, letting her head rest on the table, next to the scraps of plastic and breadcrumbs.

"A lot of it is rumor but honestly, I really think you two look good together." Yuri smiled at Sakura when her head shot up to face Yuri. "If you don't want to talk about it, it is fine, Sakura. I can guess you are having a bad day, but let me keep you company," Yuri said. Sakura smiled in gratitude, looking at her co-worker. She had reminded her of Tomoyo. Sakura's breathing hitched.

Thinking of Tomoyo made her homesick. Although they ended up meeting each other in the streets of Tokyo and in cafes, it felt like they never spend enough time with each other. Before they know it, the time for goodbyes would arrive and both would go their separate ways. Tomoyo would visit Tokyo to help out her mother's company, Daidouji Toys and also establish her fashion line, Daidouji Designs and then go back to Tomoeda. She missed Tomoyo, and she knew she would call her when she got home today. Talking to her made Sakura feel better.

"I think I am going to head up to my desk, Yuri, thank you so much for keeping me company and for the shirt," Sakura said, pushing herself out of the chair, gathering the plastic wrap and crumbs and dumping them into the trashcan. She dusted off her hands to get rid of the residue of the food she had. She waved to her new friend and walked to the elevator.

She didn't mind the whispers about her right now – she had to work. She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that indicated her floor. She tensed amidst the crowd in the elevator. They were all staring at her. Each second that passed seemed longer, and she willed herself to look at the number of floors on the screen. The elevator had stopped a few times, vacating some of its occupants. When the elevator stopped on Sakura's floor and she walked out, she let out a breath of relief.

On her way to her desk, she passed by her boss, who had walked to the other wing of the building. She was thankful that she didn't have to face him now; she needed strength. She knew why he had walked to the other wing: to meet his mother, Li Yelan, and to discuss the "situation".

Sakura shook her head, trying to clear it from wandering thoughts and sat down on her station. She looked at the new piles of files placed on her desk with a post-it labelled "Takamura Kei- work on a report". She internally groaned and flipped the file open. Taking her pink mechanical pencil, she began to mark the points she believed were necessary and scanned through for vital information throughout the page. She had used the pad of paper that she had reserved for cases like this – jotting down notes and symbols.

Kinomoto Sakura worked hard. It reflected in almost all her drafts of different proposals. She had a system – although different than Li's. While Syaoran used mental lists when tackling different aspects of the business, Sakura wrote down notes and symbols. She sometimes used highlighters but it was for special cases. She would be absorbed in her work and sometimes stay past her allocated end time. Sometimes Li would have to chase her away when she would finally notice him standing there when he had finished with his shift.

"Kinomoto, time to leave," Syaoran said. This startled Sakura, and she jumped up, looking like a deer in the headlights. She looked at the clock. It had been an hour since she sat down on her desk but nowhere near closing time. She had a questioning expression on her face, and Syaoran continued, "We have to cut the day short by going to the immigration office today. We do not have time."

With that said, Sakura merely nodded and took her jacket and purse and walked behind her boss. She wanted to ask about the remaining meeting that was scheduled for today, but she guessed that they were probably going to be attended by Li Meiling and her secretary instead.

Both of them entered the elevator. It was not as crowded as during lunch, but when the elevator stopped on floors, they met with different employees with shocked looks on their faces. When they had reached the lobby, Syaoran motioned her to follow her. Sakura rolled her eyes; of course she expected him to do that.

The car was waiting for Syaoran and a chauffeur remained by the open car door, awaiting the entrance of the businessman into the vehicle.

"Get in, Kinomoto," Syaoran said curtly.

"Hai," Sakura breathed out and entered the vehicle, returning the smile that the chauffeur had given her.

This is going to be a long drive, thought Sakura when she seated right next to Syaoran.

Within 30 minutes, the car had stopped at the entrance of one of the buildings. Sakura was relieved. It had been an awkward car ride. Syaoran had exited the vehicle and told the chauffeur that he would be called when needed. He waved to a man in a black suit who strolled towards him, greeting him with a handshake and Sakura with a smile. The men then proceeded to walk into the building with Sakura in tow.

"Sakura, this is Urameshi Haru-san. He is my immigration lawyer," Syaoran introduced the two. Sakura muttered her greetings at the man and bowed in respect. Urameshi Haru was the best immigration lawyer in the business, a prodigy and not too bad looking. His black hair complimented his dark brown eyes, and he had a 5 o'clock shadow. It had suited him.

"So, this is the soon-to-be Mrs., Li? I am definitely jealous," Haru joked to his client, who he noticed had bared his teeth at him. Sakura had been oblivious to the scowl her boss had sent to the lawyer; she smiled at the statement. "Well, we should be prepared, Li-san, immigration is a tough business, but you got me," Haru said with a dazzling smile. Syaoran just nodded and followed the lawyer into the elevator.

When they had reached the immigration office, there were people seated on tandem slings. There was a small line in front of the reception and there were little sections with numbers allocated to them. There was a little screen that showed which station was tending to which serial number. Haru had merely pointed them towards a tandem sling and then left them to collect a number from the machine.

"Li-san, we are going to be lucky number 777," Haru chirped up, taking a seat across them in another tandem sling and made them sign some documents needed. Sakura looked at the screen that was lit with red. She saw that the screen showed numbers in the 600 region. She sighed, this is going to be a long wait.

Sakura looked around – she was interested in people watching at that moment. She would be interested in anything in order to be distracted from the two talking figures that were accompanying her. It was just as she had expected: people of different nationalities seated in their individual seats on the tandem slings. She had noted that majority were gaijin, probably extending their visas like her boss or even applying for citizenship. She could hear the dings that brought her attention to the screen again, watching the numbers gradually changing closer and closer to their number.

When the ding sounded and it was finally their number – the trio had stood up and walked towards their allocated station number. A middle aged lady accepted the documents and turned the pages over. She paused to look at them and was genuinely surprised. It was expected: Li Xiao Lang was an accomplished businessman, bordering on world famous. Urameshi Haru was the best known immigration lawyer. Kinomoto Sakura was just Kinomoto Sakura. The woman had politely excused herself, leaving her station with their documents in her hands and went into one of the rooms inside. She had exited the room almost immediately and then got out to escort them into another room, telling them to sit comfortably before exiting the room.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Li," Sakura muttered to her boss. Just then, an elderly man knocked on the door and then entered in. "Hello, my name is Kaidou Kazuma. Haru, it has been a while!" the man exclaimed. Both Sakura and Syaoran stood upon him entering while Haru had met the man in a friendly handshake. "It is an honor, Li-sama. You have done some wonderful things for Japan. Nice to meet you too, madam. Please sit," Kazuma said before sitting down before them. "I hope I haven't been making you wait long," he said.

Kaidou Kazuma had a warm smile etched on his face. He seemed like he was into his early 60s. He had patches of gray enveloped his black hair, and he had gray eyes that seemed glassy because of the bulky spectacles he wore. He looked at the file, and studied what the developments were. Haru remained standing next to his clients, smiling at the senior.

"No, we completely understand. I can't tell you how much we appreciate you seeing us on such short notice, Kaidou-sama," Syaoran said, trying to butter up the man with his charm. Sakura noticed the change in his pitch and rolled her eyes.

"I hope you don't mind, Li-sama. But I have one question for you – are you both committing fraud to avoid Li-sama's deportation so he can work in Japan?" Kazuma coolly asked. The bluntness of the words he spoke had startled both Sakura and Syaoran; Haru had an astonished look on his face – he had not expected that.

"That is ridiculous, Kaidou-sama," Haru chuckled, answering for them. "Where did you hear that?" Haru asked.

"Well, Haru. We had a phone tip this afternoon from a man named Takamura Kei-san." Kazuma had directed his attention to the lawyer. Syaoran stiffened, he should have taken the words of his ex-employee more seriously.

"Kaidou-sama, Takamura Kei was just fired this morning. He had threatened to ruin me – he is nothing but a disgruntled former employee," Syaoran stated. "I apologize for this. I know you are extremely busy with other matters, Kaidou-sama, but if you could let us know what our next steps are – it will be appreciated," Haru politely stated, trying to control the situation.

"Haru, you know the process that is about to unfold. Step one – a scheduled interview. We will put you each in a room and ask every questions a couple should know about each other," Kaidou stated – his friendly demeanor had faded considerably over a matter of minutes. "Step two – we look at phone records, we talk to neighbors and interview the co-workers, in this case, your employees, Li-sama," Kazuma continued. "However if any answers do not match up at any point during the interview, then the normal scenario is: Li-sama, pardon me, but you will be deported indefinitely. While madam will have committed a felony, punishable by a fine of a million yen and jail time of minimum of 5 years."

This made both uneasy. "But I trust you both and Haru here," Kazuma spoke up, his friendly attitude appearing once again. Chills run down Sakura's spine; this had unwittingly triggered her conscience. She was scared. Very terrified.

"Madam, is something wrong? Do you have something to say to me?" Kazuma asked with concern. He had noted the change in the air.

"No, Kaidou-sama, no problem at all," Sakura had managed to say normally. She threw in a smile to reassure the old man in order to get rid of his suspicions. "It's just that—" Sakura started, but stopped when she saw the glare Syaoran had threw at her.

"What is it, mam?" Kazuma pressed.

"It's that we couldn't tell anyone we worked with until my contract was over. We both felt that it would be inappropriate to talk about our relationship if I was his assistant," Sakura said, the glare she had received from her boss had faded to a slight smirk. She was thankful to Kami-sama that she remembered the entire conversation that had happened in the conference room.

"I see, mam. Did you both tell your parents about this?" Kazuma pushed. He was genuinely curious to this now – and it seemed appropriate to know. In fact, he would like to know about the love story of the famous businessman and the unknown but beautiful secretary. It was the same old format to him – a man of power would always fall for a woman that had helped him reach the position. It was a cliché but each story was unique.

Haru listened in too, Li Yelan had called him up merely hours ago, informing him about the situation but he was also curious of how a woman had finally captured the tycoon's heart. He was under a non-disclosure agreement anyway, so he wouldn't even think of blabbing it to the gossip-hungry media. He still remained standing, feeling more like a prop but he knew when to interfere, but for now, the couple were handling themselves wonderfully.

"Yes, my mother knows about this," Syaoran stated. Kazuma darted his eyes to Sakura, who had stiffened when she noticed the old man staring. "Actually, we are going to tell her family this weekend, Kaidou-sama. It is Grandfather's 80th birthday and all her friends and family are coming together. We thought it would be a fitting surprise," Syaoran interjected. Upon the mention of her grandfather's birthday, Sakura pointed her head in Syaoran's direction.

"So, where is this surprise taking place?" Haru asked, his curiosity had taken over his senses. He immediately shut up when he saw the cold glower Syaoran was giving him.

"Darling, why am I doing all the talking? Tell them where it is," Syaoran requested, taking her hand and stroking it in front of their audience. At this act, Sakura spoke up, trying not to remove her hand from the clutches of her boss.

"The surprise is going to take place in Tomoeda, sir."

"Where is Tomoeda, exactly mam?" Kazuma asked.

Sakura beamed. "It is just an hour away, sir."

"Well, Li-sama, I shall let you know of an exact date for the interview. Here is a file with the questions that could be asked – I hope this helps. I know your work visa ends in a month or so, so not to worry." Kazuma beamed, getting up from the chair, and leaning in across the table to shake hands with them. He handed the file to Haru.

"Well, I hope you have a pleasant day and enjoy your weekend. I am sure Tomoeda will peak your interest, Li-sama." Kazuma beamed and walked towards the door.

"I shall see you three soon. Haru, I shall let you know." With that spoken, Kazuma had left the room.

Sakura removed her hand from Syaoran's, catching his attention. Haru had excused himself to talk to Kazuma again so, they were alone. "I guess my request for a leave has been approved, Li-sama?" Sakura asked innocently, raising an eyebrow defiantly.

"Yes, Kinomoto," Syaoran grumbled. But his expression changed to a smirk and he continued, "We are going to Tomoeda."

Well, that's it for chapter two!
I have been jumping for joy when I had seen all the follows, favorites and reviews. Thank you guys so much! You really don't know how much this means to me. I still have a smile on my face whenever I get emails notifying me if people read it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'd love to know what you guys think via reviews or any type of messaging. Also, do let me know if there is any Japanese terminologies I used that you may have not known. I do explain or hint towards what it means but if you want, I'll start adding translations on this author's note section of the story!

I do have the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles's opening theme song stuck in my head, so you can guess. I even bought the mangas for it, I am going to be collecting them over this year. I am excited. Also, there is a new anime project regarding Cardcaptor Sakura as well as a new manga releasing in a few days! I need more Syaoran and Sakura. OTP. I can't wait.

I hope this chapter has helped. Again, this story is sort of based on the movie, The Proposal.

Until next time!
(29th May 2016.)