A Love Story in San Francisco

Chapter 18: What Happened?

The morning after the bonfire, Lucas was sitting alone on the comfortable balcony of the base camp, deep in thought, frowning and preoccupied.Emma, who had noticed it over the last few days, came slowly up to him with two glasses of juice.

‘Honey, what's wrong?’ Emma asked.

‘Nothing, I was just thinking about work.’ Lucas tried to gloss over it, but Emma didn't let him off the hook.

‘Honey, you obviously have a situation you can tell me about.’ Emma pressed.

‘Er, honey, I don't know where to start, it's really nothing.’ Lucas was edgy and Emma could already tell he had something on his mind.

‘Well if you won't tell me then I'll ask Alongso, it's his assets you manage.’ Emma said threateningly.

‘No no no, don't ask Alongso, it's not his business either.’ Lucas continued to attempt to muddle through.

‘Then ask your boss James, is there a problem between you two?’ Emma continued.

‘Honey, it's nothing to do with James, he's been so nice to me lately, treating me like the star of tomorrow.’ Lucas rushed to say.

‘What's going on then Honey, I'm going to get angry if you don't tell me.’ Emma was getting a little impatient.

‘Well, it's a bit hard to explain, let's just say that Alongso sent me some trade orders, some of which were significantly off the market price?’ Lucas started to pour out.

‘Huh? Why?’ Emma asked smoothly.

‘Because, he's trying to make up for losses in his other portfolios.’ Lucas explained.

‘That's not very nice, Honey, isn't that damaging to the B family?’ Emma was a little worried, but what she hadn't realised was that, as well as breaking the rules, it involved a crime.

‘That's why I've been preoccupied, before I was hoping that I could make more money from my other investments to make up for the losses of the B family, but just now I've looked at the returns of the new investments, and in addition to Alongso's losses, the assets managed by our company have lost money as well.’ Lucas could never let go of this guilt and opened up to Emma.

‘But you were operating on Alongso's instructions ah, you go back to the company and explain why Lucas, we don't want his assets.’ Emma got worried.

‘Emma, maybe you're right, but then I have nothing too. The company will also fire me and I won't be able to continue within the industry.’ Lucas said sadly.

‘You let me think about it Honey,’ Lucas replied to Emma.

Emma's eyes were full of worry but she didn't know how to help Lucas now.If she had known, she wouldn't have introduced Alongso to Lucas. 'How this person seems to be decent and respectable on the surface, but in reality, he is up to these sneaky and underhanded tricks. I was really mistaken about them.’ Emma lamented.

It was also this night that Lucas's holiday was coming to an end, Kofi volunteered to help drive Lucas and Emma to the airport. Lucas and Emma were very preoccupied and silent on the way, and Kofi tried to make a few humorous jokes, but when he realised that they were not in the mood, he ended the conversation in a quiet voice.

The return flight was on an American Airline, although Lucas had bought a first class ticket for the return journey, but as the plane's Wi-Fi equipment had not yet been upgraded, it was not available to Lucas.

He was upset!

After years of studying hard, he has been working around the school for tuition fees: as a waiter in a restaurant, as an employee in a coffee shop, and borrowing $100,000 in student loans.

He had paid too much for this day, and if he took the initiative to report his case, in addition to losing his job, his resume would be stained, and he might not be able to continue to work in the financial industry in the future.

The demons in Lucas' mind kept reminding him of this.

However, Mom and Dad taught me to be a decent person since I was a kid. My current behaviour is really not fulfilling the quality that a qualified fund manager should have: to do my duty for my clients.

‘This is all from Alongso's instructions, as long as I explain my situation to the company and the regulator, I may be forgiven. ‘ The demons and angels in Lucas's mind were fighting, he couldn't bear to give up the glory he had now, the recognition the company had only built up, and he was afraid of the look of loss on his parents’ faces when they saw him fail.

He fears loss.

His conscience calls out to him again, ‘I'll stand by you no matter what happens. don't be afraid, Lucas, be brave and admit your mistakes. We can start over, I'll always be there beside you' Lucas's ears remembered Emma's words to him again.

...... Unknowingly, the flight was fifteen hours old.

‘Passengers, we are about to land at San Francisco International Airport, please fasten your seatbelts.’ Lucas hadn't slept all night and the plane was about to land.

He decided that he would go to work tomorrow and immediately come forward to the company's disciplinary committee to explain his mistake.

However, when the tyres of the plane touched the ground and the taxiing speed slowly decreased, Lucas turned on his mobile phone like everyone else. The phone immediately rang, it was Alongso's call, Lucas was a bit confused, he answered it, and Alongso's urgent voice immediately came to his ear: ”Lucas, there's a big problem!“

"Alongso, what is happening is things?" Lucas asked.

As a result Alongso told Lucas what happened.

Just five hours before the plane landed, Alongso suddenly received an email from Emma, which said that Emma had found out about Lucas and Alongso's improper trading behavior, in order to save Lucas's life, she didn't want to let Lucas get deeper and deeper into the hole, and hoped that she could save Lucas through the legal channels.Emma also sent the report on Lucas to the SEC ( Emma also sent Alongso the email she sent to the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) to report Lucas.

Alongso knew he was in danger and tried to call Lucas, but Lucas was on the plane and only after he landed did Alongso get through to him.

Alongso continued, "Lucas, we both violated the law. It stands to reason that we both have to be penalized, forfeit the illegal proceeds and pay for the damages."

"Lucas, you see, comparing the two of us, I have the best grades and the most experience in the program." Lucas replied.