Recalling her old memories that began to flood her mind, Sherly finally remembered something very important to her: her family.
The Suryajaya Conglomerate Family, a conglomerate family primarily residing in Menteng, was one of the wealthiest conglomerate families in Indonesia, even appearing on the Forbes Global 300 richest list.
Being on that list was actually more than enough to be the richest in this country.
Unfortunately, that didn't last long.
From 1992 to 1994, several companies under her family experienced a series of serious problems that caused a domino effect, collapsing her family's entire business.
Sustaining losses of billions of US dollars, and finally worsened by the 1997-1998 Crisis, which truly turned her family's entire wealth into ash.
That was the most painful and traumatic memory for Sherly.
Speaking of her family….
'What should I do when I meet them? My Mama… my Papa…. Should I prostrate first and apologize for disappointing them…?'
Shaking her head lightly, the soft silhouette of leaves covering the sunlight that shone on her face began to pass.
'Ahhh… No. That would just be a foolishness if I did it suddenly in front of them. More than that, what are they doing right now?'
She was quite worried about their situation. Because if she didn't remember wrongly, the collapse of her family business should be happening in this timeframe.
"The collapse, huh…."
Sherly took the daily newspaper that Uncle Hendrik usually bought to pass the time, and then the girl read it with her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
This was what Sherly feared most: the beginning of the series of tragedies that happened to her family, which made her experience a life like hell.
[Koran Rakyat, Jakarta Post — The Bank Rush occurring at Bank Summa has caused mass panic, leading to a plunge in public trust in the Suryajaya Family!]
'Okay, Sherly. Take a breath. Exhale. Remember, you are Sherly Suryajaya, the daughter of the wealthiest conglomerate in this country with trillions in assets. Focus!'
For some reason, even though she had felt what it was like to be rich, the past fear of her poverty still haunted her deeply.
Even so, instead of becoming panicked and terrified like a foolish and arrogant naive girl,
Sherly instead stared at the sky through the window of the car driving toward the headquarters that became the starting point of the Suryajaya Family's fall: Bank Summa.
'Let's calculate the losses. If Bank Summa collapses this year due to bad credit and that crazy expansion, our trillions in assets will evaporate very quickly.'
'Billions of dollars, Sher! That's enough to buy a private island complete with a lifetime supply of instant noodles!'
Sigh…. She had to be more pragmatic.
Yes, she must not let that much money go to waste!
"Mama, papa, grandpa…. This time I promise that I will save all of our family companies."
She wrote in a small notebook all the things she remembered—all the incidents that occurred which were the reasons for her hatred toward those who caused the downfall of her family.
"Ahhhh…."
And crossed out the names of those who were the source of this destruction, whom she only found out about after everything was too late….
...Sherly narrowed her eyes, staring at the row of names she had crossed out fiercely in her small notebook.
Names of directors who would later flee to Singapore.
The name of the uncle who would sell family assets at cheap prices to competitors.
And the names of the bureaucratic 'dogs' who cut off their credit lines on orders from 'Above'.
'Do you think Papa is an easy prey because he is too honest?' Sherly thought.
Her fingers gripped the pen until her knuckles turned white.
'This time, I will not let you touch a single rupiah of Suryajaya's wealth.'
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class glided through the Jakarta traffic of 1993, which was stifling with leaded exhaust fumes.
Inside the cabin, Sherly squeezed the edge of the Jakarta Post newspaper in her lap. The headline screamed about drying liquidity, but the reality out there was much louder.
"Uncle Hendrik, slow down the car when passing the branch ahead," Sherly commanded flatly.
As the car slowed, Sherly lowered the window slightly.
The hot Jakarta air, smelling of burnt asphalt, immediately rushed in, bringing with it the tense, low roar of the crowd.
In front of the Bank Summa branch office, the scene looked like a battlefield.
Hundreds of people—ranging from men in safari suits to housewives still wearing nightgowns covered by jackets—jostled in front of the tightly closed glass doors.
They hammered on the glass with savings books in hand.
An old man appeared to be sitting weakly on the sidewalk, holding his head while a security guard tried to calm the mass that was starting to get violent.
Those faces weren't just angry; their expressions looked terrified.
Police stood guard with shields, trying to hold back the crowd that wanted to withdraw their money.
A total, pure chaos without any significant resistance from the guards.
'Bad credit in the property and shipping sectors... placing too much funds in the group's own internal projects...'
Sherly clenched her fist.
'Papa was too naive. He let those directors engage in "self-dealing" and disguised Ponzi schemes just because they carried the family name. He thought loyalty could replace sound risk management.'
She remembered correctly, Bank Summa had swelling interbank obligations while its assets were illiquid.
In this year of 1993, Bank Indonesia had already begun to lose patience.
If Sherly didn't move now, in a matter of months, this bank's license would be revoked, and the Suryajaya name would be dragged into the deepest mud of disgrace.
All of this was revealed and only known to her years later after a series of investigations by the prosecutor's office following the collapse and ruin of this country.
Biting her own lip in suppressed anger and hatred while trying not to cry as she wrote those things, Sherly swore repeatedly that none of that would happen again.
It would never happen again…..
"Even if I have to do all the cruel things I've never done in my life....."
"I will do it."