Manila’s society remains glued to a family cliffhanger—the court battle between business magnate Danny Vasquez and his daughter Marivic, and by association, industrial banker Andrew Gan.

Gan, a cognoscenti of high society norms and quirks—if there’s such a thing, meaning he’s a keen and polished observer/chronicler of the who and what in that stratosphere—has been renting his office from Marivic for the past five years. The unit in the Makati building is owned by Vasquez and his wife, Ising Madrigal who comes from one of the country’s wealthiest clans (relatively old wealth)—but, it is said, he gave daughter the right (usufruct) to rent it out. It is said that she’s had the unit for 10 years.

Then one day, Gan got the surprise of his life when he went to office and saw it padlocked, upon Vasquez’s order. It remained locked for about three months, during which mediation went on, and when that failed, Gan had to file a suit to open his office. After three months, Gan finally got a court injunction and his office was finally opened last week.

As Gan’s office was being opened, Vasquez nonchalantly reportedly told Gan—“Here is your office!” like nothing happened.

Now it is said that Vasquez is suing his daughter for allegedly “forging” the usufruct. And Gan has filed a P250,000 suit against Vasquez for damages.

Now people are asking—what (who?) set off Vasquez to padlock his daughter’s unit? Marivic was caught by surprise, and so was her friend, Gan—the “collateral damage,” obviously.