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Artistic licence

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A week before her final university exams, Nicole Schoeni learned that her father, Manfred Schoeni, a prominent art dealer who owned the Schoeni Art Gallery in Hong Kong, had been found murdered in the Philippines.

'I got a phone call from my mum and for the first three days I was traumatised,' says Ms Schoeni of the experience five years ago.

She was studying in London at the time, and had already made big plans for her post-graduation life.

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'The initial plan was to move to Beijing, spend six months there, hang out with artists, perfect my [Putonghua], and eventually work next to my dad,' she said.

With her father gone and a gallery opening in four days, Ms Schoeni had to make the first of many difficult choices.

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At 23, the prospect of going home to Hong Kong and taking the reins of the family business seemed almost overwhelming, she says.

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