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There’s an awkward pause as we both notice everyone in the office—the Lis and my colleagues—watching us. I clear my throat. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. Let’s get inside.” The last thing I need is for the rest of Shang’s family and my colleagues to find out about my relationship with Shang. We’re not exactly hiding it, but we haven’t announced it officially yet, and this is definitely not the most auspicious of times to be doing that.
Everyone files inside the conference room. Mushu is the last one in, and she closes the door behind her.
This is it. I stand at the head of the conference table and force a smile as I gaze down at the expectant faces. “Good morning, everyone, I’m so glad you could make it here today.”
“It’s very good seeing you again, Zhou,” Uncle Hong says. “You are an impressive young lady and we are excited to sell our company to you.”
James scowls, but everyone else nods genially.
“Thank you, Uncle Hong,” I say. “I’m so honored that you’ve decided to sell Wutai Gold to us. I know how much the company means to you and I promise you that we will do right by it and preserve your legacy. And that is why we are taking extra care with the contracts to make sure that everything is perfect.” The words feel leaden, thunking out of my mouth, awkward and obviously untrue. I keep going. “There are a few kinks that we still need to iron out, but—”
There is a knock at the door. I frown at Mushu, who jumps up.
“I’ll let them know not to interrupt,” Mushu says, hurrying to the door. She opens it and slides out.
I face the Lis once more. They’re looking somewhat less pleased now, except for James, who’s looking smug. “Are you saying the contract isn’t ready?” he says.
“James,” Shang says in a warning tone.
“Well—” I begin, my voice faltering. This is not good. In fact, it is bad. Very bad.
There is a knock at the door again. “We’re having a meeting here,” I call out. My nerves are pretty much shot by now, and I can hear the shrill tone in my voice. Can’t possibly get worse.
Then the door opens and Baba totters inside, holding a walking stick and wearing a huge smile. “Ah, I am so sorry to interrupt, but I insisted that I must meet all of you in person while we sign this momentous contract.”
Nobody speaks. Everyone stares at him. My brain implodes. I stand there, frozen, my insides warring over what to do. Currently, the part of me that’s screaming at me to just up and run and never stop is winning.
Then James blurts out, “Who are you?”
“I’m sorry, I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Zhou. Hua Zhou. The managing partner of this firm.”
I was wrong. It can get worse after all.
After that, there is no saving the meeting. The conference room explodes with noise—mostly angry questions fired like a machine gun, overlapping one another.
“I’m sure there’s an explanation—” Auntie Jiayi begins, but is quickly shushed by the others.
“What do you mean, you’re the managing partner?” James demands.
“Maybe there are many partners in this firm?” Auntie Lulu says.
“Are there also multiple Hua Zhous here?” Uncle Jing snaps.
Within the sheer panic building inside me, my major concern is Baba’s health. All of this nasty shock and horror can’t be good for his heart. “Ba,” I say, “can you maybe wait in your office and I’ll explain everything to you in a bit?”
Baba looks around, confused, at the angry crowd, then back at me. For a moment, he looks as though he might argue with me and insist on staying, but then he nods. Raising his hand, he turns to the Lis and says, “I apologize. It seems my arrival has caused some confusion. I will leave. I trust my daughter will resolve this.” He walks toward the door, and as he leaves, he says, “It was very nice meeting all of you. A real honor.”
He leaves behind him a horrible, gaping silence, a black hole that sucks everything into its center. I want to shrivel up into a tiny ball and disappear, but somehow, I force myself to look at them. To see the one face I need to see.
And when I do see it, it is devastating. Shang is looking at me like he’s seeing me for the first time, and he doesn’t like what he sees. I finally understand the concept of heartbreak. All the relationships I’ve had in the past, the way it felt when they ended, they were nothing compared to seeing this look on Shang’s face. The disappointment and sadness. I feel not my heart but my entire soul ripping itself apart.
“I—” I say. I falter, but somehow, from deep inside me, I find a tiny kernel of strength. I cannot break apart right now, even though I want to. I don’t deserve the luxury of falling apart. Not yet. This is my bed, and now I get to lie in it. “I am sorry. I have something to tell you. The real reason behind the delay. And that is that Hua Zhou is, as you just saw, my father, and not me. I am Hua Mulan. The day before you were supposed to meet with my father, he had a heart attack and was hospitalized. The last conversation he and I had was about Wutai Gold and how much this acquisition meant to him, and I didn’t want to lose it. I felt from your reputation and the correspondence you’ve had with my father that you wouldn’t take me seriously as a daughter, a woman, so I felt that I had no choice but to pretend to have been Zhou all along. I wanted to do right by my father, and in doing so, I did a very bad thing to all of you, and for that I am so sorry.” My voice trembles as I speak, but I manage to get all the way to the end without breaking down. I look at Shang, willing him to understand, to empathize, but he still looks so disappointed that I know without a doubt that we are over.
“Well,” Uncle Hong says, getting out of his seat. “We are leaving now.”
“I told you,” James mutters loudly as he stands.
There are unhappy murmurs all around as everybody stands and files out of the conference room. I wait until Shang nears me. I reach out to touch his arm, but stop short of making actual contact. “Shang—”