Page 39

June

“W here?”

I hadn’t felt anything. From Wendy’s reaction, I knew it couldn’t be that serious, otherwise, she would have been screaming at the top of her lungs.

Everyone was staring at me. Suddenly, I felt like I was trapped in one of my nightmares—standing in the middle of the school hall in my pajamas, wearing the wrong shoes, as everyone turned to laugh.

I braced myself, convinced the laughter was about to begin.

“Look what you did,” Kai said, his sharp gaze piercing through his mother.

She folded her arms across her chest, completely unapologetic. “That whore deserved it.”

Never in my life had I been called a whore. And I had no idea what I had done to deserve the title.

I touched my face, glancing down at my fingers. Blood. Not much, but enough. It stung when I pressed.

“I’m okay,” I muttered lamely.

I hated confrontations. And Kai’s mother had come here prepared for one. My gut told me she wouldn’t leave without getting what she came for. Sooner or later, I would have to meet her halfway. But right now, I didn’t have the energy to deal with her.

Tears had been streaming down Lucy’s face since the moment she stepped inside. Judging by her smeared makeup, they had started long before she got here. I had so many questions for her, and I was sure Kai did too. She had disappeared with Jenny—and now, after all this time, she was suddenly here.

She owed us an explanation.

Kai’s mother pulled a card from her white, diamond-studded Birkin bag and held it out. “Here. There’s one million dollars in this card. Take it and leave.”

She flicked the card across the room like some kind of magician performing a card trick.

“What the fuck are you doing? And how the hell did you even get into the building?” Kai’s voice was sharp, laced with frustration.

Mrs. Li ignored his questions, pacing around him in her flawless white suit—probably couture. Her heels clicked softly against the floor as she tipped forward on her toes, scrutinizing him.

“Can’t you see what this whore is doing to you?” she spat “Not only are you raising your voice to me, but you’re also swearing at me—over her. Do you not see how this woman has poisoned your mind?”

Kai scoffed. “Mother, I’ve had enough of you controlling my life. I respect you for raising me, for doing it alone, but you don’t get to dictate who I date.”

Wendy nudged me and pressed a small box into my hands, marked with a red cross.

“Do you need help?” Kai’s voice softened as he turned to me, concern flickering in his eyes. It was like he had a switch—loud one second, tender the next. The shift was seamless, effortless.

I shook my head and silently followed Wendy into the kitchen.

I splashed cool water onto my face at the sink, relieved to finally have a moment of peace. But when I turned around, the entire party had followed me, scattered throughout the space.

“If anything happens to her face?—”

“So what?” Mrs. Li cut in before anyone could finish. “She can pay for plastic surgery herself with the money I’m giving her. Hell, I’ll give her another million. Money is not an issue.”

She waved a dismissive hand, her voice dripping with disdain.

For a fleeting moment, when she had finally let me walk away from that hallway, I thought maybe she had softened. Maybe she felt guilty for clawing into my skin with her needle-sharp nails.

But no.

Maybe not.

“I’m not taking your money,” I said, dabbing disinfectant along the scratch, using my phone’s selfie camera as a mirror.

“You all say that,” Mrs. Li scoffed. “But nobody says no to money.”

Kai’s jaw clenched.

“Who exactly have you paid off, Mother?” His voice was low, controlled—but the red creeping up his neck said otherwise.

“You don’t need to know.”

“Tell me,” he demanded, slamming his palm onto the dark marble countertop. “Or after today, you won’t have a son anymore.”

Mrs. Li barely flinched.

“I don’t have the full list memorized,” she said with an exaggerated sigh. “Most of your little college girlfriends. The whores from your filthy hobby.”

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Honestly, son, you never know what kind of diseases those women carried.”

Kai stiffened. “You knew?”

It could only mean one thing—his secret obsession with the darker world of sex.

“I know everything,” she said smoothly. “Like father, like son. If I had agreed to?—”

“Shut the fuck up, Mama.” Kai’s hands flew up in front of her mouth as if he could physically stop the words from spilling out.

She smirked, unfazed. “Come on. You know I did this for your own good.”

That line.

The one parents always used to guilt trip their children into submission. A mind game played so often it worked like magic—until the magic wore off.

“No,” Kai said, his voice razor-sharp. “You did this for you.”

I set the disinfectant aside, deciding to leave the wound uncovered. It wasn’t deep enough to need a dressing. Still, as I listened to their exchange, I silently calculated the best moment to slip out of the room.

“People like us don’t marry for love. You know that.”

“We marry for power, right? Or is it for more money? Money we couldn’t possibly spend in a lifetime—hell, not even if our future generations lived like undead vampires? Look at you and Dad. Do you honestly want me to end up like you?”

I brushed my fingers lightly over Wendy’s hand, catching her attention with a subtle tilt of my head toward the door. She dropped her chin in understanding.

Moving as if I were stepping on rice paper—something I’d picked up from my brief, and frankly unimpressive, Aikido training—I crept toward the exit. This wasn’t about a sneak attack. I just needed to get out of there unnoticed.

Kai was too busy ripping apart his mother’s ideology, pointing out the disaster that was her marriage, how his father had walked away and found real love. Proof, according to him, that everyone needed love.

I almost made it.

Smack.

A sharp sting radiated from my fresh wound. But this time, her hand wasn’t on me.

It was on Kai.

“I’ll marry June,” he declared, his palm pressing against his reddened cheek.

It wasn’t a proposal. It was a statement. A challenge.

Unromantic.

“You will not,” Mrs. Li and I protested at the same time.

Well, that was unexpected. Seemed like we finally had something in common.

“Why not?” Kai countered. “She’s perfect. Exactly how I imagined my wife would look.”

Still, it didn’t sound like love. Not even close.

A nervous chuckle slipped my lips, thin and forced.

Was that all anyone ever saw in me? The perfect wife?

Dannie had certainly thought so years ago.

“ Lucy is the perfect wife. Beautiful. Smart. From a prestigious family.” Then Mrs. Li threw me a withering look. “Chinese, through and through.”

Ouch.

I had never truly faced racism until now. And I couldn’t believe it was coming from my own people.

Lucy had stopped crying. Yet, she hadn’t said a word to defend herself. How could she just stand there and let Mrs. Li talk about her like that? Like she was some kind of prized possession on display. Unless… she wanted to marry Kai.

“Will you marry me June?”

“Kai…”

Before I could even say no, a sharp pain sliced through me. I gasped and looked down.

Mrs. Li’s hand was clenched into a fist, gripping something.

A nail file.

I was bleeding. Again.

The stab couldn’t have been deep. Whatever expensive nail file rich people bought, it couldn’t be that sharp—could it? My mind scrambled for logic as I forced myself to breathe.

In. Out. In. Out.

I wasn’t going to bleed out. I was going to live. That much was clear.

Breathe. Focus on nothing but breathing.

Then I was yanked backward. A collective gasp erupted in the room. Faces twisted in alarm, concern, helplessness.

No, I hadn’t just fallen.

Mrs. Li had grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled.

Hard.

I barely managed to catch myself before I hit the ground. If I hadn’t, I would have lost a good chuck of my hair along with my dignity.

“Careful what you say next,” she hissed.

The not-so-pathetic nail file was now pressed against my neck.

“What the fuck are you doing, Mama.”

“Language, Kai.”

“Mommy,” he pleaded, his voice suddenly small. “Please, let her go.”

“Wait for it…” Her laughter cracked through the air, shrill and piercing, sending a chill down my spine.

“Say it,” she sneered, yanking my hair like I was nothing more than a ragdoll. “Say you’re not going to marry him.”

“No, of course not,” I gasped. “We’ve only been on, what—one or two dates?”

“You hear that, son?” Another laugh, sharp and mocking. “And yet, you already fucked this whore, didn’t you? What more do you want? Haven’t you had your fill?”

“Let her go,” Wendy demanded.

“Shut up.” Mrs. Li spat. “You’re exactly the same. Just like her. Denying your own roots. Calling yourselves American. Prancing around town like you’re open for anyone to fuck you.”

“Stop insulting her,” Kai growled, his voice edged with barely contained rage. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“We’re the worst. I admit it. My mother used to say the same thing about me.” I said, hoping to appease the crazy woman.

Mrs. Li had lost control of her emotions. If I had to guess—judging by her erratic mood swings and what Kai said earlier—she suffered from some kind of mental disorder. There was no official diagnosis, but I knew one thing for certain: we had to try a different approach.

“You hear that?” Her hand jerked, and the dull edge of her nail file sawed against my throat. I leaned back, trying to ease the pressure.

“What else did she say?” she demanded.

“Oh, a lot actually.” I forced out a laugh, though my heart pounded against my ribs. “I can tell you all about it over coffee.”

“Yes, Ma. June’s not that bad.” Kai’s voice was surprisingly steady. “Her mother is half-Chinese. She’s actually here in China to learn more about her roots.”

I had no idea what he was thinking. Mrs. Li had been keeping tabs on Kai—his whereabouts, his life, the women he had been seeing. She must have known why I was here.