Page 175 of He Is My Bride

“Furthermore,” Hanjun went on, “Li Ying did not falsify any documents. His passport states he’s a woman, and that change was legally made in the States in order for us to marry. You could tell the lawyer he was due to start the process to officially change his sex, to mitigate the damage. We would support that statement, though false.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you ignored the law and sought to pass an unlawful marriage as lawful! That could be labeled as a sham.”

“We sought no financial gain.”

“Hopefully an attenuating circumstance. Things would have been different if Li Ying had already gone through the whole… process, and had the paperwork to show for it.”

“But Li Ying is a man. Or at least not a—”

Li Ying had returned with his new drink. He lifted up his sunglasses and looked at Hanjun.

“It doesn’t matter what Li Ying is.” Hanjun said into the phone. “Li Ying shouldn’t be forced to beanythingto marry who he loves.”

Li Ying held the railing surrounding the sundeck, standing there in his tiny speedos, tilting his hips and sipping his cocktail. He smiled at Hanjun.

“So naïve,” Wu Yiheng said, but Hanjun was already losing interest in the conversation.

“It doesn’t matter to me or Li Ying if there will be charges against either of us: I will move to the States with Li Ying and marry him there.”

“What?!” Wu Yiheng exclaimed in shock. “What about your family? What about the company?!”

“I’m sorry, Uncle Yiheng—”

“Hanjun!” Beyond his anger, Wu Yiheng sounded desperate.

“—but this is my choice.”

“Your father—”

“I am not him!” Hanjun startled as he heard his voice rising, but he knew he couldn’t back down now. Not this time. “I know you fear that I would end up like him if I married out of love, but when I said I’m not him, I mean that I willnotcompromise. I will choose Li Ying over my career.” Hanjun felt Li Ying’s hand on his shoulder, and it gave him strength to put it all into words. “If it should have been better for me to never have known happiness at all, now it’s too late for that, so let me have a chance at it with Li Ying. If you make him the next chairman, Hanrong will always have my support, even if we must work together from the world over. If I’m still allowed to helpthe company, I won’t leave him to manage things alone like father left you. Just… let me havesomethingfor myself!”

Wu Yiheng was silent on the line.

“We will do what we can to help you get the company out of this with its reputation intact. Disown me if you must—”

“Hanjun,” Li Ying began, “don’t make any hasty—”

Hanjun lifted his finger over Li Ying’s lips and quieted him.

“No!” Wu Yiheng said immediately over the phone. “No… I will not. I cannot. The company needs you.”

“But I don’t need the company.”

“…I see.” Wu Yiheng was beginning to sound defeated. “Still, we will find another way through this mess. You will always be a Wu; we can’t afford to lose you.”

“Even if I’m a—?”

“No matter what you are! But if this is the path you choose, you’d better go to America and stay there! Even if you get away with a nullification of your marriage and a fine here, you and Li Ying willneverhave a future in Shanghai, and it’s better for the company and the family that you stay away from harming our reputation.”

“I know. I understand.” Hanjun found it hard to speak. He had made his decision, but it still wasn’t easy to hear the final verdict from his uncle.

Wu Yiheng sighed on the line. “Are you sure, Hanjun? If you choose this, if you choose to stand with Li Ying in this matter, the worst case scenario is that you can never come back to China on the threat of prosecution.”

“Hanjun,” Li Ying spoke softly, seeking his eyes, “are you sure?”

“Uncle,” Hanjun spoke into the phone, determined, his eyes on Li Ying’s, “I’m sure.”

“…Very well. Hanging up.”