Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
I opened my mouth, then clamped my lips shut, thinking better of the words. Anything to do with death triggered her.
Whereas I’d gone numb, she’d gone shrill. Both were a nuisance to deal with, but only the latter elicited a headache.
Mom tapped her finger over her lips. “However, she comes from a good family and is actively seeking a husband. I approve of her.”
“I approve of her, too.” Celeste Ayi sashayed to the drink cart, helping herself to a double scotch on the rocks. “She must know a good plastic surgeon. I’ve been meaning to get a mini-lift for a while now. Everyone has one.”
A bitter laugh stuck in my throat.
How cruel was life that the only things my father had wanted for me—a wife, children, and happiness—were the things I reviled the most?
And yet.
And yet.
I couldn’t let my mother down.
When Dad passed away, he’d done so protecting me from sure death. If he’d never shielded me with his body, he’d be alive.
Mom would have a husband to dote on.
Celeste Ayi would be free to find a fourth husband.
The world would operate exactly as it should’ve.
But he’d left us behind. And discounting my unhinged Ayi, I was Sun Yu Wen’s sole living relative.
I’d felt precisely one human feeling my entire life.
Guilt.
Guilt over killing my father.
Guilt over destroying my mother.
Guilt over ruining my family.
Letting go of it would separate me completely from my species. I clung to it as proof I wasn’t a complete psychopath.
Its burden felt delicious against my bones, its suffocating pain reminding me I wasn’t completely numb.
“There she is.” Mom thrust the Polaroid in my face. I kept my feet on the desk and angled the picture with a lopsided tilt of my head. “Her name is Eileen.”
Eileen was objectively attractive.
Warm smile. Nice figure. All the right credentials.
And still—she bored me to death before we’d even exchanged one word.
I handed my mother the picture back, shaking my head. “Too wholesome.”
My phone buzzed with another text from Oliver. I sighed, deciding to answer it before he found a way to escalate.
God forbid he, too, barged in here.
Ollie vB:
You sure?
Ollie vB:
I know a PI who can track down your little con woman in no time.
Zach Sun:
The last time I hired someone upon your recommendation, I ended up with a stranger’s dildo clogging my pool skimmer.
Hard pass.
I’d trust Frankie Townsend before I trust whomever you recommend.
Ollie vB:
Ouch.
Short temper.
Ollie vB:
Maybe it’s time to get laid.
Romeo Costa:
By something other than his hand.
Ollie vB:
His poor dick. Probably goes to bed screaming, “Help! My owner beats me every night.”
Romeo Costa:
Impeccable grammar. A+.
Zach Sun has notifications silenced.
Meanwhile, Mom hadn’t stopped rambling.
She tucked the photo onto the glass edge of the custom frame that held an original Twombly sketch. “Wholesome is bad?”
“For someone with an estimated IQ in the 200s, wholesome can be boring.”
“She’s actually into archery.” Mom cleared her throat. “And can cook.”
“Surgeons work unfathomable hours. She wouldn’t be a good fit as a mother.”
“I said neurologist, not neurosurgeon. If she were the latter, I wouldn’t even ask before booking you a wedding venue.” When she didn’t draw the smile she’d aimed for, she sighed. “Besides, she’s planning a sabbatical before transitioning to part-time.”
I stood, pacing across my office. An office that smelled less and less like my kingdom since Octi had paid it a visit.
Her scent clung to the air—oranges, artificial fruit, cheap soap, and a hint of some cleaning product.
“She’s no good,” I growled, fixing my gaze on that unfinished Go game that mocked me more than that nameless woman’s smile.
“She’s brilliant.” Mom shadowed me while Ayi stacked the remaining photos and used them as a coaster. “Your father and her father were good friends in college. They met at Tsinghua before Dad left for Oxford for his master’s. They were xué zhǎng and xué di.”
Senior and Junior.
They must’ve been close.
That stopped me in my tracks.
I pivoted to face Mom, startling her into an abrupt stop. “Dad knew her?”
Mom’s pinched lips curved into an innocent smile that did nothing to hide her real motive. “He met her many times prior to her family moving to Berlin for business. He was her godfather, actually. I’m sure she has some stories of him to share.”
I grabbed Eileen’s picture again.
For a moment, the idea of meeting her semi-charmed me. Doctors were analytical people, were they not?
Perhaps I could explain my situation. My terms and conditions. All the fine print.
We’d walk into this pragmatically, eyes wide open, each with something to gain.
I could give her the wealth, the status, the perks. Just not the love, the devotion, and everything else that came with a real partnership.
She’d get the kids, too, and wouldn’t even have to pretend to enjoy getting impaled by my supersized cock.
We could have a comfortable arrangement.
A business deal of sorts.
But there was another part of me, a greater part of me, that knew no sane woman would ever subject herself to this kind of existence. Not in a free world, anyway.