A slideshow? Of what?
“Miss Kim, can you start?” she says.
Edgar and I sit down next to Yuna on a big sectional. The room goes dark and a projector shows a series of Ivy’s sonogram pictures against one wall. They start out as dots, but as the weeks and months go by, they start to look more human.
I place a hand over my belly. The life inside me is going to transform like that too. And the emotion it stirs is…overwhelming. I swallow, feeling a little silly that I’m so overcome, but at the same time so happy for the little baby in my womb.
“My mom’s probably dabbing her eyes, thinking about the baby I’m not giving her,” Yuna mutters. “See?”
She’s right. I bite my lip so I don’t burst out laughing. “She could just be happy for Ivy.”
“Well, that too. She bought them a life-sized dollhouse for the twins. Actually it’s a custom-made doll-castle, but big enough for kids to actually go inside and play. Tony said she could set it up in the secondary atrium.”
Oh, wow. So that explains those turrets. I look at the presents Edgar and I brought. Pretty blasé by comparison.
Yuna sips her drink, then waves at her mom with a big smile.
“So. You get everything resolved with your mom?” I ask. “She still trying to marry you off, or…?”
“Yes. Our agreement is that I’m supposed to go on a hundred blind dates.”
“A hundred?” I whisper.
“She’ll run out of men by the tenth date. Twentieth at the most. There aren’t that many that meet her requirements…and can pass the screening.”
Requirements? Screening? Lady Min must be incredibly picky.
The slideshow ends, and the lights come back on. I blink, adjusting to the sudden brightness.
Then the door opens. And Margot Blackwood walks in.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Edgar
My entire body freezes at the sight of my mother. What the hell is she doing here? How did she get past security?
Tony is livid and starts to stand up. Ivy is pale but has placed a restraining hand on his arm. I look around to find Court, who simply looks stunned.
Jo’s staring at Mom, her eyes a little too intent. And Mom’s staring back at Jo…expectantly.
They’ve met, I realize. Why didn’t Jo say something? If Dad came out here to force a meeting with Jo, so could Mom. I should’ve thought of that and anticipated it.
“What are you doing here?” Yuna’s mother asks coldly.
“Why, I’m here to celebrate the birth of my first grandchildren, of course. I’m entitled.”
No, you aren’t. The only thing you’re entitled to is a lifetime of being by yourself. You don’t get to be here. You don’t get to pretend you care. About us. About your grandchildren.
Mom looks around. Everyone’s staring at her in utter silence. She smiles as though she isn’t bothered by the awkwardness of the moment. But then, she only ever cared about herself.
“I brought a present,” she says calmly and graciously as she extends a box. It’s beautifully wrapped because she would never give a gift that isn’t pretty to look at.
When nobody makes a move, Miss Kim steps forward to take it. Lady Min says nothing. I suspect her restraint has very little to do with her approval of my mom’s presence here, and more with the tension in the room.
A waiter walks past Mom, and she reaches out and takes a cupcake. She never did lack for audacity.
Tony removes Ivy’s hand from his arm and starts to stand.