Chapter 9
Leda
I met the older woman’s gaze. “What?”
She gestured toward my stomach. “The baby. How long?”
Oh God. “I don’t know,” I stammered, frantic that Lucas was listening in. I needed to tell him, but the way he was acting right now, I wanted to hit him for being so foolish.
“He not here,” she answered, patting my arm lightly. “Haven’t told?”
Shaking my head, I felt a small measure of relief in knowing that he still didn’t know. “Not yet. I just found out myself.”
“Well,” Mrs. Wong announced, leaning against the bathroom counter. “He will be excited, that boy.”
I let out a snort. “I don’t know about that. He wants to send me away again. Someone needs to look after him, Mrs. Wong. Lucas doesn’t always make the best of decisions.”
Especially when it came to me or our relationship. He thought he was protecting me by sending me back to my brother yet again. But he refused to see that this would only put us both in more danger than before.
My father felt no love for his children, no reason to keep us alive unless we were doing him a favor. For me, that favor was to wed a Don of his choosing. For Nico, the favor was death.
And if he found out about the baby… I shuddered to think what he might do then.
Mrs. Wong peered at me curiously. “Baby belong to Lucas?”
A hollow laugh escaped me at the same moment that my cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Yeah. He was my first.”
“Good, good,” she remarked, patting my arm some more. “No wonder he protects you both.”
“I don’t need his protection,” I snapped. “I’m not a damsel in distress, but that’s all he sees me as.”
Mrs. Wong laughed gaily. “Of course he does. All men want girl they can rescue. Baoshan rescued me, you know.”
“How?” I asked, unable to help myself.
Mrs. Wong’s eyes grew distant, as if she was dredging up her own memory. “When I was girl, my family owned land. Not much, but enough.” She smiled at me. “I had three sisters, all younger than me. It’s why I know you’re pregnant. My mother struggled with all three. Sickness never lessened.”
“Where are they now?” I asked, surprised. Lucas had said nothing about the Wongs having any additional family. Then again, we hadn’t talked about them much at all.
Sadness crept into her expression. “Communists came, landowners are collaborators with KMT.” The older woman cleared her throat, blinking rapidly. “Shot them all.”
I gasped. “I’m so sorry.” I hated that I had brought up such a tragedy in her life.
She shook her head, patting my arm some more. “It was long time ago, but Baoshan saved me that day. I hid in the woods. He found me. Bring me to safety. Promise me we leave. And we did. I owe him everything.” She sighed. “I know why Lucas act like this. Not to take freedom away. To protect what’s important. You.”
I knew that. I knew that Lucas would stop at nothing to protect me. After all, he had said it repeatedly.
But I wanted him to see that I was so much more than what he thought I could be. I wanted him to realize that I could be of help to him, that I could provide him with the future he had never seen. But sending me away could potentially ruin it all, and I couldn’t let him do it.
“I don’t want him to die,” I admitted. “I can’t stand by and watch him try to give up his life because he wants his title back.”
Mrs. Wong snorted. “You think this only reason he doing this, Leda? Think, girl! This nothing to do with title and everything to do with man he is. This all he knows: fight with fists and take what he wants.” She shook her head. “Lucas never know qualities he would need. Only violence. To teach him rest is your job. Show him more than violence in this world. Show him wonderful things can happen.” She then pointed to my stomach. “Show him wonderful thing has happen.”
I wanted to tell him badly, mainly because I needed to know what his reaction would be. Would he freak out and demand I get rid of our child?
Or would his eyes tear up, and could he potentially change his frame of mind? There was only one way for me to find out.
“Don’t give up,” Mrs. Wong said quietly as I rose from the floor, accepting the hand towel she passed me. “You are good for my boy. Do not tell him you strong, Leda. Show him.”
My chin wobbled at her words. She truly did love Lucas as her own. “Why didn’t you have any children?”
Her eyes grew misty once more. “I did once. A little girl perfect in every way. Happiest time of our lives. But she sick. When we learn she had cancer, was too late.” Mrs. Wong reached into her pocket and withdrew a small picture, worn in places from frequent handling.
I took it from her, my heart stopping as I peered into the bright eyes of a darling girl grinning at the camera, her hair in pigtails, missing her front teeth. “She’s lovely.”
Mrs. Wong took the picture back and tucked it in her pocket once more. “Our own bao-sing. Treasure star.When I bury her, I thought I go blind from crying. My heart broke, like day I lost my family.” A sad smile crossed her face. “Two months later, young angry boy came into our lives. He never replace loss of my bao-sing, but he gave us hope.”
Lucas. She was talking about Lucas.
The older woman pushed away from the counter. “Don’t lose hope, Leda. Hope is all we have.”