Chapter 7 #6
“I hope that’s true,” he whispered, staring at the ashes in the metal brazier between them, all that was left of the incinerated
joss papers.
Reaching over, Roses placed her hands over his, squeezing them gently. “Let my family give you that someone.”
Her nephew paused, looking down at their clasped hands. He understood the way the Sun Clan worked, and though he had always
striven to carve a different path, he realized that now was moment to meet his aunt where she stood.
“Roses,” Wayward Sun-Kwok said, “I agree to do this . . . if you make me president of Sunfang Global, effective immediately.”
Releasing his hands, the Sun matriarch leaned back, contemplating.
Then she smiled. “I agree. Do you?”
Wayward Sun nodded.
Seventy miles away in Chino Hills, George Sun was hunched over in his front garden, tending to his flowers. The sun had nearly
set, but there was still a smattering of light, enough for him to pull out the last of the stray weeds.
He heard a vehicle approaching his house at the end of the cul-de-sac. He looked up to see a black Escalade pulling up toward
him. The old driver got out of the car and walked around to the back seat to open the door.
Hyacinth Sun-Bernard took her driver’s hand as she carefully stepped out of the SUV. The forty-eight-year-old little sister
of the Sun siblings was the most luminous of the women in her family, with a lush beauty that might have been described as
ravishing . . . if she were not so delicate in personality. She held a handkerchief as she dabbed her nose, dizzy from the
nearly three-hour journey she had made through Friday traffic.
Big Brother, Hyacinth smiled sweetly as George walked up to her.
Within the Sun siblings, they had always been the closest of friends, even if George did not often see his baby sister in the flesh.
The two instead spoke frequently on the phone, as they had this afternoon when she told him that she would be paying him a visit later that day over a matter best discussed in person.
Little Sister, George replied. He offered her his arm and walked her to his front porch, where they sat down. Even though he forfeited
a fortune when he stepped down from the Sunfang Global presidency and hence was far away from the Sunfang Trust, George Sun
had done well for himself, starting his own successful private cybersecurity business in the Inland Empire, which counted
Sunfang Global as one of its many clients. He owned a large tract of land where his house stood, and before them was his magnificent
view of the San Gabriel Mountains, topped with fresh snow.
How nice it is for you to visit me, he said.
When I saw that Big Sister had cancelled her dinner, I decided it would be best that you and I meet privately instead, Hyacinth said. I did not sleep last night. I prayed all night because Middle Sister told me what she is planning.
George nodded, leaning back in his rocking chair to look at the distant white-capped peaks. Strange things seem to be afoot in the family. But then again, it has always been strange with us Suns, hasn’t it? There was a tea set on the table between them, and he poured them both a cup.
Hyacinth took a sip of the pu’er tea. I know you stepped away from our family’s dramas long ago, but you need to know what is happening, Big Brother. Roses is asking
Iris’s boy to father the Sunfang heir.
George paused, his own teacup midair. But then he took a calm sip as well. That does not surprise me, he finally said, his lateral lisp crackling his words. She has been hell-bent on correcting my errors since before I was even born.
Is that all you are going to say? Hyacinth asked. After all these years, you are still beholden to Roses, after what she did to you and Tingting!
At the mention of his wife, George looked down. Roses was always the firstborn son that our father wanted. I accepted that long ago.
Hyacinth leaned in toward her brother. By approaching Wayward, Roses is coming after the Sunfang Trust. But what if I told you that I have other plans for it?
Startled, George turned to her. What do you mean?
Hyacinth placed her hand upon George’s arm. He looked at his baby sister, normally meek and unassuming, but now sitting up
tall, speaking to him with a bright-eyed confidence that he had only seen from her back when their father was still alive.
After all, Hyacinth had always been Big Boss Sun’s favorite child, and everyone knew it. That favoritism had been formalized
when, in the absence of a Sunfang Global president, he instead left his youngest daughter in charge of the Sunfang Trust,
where she would remain in control of the massive inheritance . . . as long as there was no heir.
George stared back at his little sister. Like everyone else in the family, he knew of her close connection to a certain controversial
organization. But George had long since taken a back seat to his family’s machinations. He simply nodded that he was listening.
Big Brother, Hyacinth said, her voice urgent and determined. You know that I was Big Boss Sun’s caretaker in his final days up in the mountains. You know that his dying wish was to leave
me the Sunfang Trust. And you know that I have held onto it, despite all of Big Sister’s maneuvers and threats.
Once again, George Sun only nodded, even though he knew that their father had been mentally incapacitated when he had handed
so much power to this little sister.
Hyacinth Sun-Bernard looked up at the first stars in the sunset sky, making a pledge to Heaven as a sudden bitterness burned
in her eyes. When she spoke again, her usually melodic voice hit a lethally sharp key.
Roses can take the Sunfang Trust . . . over my dead body!