Epilogue
Funny how different life could be in just under a year.
Less than twelve months ago, I’d been trying to get my bakery off the ground, flailing and failing in confidence, life, and love. And now, here I was, a month away from opening the doors of my second bakery and still together with Sir Alec McGrumpyface.
I’d moved back into his house, and we were getting ready to usher in the new year with a small, low-key gathering at home. His family had come over for a visit, so his mother was there, and his sisters and their partners, plus an auntie, an uncle, and two cousins. After too many years of enduring my parents’ over-the-top new year’s celebration, the intimate get-together had been a lovely change. Instead of gowns and stilettos, I was in jeans and flats, and I had spent the night getting to know his family better, instead of making polite small talk with my parents’ business partners.
At ten to midnight, I’d settled on a comfortable Adirondack in the quiet, dimly lit backyard next to him, waiting for the fireworks to begin. One by one, everyone disappeared into the house, and a string of fairy lights suddenly lit up the garden.
Then Alec turned to me with a nervous grin.
“Ellie,” he began, “how long have we known each other?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I feel like this is a trick question, because I know you know that we’ve known each other for almost twenty years.”
“That’s correct.” He flashed me a more relaxed smile. “Do you know, though, which of those twenty years is my favorite so far?”
“Okay, this is definitely a trick question, because it’s got to be this year, right?” I waved toward the strings of fairy lights. “And when did you put those up? They’re so pretty.”
“This afternoon, when you were out with my mom.” He took both my hands in his. “This year is a close second, but it’s actually twenty years ago. The year we first met. You remembered what I told Jacqui, the first time you met her at her party?”
“You’re going to have to jog my memory.”
“I’d said that I knew I was going to marry you one day. Even when I was twelve. And it was true. That hadn’t been a lie to sell our fake relationship to Jacqui.”
I only stared at him. Where was he going with this?
“I know I’ve said this to you before, but I want you to hear it again. You’re the strongest person I know, Ellie. Your strength and resilience never cease to amaze me. You’ve gone through a lot, but you’ve done and achieved so much in the last twelve months, more than anyone else I know. You make me want to be a better person. Because that’s who you deserve. Someone who doesn’t freak out during your hypos. Someone to help you count carbs and prick your fingers and change your pump site. Someone who can be there for you through all your ups and downs. I want to be that person, if you’ll let me. For the rest of our lives.”
I was holding my breath. Is he… doing what I think he’s doing?
Alec pulled a black box out of his pocket and popped it open, revealing a simple yet stunning ring, and I let out a soft gasp. “I won’t be able to top that first proposal that started this all. Nobody’s recording this, so it won’t go viral and make you famous again. Although I’m sure my family is watching with bated breath from inside the house.” He gave me a grin. “I know I’m not down on one knee or anything, but I meant every word I said, Ellie. Please say y—”
I pulled him in and gave him a kiss before he even had a chance to finish. Loud whoops and cheers floated our way from the direction of his house, just as the fireworks started in the distance.
It was, hands down, the best New Year’s Eve ever.
At the annual Lunar New Year parade and festival, I stood at the side of the road, waiting for the dragon dance troupe to start their performance. Kim, Jenna, and I agreed to make this our new yearly tradition, and it was extra special this year because my fiancé—I still got goosebumps at that magical word—was with me. Even after several weeks of having the stunning rock on my finger, the memory of that night still brought a blissful sigh and a contented smile to my face.
“Oh. My. God. Ellie! You’re wearing that annoying dreamy look again on your face.” Kim rolled her eyes and took a long sip of her taro pearl milk tea. “Mackenzie, this is all your fault. Ew, you two,” she said with disgust, as Alec leaned down to give me a quick kiss. “My eyeballs hurt. Some of us are single, so please spare us the PDA.”
I pulled away from Alec. “You can’t be bitter forever just because what’s-his-name broke up with you. Trust me, you deserve someone better.”
“I know I do,” Kim replied. “I’m just furious because I should’ve dumped him first. I wasted six months of my life on him! That’s one hundred and eighty precious days I’m never getting back. Meanwhile, my time is running out, because I have a deadline, and the pool of single, decent, available men is shrinking and getting smaller as we speak.”
Jenna grinned and gave her shoulder a consoling pat. “Well, if you’re willing to relocate to Qatar or UAE, you might have a better chance of finding someone there. When I went to Abu Dhabi last year, I was told they have twice as many men as women.”
Kim considered this for a moment, then shook her head. “It’s too hot there. You got any single friends back home in Melbourne?”
“Speaking of single friends,” Alec said to her, “Rob is single now.”
She scoffed. “Carmichael? Yeah, I’ll pass. So not my type. Jenna can have him.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. The drums and cymbals from the dragon dance started to play, prompting me to raise my voice so she could hear me over the noise. “Really? Handsome, funny, and kind isn’t your type?”
She placed one hand on her hip, looking indignant. “I have standards, you know.”
My eyebrows hiked higher. “You do? How high is this so-called standard of yours?”
“Higher than yours, apparently.” Kim glanced at Alec. “No offense, Mackenzie.”
The dragon dancers were strutting and prancing toward where we stood, and the noise was almost unbearable. I was now yelling so Kim could hear me. “Because Rob checks even all my boxes, and if it weren’t for Sir Fiancé here, I’d probably go after him myself.”
The drums paused right as I shouted the last few words, earning me frowns and judgmental stares from people around us. An elderly woman shook her head and muttered in rapid-fire Cantonese while throwing dirty looks at me. I couldn’t understand a single word, but no doubt she was condemning me for showing extreme disrespect for this much-revered cultural performance. I gave her an apologetic smile and mouthed, “I’m so sorry.”
Alec placed a palm over his heart. “Wow. I really am the luckiest man alive. My new fiancée loves me so much, she’s already planning to go after other guys even though I’m still around. At least wait until my body is cold, honey.”
I stuck out my tongue at him, just as the drums and the dancers started again.
Kim waved a dismissive hand. “I know men like Rob Carmichael. Good-looking guys who think they can get a woman to do whatever they want just by flashing a cute lopsided grin. Just like Leo. Well, I’m steering clear of the Leos and the Robs of this world. Can we just focus on this majestic, magnificent dragon, please?”
My phone vibrated in my back pocket, prompting me to pull it out. Alec did the same thing at the same time. It was an email sent from a bank, and as I read the contents, my jaw promptly dropped.
The message notified us of a funds transfer made into our joint account—mine and Alec’s—late yesterday afternoon, for the sum of three million dollars. My breath caught as I scanned over the sender details.
It was V Pang .
“Is that who I think it is?” Alec looked up from his phone, his eyes wide.
I looked up from mine, the bewilderment in my eyes matching his. “I think so.”
“Why is your mother returning the money I paid her? What does she want this time? And why now, after almost a year?”
I shook my head, equally confused. “Maybe she’s paying you to leave me again. Or paying me to leave you this time?”
Just then, his phone trilled, and my mother’s name and number flashed on his screen.
Alec frowned, making no attempt to answer it. “Why is she calling me?”
“Because she doesn’t have my new number.” I gestured at the phone. “Pick it up. And by the way, I’m not here.”
He answered the call, muttering a cautious “hello.” The dragon dancers had now moved farther down the street, followed by the crowd, the drumbeats slowly fading away. Both Kim and Jenna had drifted toward the stalls on the sides of the road, so there were fewer people around us.
I watched as Alec spoke on the phone. A rainbow of emotions played across his face as he answered in clipped one-and two-word answers. The call didn’t take long, ending after five minutes.
“Well?”
He didn’t answer for a while. When he finally looked at me, his eyes were dazed. “That was your mother.”
I nodded, impatient. “Yes, I know. What did she say? What does she want?”
“That was really her.”
“Come on, babe. Tell me something I don’t know.”
Alec stared at the phone in his hand, still looking shell-shocked. “She’s giving us back the three million dollars I paid her.”
My eyes widened. “ What ? No, no, no. Call her back, tell her we don’t want the money, because I’m not doing whatever it is she wants us to do.”
“She’s not asking us to do anything. She said we could keep the money. It’s ours.”
“Yeah, right. And I moonlight as a superhero during my lunch breaks. No, seriously, what does she want?”
Alec shook his head. “Nothing. Said she’d heard about our engagement from Eric. It’s her wedding gift, and her angpao for the Lunar New Year. No expectations, no demands, nothing. Hard to believe, but that’s what she said.”
“ That’s it? No, that doesn’t sound like her. Are you sure you spoke to my mother ?”
“Believe me, that was her.” He handed me his phone. “Call her back, if you don’t believe me. Ask her yourself.”
I shook my head. “No, not now. Are you sure? And she wanted nothing in return?”
“No. Absolutely nothing.”
We were both silent for a few minutes, trying to process the news.
“She did say, though, that I wasn’t who she had in mind for you, and how she’ll never, ever think I’m good enough to marry a Pang.”
“Okay, now that I can believe,” I said. “That definitely sounds like my mother.”
Alec sighed and pulled me into a hug. “But she knows we’ve loved each other since we were young. And that you’ve made your choice. As long as I look after you, and you’re happy, she’s not going to stand in our way. But she said she’ll never accept our relationship or acknowledge me as a son-in-law.”
A big dollop of sadness flooded through me, at her stubbornness, at losing my parents. But there was also the tiniest flicker of hope, and relief, because maybe not all hope was lost.
Because knowing my mother, this gesture was extraordinarily significant.
“Do you want to call her?” He tightened the hug. “I don’t know what’s gotten into your mother, but maybe she’s not as cold-hearted as we thought she was.”
I was quiet as I considered it. Perhaps one day I’d be able to make peace with her, and she could finally accept Alec.
Accept us.
But that day wasn’t here yet. We still had a long way to go.
“I will. But not right now.” I looked up at him, then stood on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss. “Because right now, all I want to do is just enjoy us.”