Chapter 13
Early the next morning, Roses descended upon her kitchen only to discover that it had completely flooded.
The source of the flood seemed to be the dishwasher, which was spewing out whimsical islands of floating froth. As a perplexed
Houyi slipped onto his furry bottom next to her, his hind legs splayed out on the soapy marble floor, Roses perched herself
on the counter and smiled broadly to herself. It was the day of her much-lauded annual Lunar New Year party and for most people
it would have been the absolute worst time for a leak to happen, but Roses Sun was not most people.
A major leak on the first day of her zodiac year? Water signaled abundance, wealth, good luck, and she had been greeted by
a deluge of it. Roses was absolutely delighted.
She only grew more thrilled when the emergency plumber told her that the faulty dishwasher was not the cause of the leak,
but rather just a symptom. “This is an old house with old pipes,” he said, shaking his head grimly. “It will take us days
to figure out where the issue is. But until then, you absolutely cannot use any water. This place would burst at the seams.”
“What a flood,” Roses said with a wondrous smile, and the plumber cocked a confused head at her.
Fortunately, portable boutique restrooms had long been rented for the party and were already set up in the back of the Malibu compound; those infamous stone toilets were for family use only.
Upon confirming that her caterer could bring their own kitchen trailers and water tanks for food preparation, Roses sent out a group text to everyone, warning against the use of any running water in the compound.
Then she got out her mop and began to clean up the mess.
The Sun matriarch hummed as she worked, literally buoyed by this auspicious sign that everything she was planning would indeed
be fruitful.
Later that morning, as April pulled up to the Malibu compound in her extremely dusty minivan, she spotted Chinoiserie Fan
waiting for her on the curb. April was exhausted from the odd night that had transpired in the desert, so much so that she
had forgotten to let her former protégée know she was running late for their glam appointment. Though April was full of emphatic
apologies as she got out to greet her, Chinoiserie would hear none of it. Wearing an unbreakable smile and handing over an
iced macchiato, Chinoiserie quickly ushered April into her own home.
“You are too good to be true, Serie,” April sighed with relief as she fell onto the queen bed that she and Cristiano shared.
Closing the bedroom door behind them, Chinoiserie placed the many garment bags she was holding next to April on the mattress.
“A literal fairy godmother,” April murmured as her eyes fell upon the mountain of fashion beside her.
“What even happened out there in Barstow?” Chinoiserie asked as she carefully unzipped the top garment bag, revealing an ethereal
gown in shimmering scarlet and onyx. “I was getting texts from you every fifteen minutes or so until you went radio silent.
I was worried!”
April sat up, rubbing her tired eyes. “I know I can trust you, Serie,” she said. “It’s just that . . .” Her words trailed off.
Chinoiserie pushed the gown aside to sit next to April, taking April’s hands into hers. “April, you know how I feel about
you. I would never betray your trust.”
“I believe you, Serie. I guess I’m just not used to trusting people. Even within my own family.”
Chinoiserie reached over to push a strand of April’s hair out of her eyes. “Even back then, when things were going better
for you, when you were the ‘Sunfang princess,’ I remember you were always stressed about one thing or another when it came
to your family. And now, you’re in even deeper. But, honey . . .” She reached out to gently lift April’s chin so that their
eyes met. “I’m back now, and I’m here for you.”
April beamed at this, her eyes shiny. “Heaven-sent. I’m so glad you came back into my life.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” Chinoiserie replied quietly.
There was something about that sentence and the way Chinoiserie said it that ignited a flashback in April’s mind, bringing
a blush to her cheeks. “Déjà vu,” she murmured. “You’ve said that to me before.”
Chinoiserie nodded. “Our second Vanity Fair Oscars Party together, in the restroom of Sunset Tower. I was touching up your makeup.”
“Because I’d been laughing so hard that I ruined my mascara!” April reminisced. “At that surprisingly tiny A-list action star
who talked directly into your cleavage all night. Oh my god, that sent me!”
“And while I was fixing your eye, you said to me, ‘Sorry for pulling you out of the party.’” Chinoiserie was leaning ever
so slightly toward April as she spoke. “And I said . . .”
April found herself edging toward Chinoiserie as well. “And you said, ‘There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.’”
“Do you remember what happened next?” Chinoiserie asked.
Of course April remembered. They had kissed for the first time. Her memory of it, of Chinoiserie’s soft lips against hers as their tongues gently swirled together, made her ears burn hot.
In the present, April found herself looking at those same lips of Chinoiserie. She wondered if they still tasted the same.
She bit her own lips, trying to quell the curiosity, but instead found them swelling with anticipation.
“Serie . . .?” April asked.
“Yes, April?” Chinoiserie replied softly.
“After me, has there been anyone? I’ve never seen you with or heard of . . .” Already April felt her cheeks blushing as her
voice trailed off. She had indeed scrolled through Chinoiserie’s socials many a time throughout the years, subconsciously
looking for signs of romance.
Chinoiserie smiled. “Maybe a casual fling here or there over the years. But after I launched Heavenly, I just threw myself
into my work.”
“Oh, I see.” April nodded, feeling a sudden rush of relief. “I hope you haven’t been lonely.”
Chinoiserie reached out to take April’s hand into hers. “You know, because you helped me start Heavenly, I always thought
of it as our legacy together. That’s why I worked so hard at it, and why I was glad to. I hope you get what I mean.”
As the women’s eyes met, April’s mind was flooded with images of a life that could’ve been, an alternate universe in which
she had stayed with Chinoiserie, instead of her present circumstances in the Malibu compound. Would she have been happier
with Chinoiserie Fan? Had she made the right choice, all those years ago?
She shocked herself by wondering if it was too late.
Then, her eyes trailed past Chinoiserie to land upon Meadow’s little house slippers near the door, next to Cristiano’s much
larger ones.
Like a faulty firework, the moment flickered away. April cleared her throat and sat back. “A lifetime ago,” she whispered, looking away.
“Yes,” Chinoiserie agreed as she stood up, allowing the tension to break. “But with our history, you can always trust me,
April.”
April decided she was right. If anything, it was a change of subject. “Last night, Wayward told me I should try for another
baby boy with Cristiano.” As she and her cousins were led back to the RV by Felicia, Wayward had held her behind to talk to
her, out of earshot of everyone else, when he had surprised her by saying this.
Chinoiserie frowned. “Feels pretty convenient for him. He can go ahead with his plans with your mom while feeling less guilty
if you try to have a baby too.”
April shrugged. “He told me that he has no intention of going after the Sunfang Trust, so if I have a son, it would go to
my child, not his.”
“But, April, do you even want another child? Do you even want to play your family’s games?”
April groaned, putting her face into her hands. “I don’t know! I mean, Cristiano keeps trying to get pregnant, but I just
feel like this is yet another trap within a trap that I will never escape.” Through her fingers she looked up at Chinoiserie.
“Besides, you won’t believe what else I found out last night.”
“What is it?”
“Wayward isn’t the only cousin trying to have a baby.”
“Do I have to?” Shannon Shoo pouted.
Hungover and over it, Sunbern groaned, his head hidden under her satin pillow.
“Mooncakes, she’s waiting outside right now for you!
It’s kinda too late to cancel!” His head was killing him—after they’d all been rescued by Felicia, Sunbern had celebrated not dying by drinking every last bottle of pinot grigio in the RV fridge.
“I’m getting too old for this shit,” he muttered to himself before stifling a dry heave.
“No one told you to rage the night before your aunt’s party,” Shannon sniped unsympathetically, grabbing the pillow off Sunbern’s
face. “What went down out there in the desert? You looked like a ghost when you came back this morning.”
Sunbern shielded his eyes from the sunlight coming in from her window, his brain still mushy. “I’ll tell you about it later.
It was a vibe, that’s for sure.”
“Fine. Can you at least tell me how I look?” she asked, gesturing at her outfit, which was a crimson red button-up that was
conservatively fastened all the way up to her neckline.
Sunbern waved her off, pulling her silk blankets back over his face. “Just go, Mooncakes! Don’t start off your first one-on-one
with my mom by being late.”
“I’m doing this as a favor to you and your dreams of a baby, just a reminder,” Shannon griped. She reluctantly sidled out
of her apartment, making sure that Sunbern heard her slamming her front door shut in protest.
But once she was outside, her demeanor switched instantly into one of charming compliance, that of a good Asian daughter-in-law.
She strutted toward her future.
Unbeknownst to Sunbern, Shannon Shoo had unfinished business, and it all started with Hyacinth Sun-Bernard.
Waiting in her black Escalade on Franklin Avenue, Hyacinth was about to glance at her watch for the fourth time when Shannon