Chapter 27 #2
honest, I barely thought about why she did it—I just pounced on the opportunity for Promessa.” Wayward squeezed his mother’s
hand. “But turns out it was you all along.”
Iris leaned over to smooth Wayward’s hair out of his eyes as she spoke.
“I’ve been observing that Shannon Shoo for years.
She is someone who is unable to only be a bystander.
Even from afar, I knew she was up to something when she reunited with Sunbern, and especially after she infiltrated Hyacinth’s crazy cult.
“Not long after you and I parted ways at Big Boss Sun’s mausoleum, I went to Hyacinth and begged her to introduce me to SANTI,
playing the role of heartbroken mother. By the time I enrolled at MiNT Wellness, Shannon already had SANTI under her thumb.
Now, that man is your typical power-hungry sociopath, yet he had allowed her to take control of MiNT. I could see that Shannon
was clearly blackmailing him. I still don’t know what with, but it didn’t matter. I knew then that I could weaponize Shannon
for your cause.
“From there on, it was easy. Just a few pointed conversations with Hyacinth, urging her to sign over the Sunfang Trust completely
to SANTI and MiNT Wellness—and each time, I made sure Shannon overheard us! As far as Shannon knew, I was as much a fanatical
devotee of MiNT as Hyacinth was, so she believed it when I expressed worry that SANTI was about to lose legal protection with
the imminent arrival of a baby boy in the Sun Clan.”
“And that’s when Shannon panicked,” Wayward said, amazed by his mother’s strategic genius. “She played right into your hand
and forced SANTI to tell Hyacinth to let go of the Sunfang Trust. Without us even consulting each other, you knew I was hoping
to fund Promessa by borrowing against the Sunfang Trust if I became executor.”
“Your father traumatized us both by losing my inheritance when he borrowed against it,” Iris mused. “That man had to be good
for something. I knew my brilliant son would use every means possible to achieve Promessa, and I calculated correctly.”
“Clearly,” Wayward said, “any brilliance I have came from you, Mom. I am . . .” He sighed. “I am humbled and thankful. Most
of all, I’m lucky,” Wayward said, “to have you as my mother.”
He reached over so they could hug. They held onto each other for a long time. When they finally pulled back, both of them had tears running down their faces.
“Did you have any clue that you were going to have a granddaughter, not a grandson?” Wayward asked, grinning.
“It did cross my mind,” Iris replied, smiling gently. “I know you very well, Weiwei.”
“You know, Roses still hasn’t confronted me about it,” Wayward said. “The only person she blamed was that Galahad character.”
Iris shook her head. “I don’t think she’ll ever confront you about it. She also knows who you are, what you believe in.” She
leaned in conspiratorially. “Besides, I don’t think she’d want to admit that you outwitted her.”
Wayward chuckled. “Probably not.”
“But honestly, I don’t care about the gender of your baby. I just want to be in her life as her grandmother. You and I have
lost a lot of time together. I’d like to make up for it by being there for you as you become a father.”
Wayward nodded, sniffling. “That’s all I want too, Mom.”
Iris laughed, brushing joyous tears from her cheeks. “Because, Weiwei, the day you were born, my darling son . . . that was
the luckiest day of my life!”
Wayward clasped her hands and kissed them, pressing them to his cheek.
“Hey, Mom,” he asked, “what do you think about S?o Paulo?”
Jamaal was still waiting outside Iris’s room when he heard a woman clear her throat. He looked up to see Roses Sun approaching.
In her hands, she held Big Boss Sun’s urn.
“Oh, hello,” Roses said. “Is Wayward inside with my sister?”
“I think they’re about to wrap up,” Jamaal said. He then smiled his rare smile. “Hey, Roses?”
“Yes, Jamaal?”
“Thank you for encouraging me to get back with Wayward.”
“Oh, that,” Roses replied, with a rare warmth in her eyes. “You certainly came back into the family at an interesting time.”
Jamaal laughed. “I teach middle schoolers. I can handle your family.” He sobered, adding sincerely, “Well, I appreciate you,
Roses.”
“And I appreciate you, Jamaal. For loving my treasured nephew.”
The door opened just then, and Wayward stepped out. He nodded hello at Roses, who placed an affectionate hand on his cheek.
Wayward gestured at the urn. “She still doesn’t know.”
Roses let out a long, nervous exhale. “Oh.”
Wayward smiled. “You’ll be okay.”
Roses stood up tall and walked inside, cradling the urn with both hands.
Middle Sister.
Upon hearing her sister’s voice, Iris turned away from the window to face her. When Iris saw what she was holding, she let
out a gasp. Big Sister! Is that . . .?
Middle Sister, Roses said, sitting at the foot of the hospital bed. Her eyes were wet. I have something to say to you, something that is long overdue.
Iris Sun-Kwok sat up so she could reach over. As the sisters clasped hands over their father’s ashes, Roses Sun began to apologize.
Staring at the ceiling in stunned silence, April Sun lay on the couch in Lori Meyers’s private office, unable to move as Chinoiserie
Fan’s estate lawyer explained everything. Lori spoke slowly so that the clearly distraught April could process what she was
saying, but April was in a daze and only caught tidbits here and there.
There was mention of the surprise diagnosis of a rare but fatal blood disorder.
Something about Chinoiserie secretly leaving her company to her deputy in order to spend her remaining months in private meditation.
How, in the past decade, she had amassed an enormous fortune even beyond Heavenly Cosmetics, thanks to her investment savvy and formidable real estate holdings, and that she had wanted to spend her remaining days getting her final affairs in order and donating to her various charities.
“But the primary benefactor of Chinoiserie’s considerable estate,” Lori said, leaning toward April, “is you, Ms. Sun. She
said that she owed all her success to you. She said that Heavenly was your legacy together.”
With that, April finally began to weep. She wept and wept, loudly and full of anguish, hot tears streaming down her face.
Inside her belly, she could feel the baby trembling, as though it was mourning with her.
“Oh, Serie!” she cried, looking out the window at the cloudless blue sky, thinking about their life that could have been.
Lori reached over to the coffee table to pull tissues from the box, handing them to April. “Serie told me that you two lost
contact for a long time,” she said gently. “But clearly she meant as much to you as you did her.”
April shook her head, still choking on her sobs. “Lori . . . Serie did come to me. I have been seeing her. For the last eight
months!” April buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know how to explain it, other than that I’ve gone crazy.”
Now it was Lori who was looking at the window toward the sky. “No, Ms. Sun,” she replied softly. “I’ve worked in this business
for a long time. I’ve heard enough stories from people in similar situations . . . enough to know.”
April reached over to clasp Lori’s hands in desperation. “To know what?”
Lori turned back to her, her green eyes glistening. “To know that sometimes the people we love come back to us. To help us.
To guide us.”
April gasped. “Serie . . . It’s because of her that I left my family. It’s because of her that I had the space and courage to find my independence.”
Lori nodded. “She did tell me that what she wanted most was for you to claim your own happiness outside of your family. Especially
once you received everything she had planned for you.” She smiled at April. “I guess that’s why Serie led you here today.”
April sat up, wiping away her tears. “What did she have planned for me?”
Lori stood up and walked to her desk, then returned with a massive black leather binder thicker than April’s arm. She placed
it on the table in front of April. “Now, this will be a lot to take in,” the lawyer said, “but the first page is a pretty
good summary of Chinoiserie Fan’s final wish for you.”
Apprehensively, April reached over to open the binder, revealing a top sheet with many numbers. With her finger, she traced
down the page, which ended with her name, April Sun, next to an extraordinary sum of many zeroes.
April’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Lori beamed at her.
And then, as a sign of auspicious fortune, April Sun’s water broke.
Wayward and Jamaal were waiting at the hospital valet for their car when Jamaal put his hand around Wayward’s waist, pulling
him close. “How are you feeling there, good sir?”
Wayward groaned. “I’m exhausted! I feel like I’ve finally tied every loose end in the Sun Clan. Every mystery, every intrigue,
every secret . . . I can go a lifetime without hearing the word ‘espionage’ ever again.” He turned around to look up the hospital
high-rise. “But most of all, I feel lucky that my mom is going to be okay.”
Jamaal sighed. “At the end of the day, that’s really all that matters.”
Wayward leaned up to peck Jamaal on the cheek. “And how are you feeling, J?”
Jamaal’s amber eyes lit up. “I’m feeling like there’s actually one more secret you’re forgetting.”
Wayward frowned. “What secret?”
Jamaal was reaching into his pocket. “Now, normally I would say that asking a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage is
very archaic and sexist.”
He pulled out a small black velvet box. “But asking a mother for her blessing to marry her son?”
He got on one knee. “That feels matrilineal and empowering, like the matriarchal tribes of West Africa or South Asia. Feels
more correct. Especially when it comes to the remarkable Sun women.”
As buzzing bystanders gathered around them, Wayward’s mouth dropped open. “J!”
Jamaal opened the box with a click, revealing a gleaming gold band inside. His amber eyes were twinkling just as brightly.
“What do you say, Wayward? Will you marry me?”
Wayward was laughing, his dark eyes as wondrous as a clear night sky. He too got on one knee in front of Jamaal, and pulled
a ring box out of his own pocket.
“I had one more secret too,” said Wayward.
With that, Wayward Sun and Jamaal Golightly fell into their greatest kiss yet, as the strangers around them burst into cheers
over these two young people so clearly in love.
As they took turns placing their rings on the other’s finger, each man already knew: He would always be with him, because
he was his, and he his.
He, him, and his.