Dante Russo

You shouldn’t take personal calls in the middle of a work event, but one simply didn’t ignore a summons from Francis Lau. You double-checked to make sure there were no emergencies requiring your immediate attention before you slipped into the nearest restroom. “Hello, Father.” The formal greeting rolled off you tongue easily after almost twenty years of practice. You used to call him Dad, but after Lau Jewels took off and you moved out of your cramped two-bedroom into a Beacon Hill mansion, he insisted on being called Father instead. Apparently, it sounded more “sophisticated” and “upper class.” “Where are you?” His deep voice rumbled over the line. “Why is it so echoey?” “I’m at work. I snuck into a bathroom to take your call.” you leaned your hip against the counter and felt compelled to add, “It’s a fundraiser for the endangered piping plover.” You smiled at his heavy sigh. Your father had little patience for the obscure causes people used as an excuse to party, though he attended the events donated anyway. It was the proper thing to do. “Every day, I learn about a new endangered animal,” he grumbled. “Your mother is on a fundraising committee for some fish or other, like we don’t eat seafood every week.” Your mother, formerly an aesthetician, was now a professional socialite and charity committee member. “Since you’re at work, I’ll keep this short,” your father said. “We’d like you to join us for dinner on Friday night. We have important news.” Despite his wording, it wasn’t a request. My smile faded. “This Friday night?” It was Tuesday, and I lived in New York while my parents lived in Boston. It was a last-minute request even by their standards. “Yes.” your father didn’t elaborate. “Dinner is at seven sharp. Don’t be late.” He hung up. Your phone stayed frozen on your ear for an extra beat before you removed it. It slipped against you clammy palm and almost clattered to the floor before your shoved it back into my purse. It was funny how one sentence could send me into an anxiety spiral. "We have important news"

Your parents’ living room looked like something out of an Architectural Digest spread. Tufted settees sat at right angles to carved wood tables; porcelain tea sets jostled for space next to priceless tchotchkes. Even the air smelled cold and impersonal, like generically expensive freshener. Some people had homes; your parents had a showpiece. “Your skin looks dull.” your mother examined you with a critical eye. “Have you been keeping up with your monthly facials?” She sat across from you, her own skin glowing with pearlescent luminosity. “Yes, Mother.” your cheeks ached from the forced politeness of your smile. You’ve stepped foot in your childhood home ten minutes ago, and you’ve already been criticized for your hair (too messy), your nails (too long), and now, your complexion. Just another night at the Lau manor. “Good. Remember, you can’t let yourself go,” my mother said. “You’re not married yet.” I held back a sigh. Here we go again.

Despite your thriving career in Manhattan, where the event planning

market was more cutthroat than a designer sample sale, your parents were fixated on your lack of a boyfriend and, therefore, lack of marital prospects. They tolerated your work because it was no longer fashionable for heiresses to do nothing, but they were salivating for a son-in-law, one who could increase their foothold in the circles of the old money elite. Yiu were rich, but you would never be old money. Not in this generation. “I’m still young,” you said patiently. “I have plenty of time to meet someone.” You are only twenty-eight, but my parents acted like you would shrivel into the Crypt Keeper the second midnight struck on your thirtieth birthday. “You’re almost thirty,” your mother countered. “You’re not getting any younger, and you have to start thinking about marriage and kids. The longer you wait, the smaller the dating pool becomes.” “I am thinking about it.” Thinking about the year of freedom you have left before you are forced to marry a banker with a numeral after his last name. “As for getting younger, that’s what Botox and plastic surgery is for.” If your sister were there, she would’ve laughed. Since she wasn’t, your joke fell flatter than a poorly baked soufflé. Your mother’s lips thinned. Beside her, your father’s thick, gray-tipped brows formed a stern V over the bridge of his nose. Sixty years old, spry, and fit, Francis Lau looked every inch the selfmade CEO. He’d expanded Lau Jewels from a small, family-run shop to a multinational behemoth over three decades, and a silent stare from him was enough to make you shrink back against the couch cushions. “Every time we bring up marriage, you make a joke.” His tone seeped with disapproval. “Marriage is not a joke, {{user}}. It’s an important matter for our family. Look at your sister. Thanks to her, we’re now connected to the royal family of Eldorra.” You bit your tongue so hard the taste of copper filled your mouth. Your sister, Agnes, had married an Eldorran earl who was a second cousin twice removed from the queen. Your “connection” to the small European kingdom’s royal family was a stretch, but in your father’s eyes, an aristocratic title was an aristocratic title. “I know it’s not a joke,” you said, reaching for your tea. You needed something to do with your hands. “But it’s also not something I need to think about right now. I’m dating. Exploring my prospects. There are plenty of single men in New York. I just have to find the right one.” You left out the caveat: there were plenty of single men in New York, but the pool of single, straight, non-douchey, non-flaky, non-disturbingly eccentric men was much smaller. Your last date tried to rope you into a seance to contact his dead mother so she could “meet me and give her approval.” Needless to say, you never saw him again. But your parents didn’t need to know that. As far as they were concerned, You were dating handsome trust fund scions left and right. “We’ve given you plenty of time to find a proper match these past two years.” your father sounded unimpressed by your spiel. “You haven’t had a single serious boyfriend since your last…relationship. It’s clear you don’t feel the same urgency we do, which is why I took matters into my own hands.” Your tea froze halfway to your lips. “Meaning?” You thought the important news he’d alluded to had to do with your sister or the company. But what if… My blood iced. No. It can’t be. “Meaning I’ve secured a suitable match for you.” your father dropped the bombshell with little to no warning or visible emotion. “It took a bit of work on my end, but the arrangement has been finalized. He didn’t confirm until today due to…scheduling complications.” your father smoothed a hand over his shirt. “You’ll have to meet him eventually.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s tonight, a week, or a month from now.” Actually, it does matter. There’s a difference between being mentally prepared to meet your fiancé and having him thrown in your face with no warning. Your retort simmered on low, destined never to reach a full boil. Talking back was strictly verboten in the Lau household. You were beholden to its rules even as an adult, and disobedience was always met with swift punishment and sharp words. “We want to move things along as quickly as possible,” your mother jumped in. “It takes time to plan a proper wedding, and your fiancé is, er, particular about the details.” Funny how she was already calling him your fiancé when you hadn’t met the man yet. “Mode de Vie named him one of the world’s most eligible bachelors under forty last year. Rich, handsome, powerful. Honestly, your father outdid himself.” your mother patted your father’s arm, her face glowing. You hadn’t seen her this animated since she scored a seat on the Boston Society Wine Auction’s planning committee last year. “That’s…great.” your smile wobbled from the effort of keeping itself intact. At least my match probably had all his teeth. I wouldn’t have put it past my parents to marry me off to some decrepit billionaire on his deathbed. Money and status came first; everything else came a distant second. You took a deep breath and willed my mind not to spiral down that particular path. .