Chapter 2

I shrank back, breaking into a cold sweat.

"Sis, this is my engagement banquet. You're going to strip my clothes off in front of all these people?"

"If I actually let you look, how am I supposed to hold my head up afterward?"

"I got smeared with some filthy rumor out of nowhere. I'd rather call off this engagement than swallow this humiliation!"

But instead, Vanessa let out a scoffing little laugh.

"What's the big deal? If you're shy about it, fine, I'll just go into the restroom and check with you. Problem solved."

"Zachary, you don't want your wife hiding things from you either, do you?"

Aunt Gloria was right there fanning the flames.

"Exactly. Zachary, you'd better keep your eyes open. Some girls these days, they act so innocent, but behind closed doors they've already been through several. We're only saying this for your own good."

A flicker of doubt crossed Zachary's eyes, and I broke out in a full sweat.

If they found out I'd had a child, the engagement banquet would collapse right there.

No commission. And my daughter's and son's surgeries would lose their slots on the schedule.

I gritted my teeth and got ready to gamble, ready to say I'd had a miscarriage.

Right then, the door to the private room was suddenly shoved open.

A tall, mixed-race guy with curly hair walked in, easily six feet, looking like something off a runway.

I thought he'd gotten the wrong room, but he went straight to Aunt Gloria and pulled a polite curve onto his lips.

"Mom, our flight's this afternoon. We came to say goodbye."

Aunt Gloria's face went darker than the bottom of a pot, her teeth grinding.

Before I could process any of it, the curly-haired guy actually pulled a gift envelope of cash out of his pocket and pressed it into my hand.

"You're Joy, right? I won't get the chance to be at your wedding with Zachary, so here's the envelope early. I wish you both happiness."

Flattered and caught off guard, I hurried to answer.

"Thank you, cousin! Someone as handsome as you, you must be married already, right?"

The second the words left my mouth, the whole room went dead silent.

Zachary tugged at my sleeve and dropped his voice. "That's not my male cousin. That's my—"

Before he could finish, Roland Fox snatched up a teacup and hurled it to the floor.

"If he dares walk out of here with that man today, I no longer have a son!"

Aunt Gloria let out a wail and buried her face in her hands, crying.

"What sin did I commit in a past life!"

Just then a lanky guy in glasses rushed out and grabbed the curly-haired man's arm, trying to pull him toward the door.

"Then disown him! What century is this, and you're still on about all that? These days it's love as you please!"

"Opposite sexes are for making babies. Same-sex love is the real thing!"

"You old relics, what do you understand?"

His eyes were rimmed red, and he tugged at the curly-haired man's sleeve, wounded.

"I told you not to come, and you came anyway! Happy now?"

The curly-haired man quickly wrapped an arm around him, his voice tender enough to drip.

"It's all my fault. From now on I'll do whatever you say."

The two of them laced their fingers together and walked out without looking back.

The instant the door slammed shut, Roland clutched his chest and toppled backward.

"A disgrace to this family... a disgrace to this family!"

Aunt Gloria cried like her heart was being torn out.

"I miscarried three girls before I finally had him, and this is what he pulls on me!"

"Something must be wrong with the family graves! I'm going to bring in a master in a few days!"

Vanessa rushed to rub her back, fetching water and pills.

I stood frozen where I was, the envelope of cash almost hot in my hand.

So the curly-haired man wasn't my male cousin. He was going to be my cousin-in-law.

Still, no one brought up the prenatal checkup again.

Because a cousin coming out was a hundred times more explosive than my birthmark.

I thought that was the end of it.

Turns out I was being far too naive.