Chapter 2

After the family dinner ended, we saw off all the elders and relatives.

Out of habit, I walked toward the car.

But Nadia blocked the car door.

"Jesse, I have an online meeting in three minutes, so I can't leave yet. Phineas has to stay and help me."

"Staying up late is bad for you. Go ahead and grab a cab home first."

I froze for a moment.

"But the mansion is halfway up the hill. It takes an hour to walk down. It's already ten at night, and the road is dark..."

The moment I said it, Phineas poked his head out from the doorway and said, with a pointed edge to his words:

"Ms. Quimby, are you ready? The old lady is looking for you."

Nadia nodded, then looked at me helplessly.

"Jesse, it's not your first time back at the old estate. You could walk that road with your eyes closed—and there are streetlights anyway."

"It's not good to sit around getting lazy all the time. Just think of it as a walk to get some exercise."

I pressed my lips together.

I wanted to remind her that the streetlights had broken the last time we came back and still hadn't been fixed.

I also wanted to say that, to honor the Quimby rule that the man of the house must cook the family dinner himself for it to count as sincere, I'd already been at it for five hours.

Because Nadia's egg viability was low, her IVF embryos kept failing to survive.

For five years I'd taken piles of kidney-tonifying, blood-activating medications, hoping to raise the quality of my sperm so she'd suffer less.

Some of those drugs had severe side effects. The doctor had warned me to get plenty of rest.

But Nadia gave me no chance to speak, because Phineas sneezed.

She ran to him anxiously, draped her own coat over him, and said with concern:

"It's turned cold tonight. Hurry inside, don't catch a chill."

Phineas glanced at my thin shirt, and the corner of his mouth curved up, ever so faintly.

The door of the old estate closed in front of me.

I tightened my collar and turned to walk down the hill.

I'd only gone a few yards when a car pulled up behind me.

Sophie was in the driver's seat, waving at me.

"Jesse, get in, I'll drive you."

She told me Greg had heard about what happened tonight and was worried about me, so he'd asked her to stay and keep an eye on me.

After I got in, I saw an open box on the center console.

Inside was a jade thumb ring of superb quality—the jade heirloom ring.

The Quimby family had two of these.

They were meant for the husbands of Nadia and Sophie, kept as family heirlooms.

Sophie noticed my surprised look and smiled.

"Greg and I already registered our marriage, so I asked my mom for this ring. Of course, I got chewed out again, but I had to have it, scolding or not."

"But the Quimby rules say a live-in son-in-law has to carry on the family line before he can..."

Sophie curled her lip in disdain.

"It's exactly because I can't stand these rotten old rules that I chose to build my career abroad, and I never ask him to attend the family dinners."

"Whatever is rightfully his, I'll help him get, no conditions attached—because he's the one I love, and no one gets to set rules for him."

"As for whether he smashes it or throws it away, that's his freedom. That's what respect means."

Her phone rang. Her little cousin from her second uncle's family had sent her a video.

I was close enough to read the message at a glance.

Sis, I left my phone at the old estate and came back for it. You have to see what I just walked in on!

In the video, Mrs. Quimby handed the other ring to Nadia.

"Jesse left in a hurry, and these past few years haven't been easy on him. Give him this ring—take it back for him."

But Nadia turned right around and slid it onto Phineas's hand, a faint smile on her lips.

"No rush. Once the embryo is transferred into me, he'll still need to take care of me through the pregnancy, so it'd be inconvenient for him to wear it."

"Phineas has such nice long hands, and fair skin—the ring suits him. Let him hold onto it for now."

Phineas, blushing, leaned close to her and said softly:

"Thank you, Ms. Quimby. You're so good to me."

Suddenly the air in the car seemed to thin out.

Otherwise, why would my chest feel so tight, so awful?

So this was the real reason she'd sent me off ahead of time.

Sophie glanced at my face, switched off her phone, and rolled down the window.

"Jesse, the first year I brought Greg to meet the family, the elders all complained he was unmannered, not meek enough. You were the only one who looked after him in every way."

"He's never forgotten your kindness, and neither have I."

"So he told me to tell you: the rules were set by others, but you have the right not to follow them, because your life is your own."

She looked at me.

"We want to open a Chinese-style hotel abroad, and we're still missing a food-and-beverage manager to oversee the dishes."

"Jesse, you're such a good cook—why not join us?"

"Your skills as your stake in the business. No Quimby family money involved."