Nita cracked the eggs in a bowl and began scrambling them. “She used to go into the kitchen and cook it at all hours. When she was too far along to be on her feet, I’d cook it for her. I was just one of the maids back then, but since I was the only one on staff who knew how to cook the food she liked, she took me on as her personal maid. That’s how I ended up as your nanny.”
Nita had told Yvonne this story at least a hundred times, but Yvonne liked hearing it, along with all Nita’s other stories of her mother. After her mother’s death, it had been like her father had wanted to forget about Yvonne’s mother entirely. When he’d remarried, he’d practically erased Yvonne’s mother from existence. He hadn’t cared about Yvonne keeping any connection to her mother or her culture.
It had been isolating for Yvonne, never having that part of herself acknowledged. If she hadn’t had Nita growing up, Yvonne would have been lost. Nita had been close to Yvonne’s mother, despite her status as ‘the help.’ On top of telling Yvonne stories of her mother, Nita had taught Yvonne to cook all her mother’s favorite Chinese dishes, and taught her to speak a little Mandarin. Nita had made sure Yvonne knew she had a place, both in the wider world and by her side.
Nita was her family.
Yvonne got up from the table. “Let me help you.”
Nita gave her a stern look. “You’re my guest. Sit back down.”
Yvonne sat. There was no point arguing with her.
Nita began chopping up the tomatoes into small wedges. “So, how’s your brother?”
“No idea,” Yvonne said. “It’s not like we have weekly phone calls.”
Nita shook her head. “You should make more of an effort. He’s family.”
Yvonne scoffed. “Nicholas certainly doesn’t consider me family.” Before Nita could argue, she changed the subject. “I have some news. Big news.”
Nita stopped chopping and looked at her. “What is it?”
Yvonne held up her left hand, brandishing her ring. “I got married.”
Nita broke out into a smile. “Congratulations! That’s wonderful.”
“You’re not surprised?”
“I am, but I’m happy for you too. Who’s the lucky lady?”
“Her name is Ruby,” Yvonne said. “She’s… a waitress.”
“Do you love her?”
Once again, Yvonne found that she couldn’t lie. Not to Nita. “It’s more of an arrangement.”
“That sounds more like the Yvonne I know.”
Surprisingly, Nita didn’t question Yvonne about the details of the arrangement, probably because she was used to Yvonne’s idiosyncratic behavior. Yvonne wasn’t complaining. She didn’t want to have to explain that Nita herself was one of the reasons she’d gotten married in the first place.
Nita tossed the eggs into the wok. “Does she make you happy, at least?”
“The jury is still out on that one,” Yvonne replied.
“Xiăo táo.” Nita shook her head. “When are you going to start thinking about finding happiness for yourself?”
“I am happy.”
“That’s right. You have your fancy apartment, your high-powered job, and now a pretty wife you have an ‘arrangement’ with. Is that really all you want from life? We’re social creatures. We weren’t meant to be alone.”
“I’m not alone,” Yvonne said. “I have all the friends I need. And I have you.”
Nita murmured with disapproval. “That’s not the same thing.”
“That’s enough about me.” Yvonne got the same lecture every time she visited Nita. She’d heard it all before. “What’s been going on with you? How are the kids?”
“They’re great. Sara is applying for colleges. She has her sights set on some good schools. Her grades should be high enough that she can get some scholarships…” Nita’s gaze grew distant. “I don’t know what we’ll do if she doesn’t get them. I don’t have the heart to tell her we can’t afford to pay a single cent. She doesn’t know about everything that’s been going on. None of the kids do.”
Yvonne felt a sinking in her stomach. Nita’s family’s problems stemmed from her husband’s real estate business. He had invested heavily in the growing local market over the years. Then the market had crashed, and the business had gone into the red. In an attempt to dig it out, Mark had gotten desperate. He’d fallen for shady investment schemes. He’d taken out loan after loan, putting their house up as collateral. He’d stopped paying the taxes he owed. Then, when he’d exhausted conventional lines of credit, he’d turned to dodgy lenders with criminal connections. And now, they were coming to collect.
Nita hadn’t told Yvonne about the state of their finances until it was too late. By then, their debts were too large. They owed millions to their creditors, banks, and government agencies, not to mention the shady lenders to whom bankruptcy meant nothing. Nita’s family was poised to lose everything within a year.
But Yvonne was going to do something about it. It was why she wanted to get her hands on her inheritance in the first place.
“Nita,” Yvonne said. “I already told you, I’ll take care of it.”
“No.” Nita noticed the wok had started to burn. She stirred it. “I couldn’t ask that of you. You’ve already helped us so much. We’ll figure this out ourselves.”
“Nita, you know this problem is too big for you to solve on your own. I’m not going to sit by and watch you go bankrupt. I’m going to help you.”
Nita tried to protest, but Yvonne cut her off. “I’ve come up with a plan for how to solve your problems once and for all. I’m coming into some money soon. I’ll have more than enough money to make this all go away. I’m going to pay off Mark’s business debts. I’m going to buy you this house, and I’m going to set up trusts for the kids with money to go toward their education, their futures. Mark won’t be able to touch them.” Nita’s husband had proved he couldn’t manage money, so that was for the best. “The money needs to go toward your debt
