Lies and Weddings(57)
*2 Kicked in the head by a baby giraffe when he was seven years old.
*3 Don’t you love rich aunties who judge the expenditures of their relatives when they themselves spend exponentially more on their own children who want to restore crumbling castles in Scotland or fund their own dolphin research institutes? No, not personal.
Hong Kong, 1995
MAK’S NOODLE, WELLINGTON STREET
Mary Gao stared into her bowl of wonton noodles, the faint hint of pink in a curled prawn wrapped in delicate wonton skin reminding her of the tiny baby growing within her.
“I want to keep it,” Mary said weakly.
Rosina Ko-Tung stared at her friend in dismay from across the tiny Formica table. “Why do you want to ruin your life?”
“It’s what Henry would have wanted.”
“You are deluded. He would have made you get rid of it.”
“No, he wouldn’t have. He loved me. He would have loved our baby.”
Rosina sighed, shaking her head. The only person Henry had loved was himself, but it was pointless to try to convince Mary in her current state. “Mary, I’m going to give it to you straight, since no one else seems to have the heart to do it. Henry is dead. Your family is already facing disgrace, with your brother’s trial coming up. Now, there is still a great deal of sympathy for you at the moment. You were an innocent bystander at a drunken brawl. But if the public catches wind of what really happened that night, the sentiment will change.”
“I lost my brother and my lover in one night. Will people be so heartless?”
“You will be seen as the woman who caused it all to happen. You will be tainted forever. You will go down in history as the only disgraced Miss Hong Kong and be forced to give up your crown.”
“I couldn’t care less about my fucking crown. I want to be a mother. I’m ready.”
“Are you sure? I don’t think you’re thinking clearly at the moment. You really want to be a single mother, here? You want your baby to grow up being called a bastard? You will be shunned by society. Every door will be closed to you, Mary. Every opportunity, every sponsorship deal, will evaporate. You will become a nobody. How are you going to support your baby if you’re a nobody? Look, as it stands I’m the only one in our circle still talking to you. Where’s Gabby? Where are Edwin and Brendan? I couldn’t even meet you at a proper restaurant for yum cha. We had to come here and hide like thieves. Don’t sacrifice your life like this. It’s still so early, you’re barely pregnant. Turn the page, and start over. When the court case is settled and the news dies down, you can still find a husband. Maybe one of those mainlanders who are getting so rich these days, or a Brit in finance. You could have many other children then. A whole new family. You could have a beautiful life. Isn’t that what you want?”
Yes, Mary thought. I want a beautiful life.
FROM THE “MINI-VOWS” SECTION OF
THE NEW YORK TIMES:
It all began with a fight over a golf cart at Sun Valley. Amanda Joy Finch was trying to secure a golf cart for a legendary nonagenarian investor at the annual conference nicknamed the “Billionaires’ Summer Camp,” but the golf cart was stolen “right under our very noses by someone I will not name…let’s just say he’s a tech mogul infamous for his adolescent behavior,” Ms. Finch recalls. “We were late to the morning session, but a knight in shining armor sped up and offered us a ride in his cart.” The young man turned out to be Christian Lewis Radford, who was still healing from a diving injury. “Mandy and I were two of the few people under thirty at the conference who weren’t billionaires at the time, so we bonded over our lowly status,” Mr. Radford laughs. This weekend, the bride will marry her knight in shining golf cart in Marrakech, Morocco. The bride, 30, a summa cum laude graduate of Tulane University and Harvard Business School, previously worked for Berkshire Hathaway before founding her own socially responsible venture capital firm, Scout Finch Capital, named by Fast Company as one of the “most visionary venture capital firms.” She is the daughter of Alan Finch, a breeder of exotic chickens in Pensacola, Florida, and Debbie Craig, a guitar instructor in Sedona, Arizona. The groom, 32, who grew up in Sydney, Australia, attended the University of Sydney and Stanford Graduate School of Business, and previously worked for Y Combinator. He is the founder of Lizard Island Ventures, which specializes in AI start-ups. He is the son of Marc Radford, chairman and CEO of the diversified minerals conglomerate Radford International, and Carolyne Radford, chairwoman of the Radford Foundation and a former trustee of the Aspen Institute. The couple plan to split their time between Berkeley, California, and Byron Bay, Australia.
I
DAR YACOUT
MARRAKECH, MOROCCO ? LATER THAT EVENING
The outer walls of the ancient medina glowed pink against the sapphire-blue night as the call to prayer echoed in the distance. Rufus gazed out the window of their speeding car in anticipation as the old city came into view. “The colors are amazing! No wonder Matisse came here.”
“Marrakech is known as the red city. Every city in Morocco is painted a different color—Casablanca is white, Chefchaouen is blue. I can’t believe you’ve never been here!” Rosina said as she tightened the knot on her black and gold silk headscarf.