“What is the problem?” Colette asked, coming out of the room.

Roxanne shook her head in disgust. “He is saying the card’s been rejected.”

“I don’t understand. How can a credit card ever be rejected? It’s not like it’s a kidney!” Colette laughed.

“No, no, it’s a billing term. Sometimes, other people’s cards can be ‘rejected’ if they exceed a certain spending limit, but that’s not possible with you,” Roxanne explained.

A moment later, the head waiter returned with the manager, who was ornately dressed in a Gianni Versace patterned shirt and black Jeggings. He smiled apologetically and said, “I’m very sorry, Miss Bing, but we tried everything. It just would not work. Perhaps you’d like to use another card?”

Colette looked at Roxanne in utter bafflement. Nothing like this had ever happened to her in her entire life. “Do I even have another card?”

“I’ll just pay for it first,” Roxanne huffed, handing the manager her own black card.

• • •

After Roxanne and Colette had left the room, the Baos sat in silence for a few moments.

“I suppose you’re feeling very satisfied about all this,” Shaoyen finally said.

Gaoliang frowned. “What do you mean?”

“We get to hear about how your virtuous daughter saved the day, and you think everything is fine now.”

“Is that what you think?”

Shaoyen glared at him icily and said in a soft, deliberate voice, “No, that’s not what I think. I’m thinking that all of China’s top families now know that you sired a bastard child. I’m thinking that our family is going to become the laughingstock of society. I’m thinking that your political life as you know it will be over, and that Carlton won’t stand a chance now either.”

Gaoliang gave a weary sigh. “Right now, I’m more concerned about Carlton as a human being, not his political career. I’m wondering where we went wrong with him. How did we manage to raise a child who would find it acceptable to wager ten million dollars on a race? I don’t recognize this son of mine anymore!”

“So now what? You’re going to throw him out of the house?” Shaoyen said facetiously.

“I could do more than that. I could threaten to disinherit him. Knowing he may no longer have a fortune to gamble away might help knock some sense into him,” Gaoliang mused.

Shaoyen’s eyes widened in alarm. “You can’t be serious.”

“I won’t disinherit him completely, but after all that’s happened, I think that giving him absolute control of everything would be a big mistake. Tell me, what is going to happen to everything we’ve worked so hard for? You especially—you took my father’s medical supplies company and single-handedly transformed it into a billion-dollar empire. Do you really think Carlton’s capable of taking the reins anytime soon? I’m thinking of getting Rachel more involved in the business. She’s a highly respected economist—at least she won’t run the company into the ground!”

Just then the door opened and Roxanne walked in. “Oh—you’re still here? I’m sorry to intrude, but I think Colette left her cell phone in here.”