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 and your family futures, not more investments and schemes.”