I turned and left. I hadn’t bothered with religion much since moving back to the states. Like many Korean immigrants, my mother was a dedicated Presbyterian. But her fervor hadn’t passed down to me. And I hadn’t darkened a church’s door since stepping foot on Mount Holyoke’s campus.

But I prayed as I walked to the Audi. Prayed that the guard hadn’t been tracking my every move. That after years of watching me have mostly innocuous conversations with my fellow grad students, he hadn’t bothered to spy this time. Maybe he’d been reading something on his phone. Once or twice I’d been able to let myself into the car because he hadn’t seen me coming. Today could be one of those kind of days.

But it wasn’t.

The day guard climbed out of the front seat as soon as I got within a meter of the car and opened the door for me.

“What was that all about?” he asked as soon as we were both settled in our respective seats.

I was in my early 30s now and a lot faster on my feet. “He thinks I’m doing him a favor by offering to switch my presentation slot from Friday, May 25th to the previous Wednesday. He was thanking me. That’s all.”

The day guard grunted. But other than that, he didn’t answer. I could only hope that meant he believed me.

Five more months….

16

VICTOR

It was time to meet his bride. Not the one he was currently keeping a prisoner in Providence, but the woman who would seal the alliance between the 24K and The Silent Triad.

Victor arrived at Kuang’s house in Connecticut with Han and Phantom flanking him on either side. In truth, Han would’ve been enough for a light meeting such as this. But Phantom had insisted on coming along for reasons that had nothing to do with solidarity.

“Betcha 1000 bucks she’s a dog,” Phantom had challenged shortly after Han arranged a meeting to coincide with the end of Nora Kuang’s winter break on Victor’s behalf. “Kuang would’ve offered to show you her picture if she was anything to look at.”

Han had frowned at Phantom’s perhaps valid point. “I could try to get a recent picture for you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Victor had told his brother. “No matter what she looks like, the outcome will be the same.”

He would marry Kuang’s daughter if that was what finalizing the partnership between their two triads would take.

For once, they didn’t meet their business partner at his Manhattan apartment. On the day of the meeting, they made their way up to his compound in Connecticut. There was so much security roaming the grounds. They put Victor in mind of a small army. Kuang’s paranoia was never spoken out loud, but it was getting noisier with every passing year.