Page 81 of See You at the Sunset

“You wanted to play hardball, so I brought in the big guns,” Mimi said. “Certainly as lawyers yourselves, you didn’t expect me to make any decisions without legal counsel.”

“You want this to be between lawyers? This should simply be a conversation between family. Reasonable,” Jia’s dad added.

“You’re the ones who made this a fight,” Jia noted. “You brought in this—” she waved her hand in Matthew’s general direction “—shark. A soulless man targeting the elderly residents of Sunset Hills—a community with good people who’ve worked their whole lives to be able to retire and live their later years the way they choose—to try to take their homes away from them. And now, as if all of that weren’t bad enough—” Jia’s voice cracked, and she took a breath before going on “—you’re joining him in doing it to your own mother. My grandmother. You’re treating her like she doesn’t have a choice, and that’s unforgivable. If you do this, I will never forgive you.”

“Jia, stop being so dramatic. It’s embarrassing,” her mother responded.

“I think what’s embarrassing is that you aren’t listening to what your daughter is trying to say to you.” Henry’s low, steady voice had a tone of reprimand, and it silenced the room immediately. Jia didn’t know if anyone had ever spoken to her mother that way.

Jia watched as her mother’s back straightened and she placed both hands on the table, rising to stand and leaning in to make herself heard. Jia held her breath. She couldn’t watch her momunleash on Henry. She hadn’t prepared him for her lawyer mode.

But Henry seemed unfazed. In fact, his back also straightened. He placed his elbows on the table, tenting his hands in front of his mouth. And he leaned in to meet her.

“Mimi is, at this point in her life, not entirely capable of making her own decisions,” her mother said. Jia grabbed Mimi’s hand under the table and squeezed. Mimi squeezed back.

She huffed out loud but didn’t say a word. It was all so ridiculous.

“Mimi Chung is willing to undergo all physical and mental testing required to deem herself competent,” Henry said. “Furthermore...”

Oh shit, he pulled out afurthermore. Jia had only ever heard that word in courtroom dramas on TV. To be followed with the knockout blow.

She squeezed her legs together and waited. First because Henry was fucking hot like this, all scary and official and badass-lawyerlike. And second because she knew he only played to win. And he knew all the rules of engagement. What bomb would he drop on them next?

“Mimi Chung has also filed all the paperwork to appoint her granddaughter, Jia Chung, as the executor of her trust and has given her the power of attorney for decisions for her life if she ever is incapable of making them on her own.”

“That’s ridiculous. Jia isn’t competent to oversee her own life, let alone her aging grandmother’s. She can’t even keep a job.” Jia’s father said the words she always knew they believed. And he said them like accusations, not just disappointments, in front of others.

Jia felt the wind knocked out of her, and she deflated in herchair. She lowered her head and wanted to crawl under the table.

“Don’t you ever speak to my granddaughter that way. I raised you better than that,” Mimi said to Jia’s dad.

“What were you thinking giving her power of attorney—”

“Why would you do something so drastic—”

“The paperwork has all been drawn up—”

“So does Jia have to sign off on the sale of the house—”

Everyone was talking at once. Jia’s mind swirled in the cacophony of voices, dizzy with all the finger-pointing (her parents), the defending (Mimi and Henry... awww), and the legal jargon (Hadley), and some other gibberish (Matthew, the snake).

“Stop,” she said. The voices continued.

“Stop!” she screamed. Everyone shut their mouths immediately, all eyes turning to her. Jia was tempted to rise to her feet to be on the same level as everyone else. But she didn’t. She could say what she needed to say sitting down, calmly, powerfully.

“Mom, Dad, you have made it clear my entire life that I have been a disappointment to you, that I have only brought hardship and heartache along with me. I have tried to overcome this sense of not being good enough, trying to mold myself into some shape of a person you could be proud of. But I didn’t fit. Because it wasn’t who I was meant to be. I’m sorry that I love freely. I’m sorry that I lead with joy. I’m sorry that I live life looking at possibilities and not worried about mistakes. No—” she stopped and thought about what she was saying “—actually, I’m not sorry. I’m proud of who I am. I’m just sorry that you can’t accept that person. But at the end of the day, this isn’t about me. This is about Mimi. And I swear bothin my heart and now on any legal documents I need to sign that I will take care of her her entire life. Because she’s the one person who believes in me. Who cheers for me. Who sees me as someone remarkable.”

“Jia, honey, you are remarkable,” Mimi said, sitting down and grabbing Jia’s hand.

“Thanks, Mimi. And thank you for giving me a chance here this summer. To land somewhere safe and to find my own way and figure it out myself.”

“It’s been a gift.”

“Jia, you can’t live life just to be happy. You have to be stable. You have to be successful. You have to invest in the future. You can’t putz around in your grandmother’s retirement community like you have no responsibilities.” Jia’s mom let out a deep, frustrated sigh as she, too, collapsed into her chair.

“I feel I need to clarify what it is your daughter does at Sunset Hills and the impact she makes on the residents. Because, listening to you, I’m quite certain that you have no idea.” Henry looked first to Jia’s mom, then her dad, and then turned his face to hers.

“Jia is, indeed, remarkable. She has a zest for life that is contagious. She takes the darkest of places, lost in shadows, and she shines light. She convinces people that life is worth living and then shows them how to do so. She’s kind and funny and affirming. And she sees people for who they are and not what they bring to the table. In fact, she sees people more clearly when they have nothing to offer her. She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met, and I feel sorry for you—” his eyes turned back to Jia’s parents “—for never having known your daughter at all.”