Sorrow washed over him. It carried him far away from his stepmother and his stepsiblings, leaving him stranded in his own thoughts of hopelessness. His stepmother made all the decisions.

  The funeral was to take place in Hong Kong under western traditions with a guest list of strangers.

  • • •

  Aiden supposed the funeral was large, overdramatic, and filled with guests important to Infinite, but people passed around him in blurs. Entering the grand hall reserved only for the richest guests, opened his eyes to a world that shrunk around him. The pews minimized, the floor beneath his feet skewed together, and the walls boxed him in. He smelled nothing, though flowers littered the floor, on stands, and hung from the ceiling. Words jumbled together in Chinese of various dialects alongside English.

  Only the casket loomed larger.

  He walked up to the closed casket, but with each tinier step, the casket increased in size. It was a dark brown casket, glazed like the laminated papers the teachers passed out, supposedly forever preserving what was inside. Except there was nothing to preserve. The skin would peel back, pulling away from the bones, and rot into nothing until all that was left were undistinguishable bones. Was the wood of the casket even real? Did the materials even matter? His eyes strained, unable to stop counting the lines he saw crisscrossing. They were tree rings, so the wood had to be real. But why did he care? He reached and, eye twitching, placed his hand against the top of the closed casket.

  Breaths echoing in his ears, Aiden closed his eyes. Ge. I can’t see you. Please let me find you.

  Face burned black beyond any hope of recognition. Legs mangled from the impact of the car’s explosion. A neck shriveled away underneath the heat of flames with an indent caused by either the fire eating into the flesh or a sharp object slashing into his throat.

  The body left little clues to tell who did the deed. Wang Xing, the only other eyewitness, died just as horrendously as his brother. Two large holes gaped on the side of Wang Xing’s head where his ears should’ve been. The police detected no fingerprints because of how long and powerfully the bodies burned. They died in the construction land abandoned by the wealthy elite, surrounded amongst half-built buildings and forgotten plans.

  But the worst part of his brother’s death was wondering about the pain and how long it took for his brother to finally die.

  Bile rose up in his throat. Aiden gagged, swallowing the bitter gunk down. Knees shaking, body shivering from a sudden cold draft, he stumbled to the side and stood by the casket, while the guests paid their respect.

  “Xiao Hui, I am sorry about what happened to him.”

  Aiden wrenched his eyes open to an unfamiliar face.

  “I want to let you know that we are all here today to celebrate him. We won’t forget what he has done for Infinite.”

  “Thank you…”

  The man’s hand tightened around Aiden’s. “Once you take his place, I will do whatever it takes to help you. Do not forget me.”

  His shoulders stiffened. How many more of these people will approach me?

  He lost count after only ten minutes.

  A woman wept in front of his brother’s casket but became magically dry-eyed when she handed over a consolation gift of chocolates. “What did Hui Ye think of my business? Did he tell you before he tragically passed away?”

  An older woman hugged him with arms looped tight around his neck. “Your brother was wonderful. So wonderful. So kind and understanding. He always lent a helping hand. My grandson is having trouble with the job market right now. He’s a good kid. Surely, he can be of some help to you in these trying times? Your brother owned so many businesses, after all.”

  A couple whispered to his stepmother, patted his stepsiblings, who both yawned and rolled their eyes during the whole procession, and tried to push money into his hands. “A little gift. A reminder to the deal we had with him.”

  He shoved the cash back into their hands. How many more? He saw a line that never ended, snaking around the hall, and fearing he would wither to dust if he had to stand here one second longer, Aiden walked away from the casket, shoving into the crowd. The blurry people grew larger. Chinese words whispered back and forth, exceptionally clear even though only few seconds earlier, the voices burbled like they spoke underwater. “He must’ve killed someone very important. It has to be revenge,” one person said.

  “I wonder if it’s because he consolidated the families together in Infinite. The other mafia groups must’ve felt threatened by his potential.”

  “He gained a lot of power in his short tenure as the head of the Hui family. It could be people within Infinite.”

  “It could be in his own family.”

  “It could be his younger brother. He always outshined his younger brother.”

  “Hui Lao was always competitive. It wouldn’t surprise me if he pitted his own sons against each other.”

  “Has anyone seen the younger brother cry yet?”

  Aiden bit his lips until he drew blood. Glasses of alcohol clinked against each other, lavish gifts towered, and a long line of people waited to speak to the stepmother, whose face was marred with stress lines. Glancing back at his stepsiblings, Aiden saw He Bao outright grinning, while Zhu Zhu contented herself with drawing.

  He stumbled out from the reserved hall and into an open garden, gasping. Sweat lined his forehead, and he ripped the top button of his shirt off to gulp bigger mouthfuls of air.

  A great gust of wind sent leaves fluttering from the trees and onto the dirt ground. The scent of smoky incense tinged the air, and the medicinal aura smoothed Aiden’s heartbeat. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, remembering the Chinese medicine that soothed his coughs and body aches. His shoulders relaxed.

  Aiden walked to a stone bench under one of the many trees outside, listening to the bells chiming from the other side.

  On the other end of the cemetery, Aiden imagined the traditional Chinese funeral procession occurring. The body cremated to ashes. The bells signified loss and the passing to the other side. The incense granted peace to everyone who smelled it. At the end of the procession, a fire flared, and the loved ones of the deceased would burn the items that the deceased loved. Their favorite clothes to wear in the other world. Their favorite food for them to take whenever hungry. Piles of paper disappearing under the flames as currency for the other side.

  Aiden sighed. His back warmed to the sun hitting from behind, and he closed his eyes to concentrate on the smell of smoke from other families burning treasures. “I don’t even know what I’d burn for you,” he whispered. “Paper, I guess. So you could live as comfortably as possible.”

  The door slammed open, and he jumped at the distinct clicking of heals approaching. His stepmother walked around the bench and stood before him with her arms crossed. “There you are, Hui Lang. Why are you out here? You are making people gossip inside.”

  She blocked the sun.

  “The last thing we want to do is have people assume you were somehow capable of killing Hui Ye. That just puts a target on our backs.”

  Aiden struggled to lift his head. “I just need a few minutes alone. I’ll go back soon.”

  “No, you need to go back inside now.”

  She grabbed his wrist. Aiden tried to dig his heels in, but he found himself reluctantly moving to her flow when she started walking.

  Suddenly, she stopped. He blinked, watching her sigh, then turn around. She placed a hand on his shoulder. Brows furrowed, she quietly said, “I know this is hard for you. I know you were close to Hui Ye. But we do not have time to mourn, and there’s nothing we can do about it. This is the world we were born in. We have to adapt to it. I’m sorry. You understand, don’t you?”

  Moved, Aiden nodded.

  “Then bear with us today.” She clapped him on the shoulder one more time before latching her fingers tightly around his wrist.

  Aiden stared at the ground as she led him back into the funeral hall. A crowd of people hovered near the door, dispersing the second he raised his head and silencing their blatant gossip. “The last Hui,” one person uttered before the silence.

  At the sight of such nosy eyes, his stepmother graced the guests with brows furrowed, voice gentle, and an elegant pose of her hand against her chest, bending in agony. The crowd rushed forward. “Please, Lady Yin! Stay strong!”

  She is genuinely stressed. The lines on her forehead, wrinkled no matter how much foundation she layered on top, told the one truthful story.

  Finally, only one guest remained. The hall emptied to an echoed loneliness.

  Zhu Zhu slipped her artbook into her purse and mumbled, “Finally.” Eyes glittering, He Bao yanked the gifts off the table and piled them onto a cart to wheel away.

  Aiden approached the casket once more.

  Infinite was an atheist group, but even his stepmother was superstitious with her talks of good luck and bad luck months. Due to his own brother’s influence, however, Aiden was one of the few who wasn’t. He stared at the casket. More like I don’t want to believe it. The Hui family is cursed at this rate.

  Aiden ran his fingers across the polished casket that breathed death. But maybe we are cursed. So, if superstitions are real, then spirits are real. My brother can give me a sign.

  His hand remained stubbornly cold.

  Shaking his head, he backed away.

  In the corner of his eyes, he watched the lingering stranger approach his stepmother. He walked closer. When the man spotted Aiden up close, he noticeably spoke louder. “I managed to keep the press from printing this version, but unfortunately, a copy was still printed. I have saved it.”

  He presented a news spread of the death in bright color. Like every other news report, the photograph of the burning car was emblazoned on the top. However, a smaller picture in the corner depicted his brother in a suit with a lopsided smile. Aiden’s eyes widened in surprise. His stepmother snatched the spread. “When was this picture taken?” she hissed.

  “I found the source. It was a paparazzi picture. From when he was together with Andrea.”

  “They were never together. She was just a thing for him to have fun with. You have gotten rid of every last source of this photograph?”

  “Of course. I would never let down the Hui family like that.” He nodded toward Aiden briefly before turning the copy over to the stepmother. “This is the last spread that contains an actual photograph of Hui Ye.”

  “You are good to do so. Let us talk. We must continue to work together.” His stepmother shoved the spread into He Bao’s hands. “Tear this apart. Make sure no one can ever put it back together.”

  The stepmother grabbed the man by the arm and led him away with continued whispers.

  Aiden stared at the spread. He thought of the gallery on his phone—devoid of any photographs of his brother.

  “Ma, do I have to?” He Bao called. “What if I get cursed or something because of tearing up the photo? You said it’s bad luck to destroy photos of the dead!”

  “I’ll take care of it.” Aiden held his hand out. His foot tapped against the ground.

  He Bao grinned. After shoving the spread into Aiden’s hands, he picked up his favorite gifts left on the table and chased after his mother. “Zhu Zhu, come on!”

  Zhu Zhu rolled her eyes, still playing with her phone, and walked off after her brother.

  Aiden held his breath, not daring to breathe until he saw them walk out of eyeshot. Panting and grinning, he dropped to the ground. The paper ripped painfully between his fingers. He tore the headline apart. Fire. Dead. Accident. The photograph of the burning car disintegrated beneath his greedy hands. Pieces of paper fluttered to the ground. The smile grew wider, and he grasped the one remaining piece intact.

  The forbidden photo of his brother.

  I can have a picture of him. No one needs to know.

  He hugged his brother’s lopsided smile to his chest. Still unable to cry, Aiden rediscovered his ability to laugh, hiding the joy in a hall celebrating death.

  • • •

  “Hey, we need to talk about what to do for the future.” He Bao slammed open the door to the guest room, catching Aiden in the middle of packing. Aiden spared a glance to his stepbrother, but he continued folding his clothes. “Why are you packing? Are you still leaving?”

  “I need to go back. I’ve already signed up for classes.”

  “You can’t leave. How can you leave right now?” He Bao stormed out of his room. “Ma! Aiden said he’s going back to college!”

  Sighing, Aiden flopped onto the bed and rubbed his forehead. He never intended to escape back to campus without their noticing, but a small part of him still dreamt he could magically teleport in a second.

  His stepmother entered the room with her hands on her hips. He Bao followed behind her. “You’re leaving?”

  Looking up, he nodded.

  “Why would you go back to that college after everything that happened? You need to drop out for this semester. You can go back to school once everything’s calmed down—to a college that we trust, with people we know.”

  “Ge already paid for this year.” His entire body was limp. “I’d be wasting money if I didn’t go back.”

  “We have money, Hui Lang. Money is not the problem. It will be a problem if we do not talk about your future and our family’s future. The will needs to be executed, and once it has, you’ll be sitting at the head of the table.”

  The flash of car headlights turned around the corner and pointed through the windows. Warm blood dripped against his eyelid. An ache resurrected in Aiden’s leg. The red carpet beneath his feet glowed of fresh stains. The bullet remained stubbornly lodged, and his leg burned like fire. He attempted to clench his hands but couldn’t summon any more strength than to twitch his fingers. Breathing shakily, he surrendered and allowed shadows of the memory to play out.

  “Are you scared, Hui Lang?” Her voice did not slice away the scene but instead hovered over the sight of death crawling his way. “That is a weakness.”

  “Why would you want to go back anyway? It’s not like you would’ve made any friends in the short time before your classes started.” He Bao’s words struck and cracked his heart, but it simultaneously shook him from his stupor. Aiden swiveled his head toward He Bao, unsure of how to even properly portray his offense and shock to his stepbrother’s accuracy, but He Bao shrugged. “You never checked your phone during the funeral. Clearly, no one cared enough to check in on you.”

  “Be reasonable, He Bao. How can he possibly have friends?”

  “I have friends.”

  “You have friends because you listen to me.” His stepmother huffed. “Hui Lang. You don’t want to go back there.” Aiden got up to walk around, but she charged to meet him. Her fingers clawed into his shoulder. Wincing, he immediately dropped the bag and stumbled back onto the bed. “How will going back to that college help you? You are surrounded by people who know nothing about you. Stay with your family. We can mourn together.”

  Eyes wide, mouth pressed in a thin line, and body stiff, Aiden couldn’t move even if he wanted to. Her right talons continued to sink into his shoulder. You’re not mourning anything, he would say. You just want to make sure the business stays in the family, so that you can continue spoiling your kids.

  His mouth would not speak the words, but he successfully forced his legs into action and moved squarely away from her hand to grab his bag again. “I will come back for the execution of the will and figure out how to proceed. For now, I’m going back.”

  “You’re seriously going to go back just to become a stupid teacher?” He Bao exclaimed.

  His stepmother didn’t chase after him. “The will leaves everything to you.”

  He froze. “We don’t know—”

  “Hui Ye loved you more than anyone else in this family. That is to be expected. He will leave the business to you, and when he does, that leaves us in your care. What will you do then?”

  The bag threatened to slip from his grip again. Aiden held harder and turned around. His stepmother tipped her head at him, brow slightly risen. Her arms rested lightly across her chest. With a slight quirk of her lips, she continued. “Abandon your younger siblings? Disappoint your brother by refusing to step into the role you are now meant to take up as the oldest child in the family? Will you choose to dishonor him that way?”

  She stepped forward, and, with each step, she bore new holes into Aiden’s head.

  “Will you run away from your duty to your family after everything they’ve done for you?”

  Her questions were puppet strings that tied his limbs. Her voice whispered in his ears. Her shadow hovered over his back. Sweat prickled his skin as her questions assailed him in every direction he looked.

  He knew he had to face the future—a future where he led the family. Ge wouldn’t do that though. Right? He knew I didn’t want to be involved.

  But there was no one else in the family Hui Ye could leave this role to.

  If I reject this, I would be rejecting my brother’s last wishes. The fact haunted him. She’s not wrong, either. They’re dependent on me if I inherit the position. I would be abandoning them. The thought sent shivers up and down his body.

  • • •

  He traveled back to campus. He rested. He walked between classes.

  He escaped with chains tied around his wrists and ankles.

  In the buildings and on campus, students rushed forward with determined and panicked faces. Laughter tinged the air, and screams of happiness exploded. The atmosphere bounced off him as he trudged forward with his head down.

  What do I do? His backpack weighed a thousand pounds. He hugged a textbook to his chest, stuffed with syllabi from prior classes.

  His questions grew together, forming a tsunami wave that threatened to crash down and wash him away. Yet, as he stared at the looming questions of his responsibilities, his family, and his dreams, Aiden realized he had no energy to even run.