𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐘 ── 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔. ✔︎

𝟬𝟬𝟯.

 RAMONA STOOD NEXT TO NICK AND THEODORE. Dressed in the same simple brandon maxwell sunny dress, that ended at her calf, perfectly tailored to her lean and tall, model-like figure and paired her dress with a midi mayfair ivory handbag, nude heels, and a pair of simple pearl earrings. "Why do you always wear that dress at weddings?" Theodore asked

"Because it's simple and it doesn't draw attention," Ramona replied simply, "The wedding day is the bride's day to shine, At Cecilia's wedding, I wore this gorgeous Oscar De La Renta dress, and all the guests could talk about was how gorgeous my dress was. I felt so bad for her," Ramona frowned. 

"Found the bride! We're on our way back!" Samantha Chu barked into the headset as she shepherded the girls out of the main house and across the great lawn toward the Palladian-style music pavilion where the ceremony was to be held. Sylvia marveled at the mountains in the distance on one side of the lawn and the views of the Pacific Ocean on the other. "Tell me again how you guys found this amazing property."

"We got really lucky. Nick's friend Mehmet told us about Arcadia—the owners are friends of his family. They only come here once a year for a few weeks in the summer, and never lend the place out for events, but they made a special exception for us." 

"Is Mehmet the hunk with the stubble and those incredible hazel eyes?" Samantha Chu, Rachel's cousin asked.

"You got it. The Turkish Casanova, we call him," Rachel said.

"Imagine how rich you have to be to maintain this huge estate all year to use it for just a few weeks," Sylvia said in astonishment.

"Speaking of rich, some of the women who just got here look like they stepped out of the pages of Vogue China. There's a tall, leggy, supermodel type wearing boots that clearly cost more than my Prius, there's another stunning girl in the most to-die-for linen shirtdress and, there's another gorgeous girl in a chic sunny dress and they both have such posh English accents —Aunt Belinda already has her nose halfway up their hoo-has," Samantha reported.

Rachel laughed. "I'm guessing that Araminta Lee, Astrid Leong, and Ramona Young have arrived."

"She goes by Araminta Khoo these days," Peik Lin corrected.

"Ooh, I can't wait to meet all these women I've been hearing so much about—it's gonna be like an issue of Vanity Fair magazine come to life!" Sylvia said gleefully.

The ladies entered the Tuscan-stone portico in front of the pavilion, where everyone involved in the wedding ceremony had assembled. The decorating crew was still putting the finishing touches to an intricate bamboo trellis entwined with wisteria and jasmine that led up the aisle to an arch where the couple would exchange their vows.

Ramona greeted Rachel with a huge hug. "Oh, i can't believe you're going to be my sister-in-law soon!" she beamed, "And just seeing you, makes me want to get married right now!"

"No pressure at all!" Colin whispered to Theodore as he snorted. At first, Ramona had no idea it was him, with his shock of dark hair grown out to his shoulders, she hadn't recognized him until he spoke.

Nick's phone began to ring. Not recognizing the number, he ignored the call and put the phone on vibrate. "Look at you! Now you really look like a Polynesian surfer!" Rachel exclaimed, taking a good look at Colin. 

"That's rad!" Colin replied as he gave the bride-to-be a kiss on the cheek. Araminta, who stood out from the crowd in her vintage Yves Saint Laurent safari jacket and gold leather caged thigh-high Gianvito Rossi sandals, was next to greet Rachel with a double-cheek kiss.

"That's the heiress whose wedding Rachel went to where all the trouble started," Auntie Jin murmured under her breath to Ray Chu.

"Who's the fellow beside her in the torn jeans and flip-flops?"

"That's her husband. I heard he's a billionaire too," Kerry Chu whispered back.

"It's like all my patients these days—I never know whether the kid in my dental chair is homeless or owns Google," Ray said gruffly.

After everyone in the wedding party had been introduced to one another and Jason Chu had snapped enough pictures of himself with the supermodel and Nick's hottie sister Ramona —who he swore had to be that babe from House of Flying Daggers —Samantha began corralling everyone into position for the procession up the aisle.

"Okay, after Mehmet has made sure all the guests have taken their seats, the procession can begin. Jase—you need to escort Aunt Kerry up the aisle first, before you come back for Mom. Once you get Mom to her seat, you're done and you can take the seat next to her. Now, I need Alistair Cheng. Where are you?" Alistair identified himself as Samantha checked the chart on her iPad. "Okay, you'll be escorting Astrid Leong up the aisle, since she is representing Nick's family. That's Astrid over there. Will you remember her tomorrow?"

"I think so. She's my cousin," Alistair said in his usual laconic manner.

"My bad—I didn't realize you were a cousin too!" Samantha giggled, "And Ramona, Theodore will escort you," Ramona and Theodore nodded

Nick's phone started buzzing again, and he dug into his jeans pocket in annoyance. It was from the same number, but this time it was a text message. Nick scrolled to the text, which read: Sorry—tried everything I could to stop Mum. Love, Dad.

Nick stared at the text again. What on earth could his father mean?

Samantha began barking out new orders. "Okay, now it's time for the groom and his best man to enter. Nick and Colin—both of you will be at the staging area to the left of the pavilion while all the guests are being seated. When you hear the cello solo begin, that's your cue to walk down the path toward—"

" 'Scuse me for one sec," Nick said, dashing away from the arch. He stood at the back corner of the forecourt, frantically trying to call his father. This time, it went straight to voice mail: "I'm sorry, but the person you called has a voice-mail box that has not been set up yet. Please try your call again later."

Damn. Nick tried calling his father's regular Sydney number, an avalanche of dread suddenly beginning to engulf him.

Colin, Ramona, and Theodore came up to check on him. "Everything okay?"

"Um, I don't know. Hey, don't you have security wherever you travel?"

Colin rolled his eyes. "Yes. It's a big nuisance, but Araminta's father insists on it."

"Where's your security detail now?"

"There's a team posted outside the gates, and that woman over there is Araminta's personal bodyguard," Colin replied, indicating a woman with a frizzy spiral perm seated inconspicuously among Rachel's relatives. "I know she looks like a bank teller, but let me tell you, she's former Chinese Special Forces and can disembowel a man in under ten seconds."

Nick showed Colin the text message from his father. "Can you please call your security people and request extra backup for tomorrow? I'll pay whatever it takes. We need to go into full lockdown and make sure that only the people on the guest list are allowed onto the property."

Ramona grimaced "Um, Gor Gor, I think it's a little too late for that."

"What do you mean?"

"Look dead ahead. Twelve o'clock." Colin said

Nick stared for a second. "No, that's not my mum. That's a cousin of Rachel's from New Jersey."

Theodore shook his head, "Colin meant lookup. In the sky..."

Nick squinted into the bright blue sky. "Oh. My. Fucking. Hell."

"Get away from the trellis! It's coming down!" a workman screamed as everyone began running for cover. The arch toppled over just as the trellis began to collapse. Parts of bamboo began blowing off the structure at high speed, and the wisteria buds were blown clear off their stems. Aunt Belinda screamed as a big clump of jasmine hit her in the face. Theodore held Ramona as they both ducked behind the pavilion. 

"Hiyah, everything is ruined!" Kerry Chu cried.

When the propellers of the AgustaWestland AW109 finally ground to a halt, the forward door opened and a burly man in dark sunglasses jumped out to open the main cabin door. A Chinese woman clad in a chic saffron-colored pantsuit stepped out.

"Jesus, of course, it's Auntie Eleanor!" Astrid groaned.

Nick stormed up to their mother in fury, with Ramona trailing behind in dread, "What the hell are you doing here?" Nick asked

Eleanor looked at her son calmly and said, "I knew you were going to be mad. But there was no other way to reach you since you refused to return any of my calls!"

"So you think you could stop my wedding by launching this...this invasion? You're out of your fucking mind!"

"Nicky, stop using that kind of language! I did not come here to stop your wedding. I have no intention of doing that. In fact, I want you to marry Rachel—"

"We're calling security—you need to get off the premises right now!"

By this point, Rachel was beside him. Nick glanced at her quickly in concern, and Rachel smiled at him reassuringly. "Hello, Mrs. Young," she said, finding a renewed confidence in her voice.

"Hello, Rachel. Can we please speak somewhere private?" Eleanor asked.

"No, Rachel is not speaking to you in private! Haven't you already done enough?" Nick interjected.

"Alamak, I'll pay to have everything fixed. Actually, you should be thanking me that rickety bamboo thing came down—that was a lawsuit waiting to happen. Listen to me, I'm really not here to ruin your wedding. I came here to ask for your forgiveness. I want to give you my blessing."

"It's a bit late for that. Please just LEAVE US ALONE!"

"Trust me, I know where I'm not wanted, and I will gladly leave. But I felt that I needed to make things right for Rachel before she walks down the aisle. Do you really want to deprive her of meeting her father before her wedding?"

Nick stared at his mother as if she was deranged. "What are you talking about?"

Eleanor ignored her son and looked Rachel straight in the eyes. "I'm talking about your real father, Rachel. I found him for you! That's what I've been trying to tell the both of you for the past month!"

"I don't believe you!" Nick said defiantly.

"I don't care if you believe me. I met Rachel's father's wife through your cousin Eddie when I was in London last year—you can ask him yourself. It was all a complete coincidence, but I managed to put two and two together and confirmed that he really is her father. Rachel, your father's name is Bao Gaoliang, and he's one of the top politicians in Beijing."

"Bao Gaoliang..." Rachel said the name slowly, in utter disbelief.

"And right now, he's at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, and he's hoping to see your mother, Kerry, again. And he's dying to meet you. Come with me, Rachel, and I'll take all of you to him."

"This is another bullshit scheme of yours. You're not taking Rachel anywhere." Nick was seething.

Rachel put her hand on Nick's arm. "It's fine. I want to meet this guy. Let's see if he's really my father."

Ramona and Theodore exchanged looks, well, this was an unexpected turn of events.