The Gilded Game

SIX

We stepped out of the car and walked into my parent's mansion.

Look straight ahead, smile only so slightly, ladylike posture.

That was what I was told growing up. I wasn't on the radar of the media or anyone rich and famous, my parents believed in the fact that children shouldn't meddle in the adult business. I didn't go to an international school, instead, I went to a local private school until I turned 13 and started being a detective.

"Are you ok? You look... tense."

"I'm fine. It's just been like this every time I visit."

He offered me his hand, and I took it, us interlocking fingers.

And it felt so good. Slightly shocking too, but it felt natural for the first time holding hands with a boy.

I quickly snapped a photo of our hands, and sent it to a group chat titled "OP kids", with the words "ha bet most of you haven't even done this with a girl, I did this with the heir whose case I'm solving."

And then, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb, knowing that they would text me non-stop.

"Just a heads up, my parents look like they absolutely adore each other, but it's all acting. I know my dad has a mistress, he has since I was 14. They like my dumb playboy brother way more, that's one of the only things they have in common. If I look like I'm about to cry just get me to the garden and do that thing I did back in the car."

We walked up the stairs and into the dining room, on the second floor.

"Father, this is my boyfriend Peter Lee."

He looked shocked for a moment, then paused to think.

"Lee? The ones with all that news in the past few years?" He asked.

"He'd rather not talk about what happened, he's still processing everything."

Dinner was served, a steak dinner that after a year of living alone, I considered rather elaborate. To the rest of them, it was just a usual thing.

My father began, "When will you be done with that detective work and come back to the family?"

The reasons I took the job at 13 were complicated. Partly due to offers and not wanting to waste my time at school, but also due to the situation at home. I needed a distraction.

"I don't think it'll happen in the next couple of years, I've got a difficult case now, that's my priority."

My parents merely nodded.

Dinner went on, with polite conversation. Polite until a woman whom I recognised to be Father's mistress, Catherine stormed in.

"Catherine, is it?" I asked, raising my eyebrows slightly and standing up, but I was panicking on the inside. How did she find out about the dinner?

She looked shocked, mostly by the fact I knew her name.

"I've heard so much about you, Aria." She had a fake smile. It looked real, sure, but I could see how saccharine it was.

"Oh, and I've heard a lot about you too. My investigation really paid off, didn't it? How has being my father's mistress been treating you?" I countered, with a fake sweetness in my voice.

Horrified looks from everyone in the room.

"I'll excuse myself now."

I grabbed Peter and ran straight to the garden, the two of us sitting down on a bench in a far corner.

"That was badass. I could never do that." Peter commented.

"And there goes my share of the inheritance. Thank god my job pays well."

I grabbed my phone and went straight to the group chat, in an attempt to distract myself and not cry.

James: congrats

Ronnie: WHEN ARE YOU TWO GETTING MARRIED CAN I NAME YOUR KID MICHEAL

And about a hundred other messages.

Aria: Do you guys wanna meet him? I could bring him to HQ tmr.

Peter looked over my shoulder.

"Who are they?"

"The most unhinged, deadly, hilarious teenage boys in the whole of Hong Kong. They seem unapproachable, but they're actually fun to be around. I've been friends with them since I was 13. I'm like a sister to them." I explained.

"How are they deadly?"

"Oh, it's just that one can make bombs, two can hack you, two can track you down with terrifying accuracy. I can do a bit of all of that, but they're the best at it."

I called Agent Wong, asking her to take me to my flat and take Peter back to his mansion.