44. Chapter Forty-Four Abby

Chapter Forty-Four: Abby

M y heart was pounding like a jackhammer, each beat echoing the shock of Evelyn's confession. I gripped the edge of the lacquered table in the Eight Treasures Tea Room, my knuckles whitening. The scent of jasmine tea lingered heavy in the air, but the usual comfort it offered was lost on me now.

Evelyn sat across from me, her expression as calm as the surface of the tea in our cups. "I'm sure you're surprised, Abby," she said, her voice steady and betraying none of the chaos that had become my reality.

Jesus, I knew the Triad was messy, but this…this was insane.

"Surprised?" My voice came out sharper than I intended, an attempt to mask my own turmoil. "Yeah, of course I am. But why? Why all this destruction?"

She cocked her head. "Strange. You didn't strike me as naive."

"I'm not," I replied. "I just…why destroy somewhere Nathan cared so much about too? Why make his life more complicated? I know you love your kids, Evelyn."

She studied me for a moment, and I could almost hear the calculations happening behind those measured brown eyes. "Why destroy Grant Avenue Floral, you mean? The place so special to Nathan?"

"Exactly," I replied, the words tasting bitter. That shop, with its array of orchids and Nathan's unexpected tenderness towards them, didn't fit into the image of a ruthless Triad heir. It was his sanctuary, and she knew it.

Evelyn reached for her cup, her movements slow and deliberate. "Sometimes," she began, setting the porcelain back down without taking a sip, "to cleanse, one must first burn away the old." Her gaze locked onto mine, filled with a resolve that sent a chill through me.

"Like through insurance fraud?" I asked.

A smile pulled at the corner of Evelyn's mouth. "Abby, Mengyao was one of us," Evelyn continued, her voice a low thrum that filled the small space between us. "She was a friend to Xinyi Lin, and she wanted justice for what Nathan did to her son."

"You're saying Mengyao attacked Grand Avenue as revenge against Nathan?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice even.

Evelyn nodded once, solemnly. "Yes. She couldn't forgive him for killing Xinyi's wife and beating her son. It's why she joined us—to make things right, in her own way."

"Then...you're not responsible?" The question hung in the air, tentative and probing.

"Responsible?" A bitter laugh escaped her lips. "Oh, Abby, in this world, we're all responsible for something." Her eyes met mine again, and it felt like she was peeling back layers I didn't even know I had. "But no, Mengyao acted on her own vengeance that night."

There it was—the stark truth laid bare between us. Evelyn, a silent queen in this treacherous court; Mengyao, a victim turned avenger; and me, an FBI agent caught in the crossfire of a family war. With every revelation, the lines blurred further, making it harder to tell where my allegiance should lie.

"Listen to me," Evelyn said. "Nathan was lucky she didn't have someone murder him. A plant shop can be…replaced. My son's life isn't replaceable."

"But Mr. Lao–"

"The florist was not my son," Evelyn interrupted. "We need to protect our own, even if others get hurt. I'm sure you can relate to that."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. "Okay, but I don't understand. Why are you behind the fires? Why risk everything?" I pressed, eyes locked on Evelyn's.

"Because my husband," she began, her voice tinged with a venom that made me feel cold despite the warmth of the teahouse, "is a plague to our organization. His greed has only grown with his power, and he's lost sight of what the Triad stood for."

"Power does that to people," I murmured, thinking of the countless crime reports I had studied back at Quantico.

"Exactly," she agreed. "The snake rots from the head, Abby. And it's clear to us—the wives, the silent observers—that for the Serpents to survive, for any semblance of honor to return, there must be new leadership."

"So a wife will take over?"

She laughed, throwing her head back, as if I'd just said the funniest thing in the world. "No, of course not," she said. "Oh, you do have a sense of humor. No, the one man who can run our ops will be the head of the Serpents. We want a new leader. Vincent Chen."

"Vincent…wait–Knuckles?"

"Knuckles," she nodded, confirming his alias.

"But wait–if he's in league with you, then why kill Mengyao?"

"Because it was necessary," Evelyn said. "Knuckles knew that, if Mengyao were taken captive by my husband, she would break and tell him everything. We all made a pact–that we would rather die than tell our secrets."

"And you want that guy in charge?"

Evelyn nodded. "He understands balance, respect. With him, things would be different."

I processed her words, feeling the weight of an unspoken alliance forming. Here in the Eight Treasures Tea Room, amidst the scent of jasmine and oolong, a conspiracy was brewing—one that could topple the very foundation of the Golden Serpents. And somehow, I was becoming a part of it.

"I suspected he was involved, but I didn't know how," I murmured. "I guess this confirms it."

The clink of fine china seemed to echo more than usual as I set my cup down, drawing a line in the sand. Evelyn's intense stare drilled into me, her fear for Knuckles briefly flashing across her otherwise composed facade.

"Have you told Kenny or Nathan about this?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, every word laced with urgency.

"I don't talk to your husband," I said. "But I told Nathan Knuckles might be involved because Khe was having clandestine meetings with some woman all over Chinatown…and I guess that woman was you?"

Evelyn exhaled, the tension in her shoulders easing. It was clear now that she had been holding her breath, waiting for my response. She was genuinely scared for Knuckles—scared enough to risk everything by sitting here with me.

And then, as if a puzzle piece snapped into place, a realization hit me hard. "Oh my god…you're in love with him, aren't you?"

She looked away, her silence more telling than any confession.

The tea room, with its delicate porcelain and whispers of steam, felt too small all of a sudden. The implications of what she wasn't saying spiraled in my mind.

"Abby." Her voice brought me back from the edge of the precipice my thoughts were teetering on. "We need to be careful. If Kenny ever found out—"

I nodded, my hand trembling slightly as I reached for my own cup of tea. I needed to drink something, but I wished this was a glass of whiskey and not tea. Evelyn's revelation had opened up a chasm beneath my feet, and I was free-falling into the unknown.

"Is Knuckles...is he Nathan's father?" The question slipped out in a whisper, betraying the fear of what her answer might entail.

Evelyn's gaze met mine again, steady and unflinching. "No," she said firmly, but the single word held volumes of unsaid truths, heavy with the burden of years of secrecy. "But Justin…"

"Justin?"

She nodded. "Kenny was in Hong Kong for most of the time when Justin would have been conceived," Evelyn continued, her voice a mere whisper that carried the weight of a confession long held at bay. "Vincent is Justin's father."

The room seemed to shrink around me, the walls closing in with the gravity of her admission. I could imagine the chaos, the violence that revelation could unleash if Kenny ever discovered the truth. A man like him, the Golden Serpent, would see such a betrayal as a festering wound to his authority, one that demanded the harshest of remedies.

"Then we keep it buried," I said, my words sounding far braver than I felt. The tea in my cup had gone cold, but I took another sip, needing something to do with my hands, to anchor me to this moment.

"Good," she said. "That's what I was hoping to hear."

As I placed the cup back on the table, a question loomed large between us. "Why are you telling me all this?" My voice sounded steady, despite the tempest of thoughts swirling in my mind.

Evelyn leaned in closer, her expression solemn. "Because secrets have a way of coming to light, and when they do, we need to be ready. We need people we can trust." Her gaze held mine, unwavering. "I trust you, Abby."

That was a surprise. It was my turn to watch her, to wait.

"Abby," she began, her voice low and laced with determination, "I've watched you. You're not just some girl who wandered into our lives by chance. You care for Nathan, don't you?"

"I love him."

"And during the Initiation, your eyes...I saw the same hatred for Kenny that burns within me." The way she spat out Kenny's name, it was like venom on her tongue. Kenneth Zhou, the Serpent's Head, her husband and the cause of so much pain.

My heart raced at the mention of that night—the Initiation, where blood oaths were sworn and loyalty to the Golden Serpents was etched in flesh. Where I had glimpsed the depth of corruption and cruelty that Kenny embodied. A shudder ran through me, but it wasn't fear—it was revulsion.

Evelyn leaned forward, her gaze piercing. "I want your help, Abby. Together, we can take Kenny down."

For a moment, everything stopped. My breath caught in my throat, and I could feel the weight of her request settling on my shoulders. This was no small favor she was asking. This was a declaration of war—a war that could consume us all if we weren't careful.

Fear clawed at me, whispering of the dangers that lurked in the shadows. If this was all a ruse, if Evelyn's intentions were not as they seemed, I could be signing my own death warrant. But looking into her eyes—eyes that held a lifetime of sorrow and strength—I found my resolve.

I reached for the Triad bracelet encircling my wrist, its intricate metalwork cold against my skin. It was a symbol of the life I had infiltrated, a life that was becoming more entangled with my own with each passing day. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for the words I was about to utter.

"Okay," I said finally. "So what do you need me to do?"