Page 70 of Worth Fighting For

“I take you seriously,” I say.

“It’s not your fault,” she says. “I don’t take myself seriously. I guess I never felt like I deserved to be taken seriously. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I am being completely sincere when I say I think this is the first time that I’m getting a glimpse of the real Mulan, and I like her.”

A knot forms in my throat. Mushu and I have always been close, but I never expected Mushu to read me this well.

“I give you a hard time for being the perfect kid and all that, and it’s because I feel like you’re always playing a role. But now, this thing with Shang, I know that it’s not a role. It’s just…you. And I love that for you. So don’t get all stupid and mess it up because you think it’s something you’re not supposed to do or whatever, okay?”

I nod hurriedly, hiding how emotional Mushu’s words have made me. “To love,” I say, clinking my glass to Mushu’s. Warmth rises from my neck to my face.Is Mushu right? Is this love?Of course, as soon as I ask myself that, it becomes painfully, startlingly obvious. I recognize this feeling at last, like finding a long-lost friend, and the realization makes me choke up a little.

“Wow,” Mushu says. “Am I jealous? Yes, yes I am. Am I also happy for you? Yes!” She gets up from her chair and gives me a hug. “My cousin in love.”

I laugh and wipe at my eyes as Mushu settles back in her seat. “I’m so scared, though. What’s he going to do when he finds out I’m not actually Zhou?”

“Oh yeah, ooh. I forgot about that,” Mushu says.

“How in the world did you manage to forget about that?”

“I don’t know, I’ve got lots of things going on. I have a roaring social life, as you know—”

“Of course,” I say with a smile.

“So I can’t keep track of all the details. Anyway, right. The Zhou thing. Oof.” Mushu takes a sip of wine and stares off into the distance for a while, deep in thought. Then she snaps her fingers. “I’ve got it. The perfect solution.”

I lean forward eagerly. “Yes?”

“You should legally change your name to Zhou.”

I deflate. For a moment there, I really thought that Mushu had found an actual solution.

“Why not?” she says. “I mean, he’s your dad, so it’s not inconceivable that you might want to be named after him.”

“So I’d be Zhou Junior?” I say dryly.

“Exactly.”

“Okay, aside from all the legal ramifications, I don’t know, I don’t like the idea of continuing the lie. I want to be honest with Shang. I don’t want a relationship based on a lie.”

Mushu’s expression turns sad. “Yeah, I know. So why don’t you tell him?”

“Two reasons: I don’t want to mess everything up with the acquisitions, and I don’t want to lose him.” Even just saying the wordslose himmakes my throat dry.

“Oh, cuz. That’s tough.”

“And this whole thing with the acquisition, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner—the fact that we’d be working closely with his family once we buy their company. I guess I thought maybe that my dad would’ve gotten better by now and I could hand over the account to him, as planned, and I wouldn’t have that much interaction with them and none of this would matter in the long run. I didn’t foresee any of this happening.” I take a deep breath. “I didn’t foresee falling in love with Shang and my dad still being in the hospital.”

Mushu reaches across the table and takes my hand. “I know. But soon this will all be over. You’ll come to the end of the negotiations process and seal the deal and your dad will get better and things will be less up in the air so you’ll be able to tell Shang everything then.”

I give Mushu a weak smile and squeeze her hand. “God, I hope you’re right.”

In the morning, I wake up in Shang’s arms. I stay there for a few moments, savoring his nearness, then reach over for my phone. I am mid-yawn when I unlock it and find seventeen missed calls from Mama. And Baba. My heart leaps and I sit up abruptly, opening the numerous texts from them. Next to me, Shang stirs and strokes my back, but my attention is fully on my phone.

Mulan, Baba got the green light to go home! Come to the hospital once you see this!

“Oh my god,” I say.

Shang sits up and kisses my cheek. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just—My dad’s going to be discharged.”

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