Page 25 of Until We Burn
I grunt, shooting another puck into the net.
After those rumors, my life has never been the same. I’ve had to win back everyone’s faith and respect and simultaneously accept that I can’t win them all back. Diana is just someone I can’t get on my side, and that’s fine.
The HVAC system stirs against my hair and drifts down to my lips.Even with my eyes closed, I still seeher. Feelher and her hands smoothening over the collar of my dress shirt at the dinner party.
I shouldn’t even be letting Diana take up my head this much. She just has a hold on me that I can’t shrug off. Every thought I have draws back to her. She’s the poison and the antidote at the same fucking time, and I hate it as much as I ache for it.
This is why you don’t date. This is why hockey and the internship should be your only priorities.
I repeat this to myself over and over. But no matter how much I try to keep Diana out of my head, she crawls right back, tempting me to imagine things I shouldn’t.
CHAPTER 12
DIANA
The Huangs might have builtthe HMG to prove they deserved a place in the news world, but the company only survived out of competition.
Uncle Frederik sits across from bàba at the dinner table. While bàba looks polished and regal at his seat, Uncle Frederik sags into his. Graying hair speckles his head and surrounds a mouth that frowns like a man sucked dry.
Bàba and Uncle Frederik grew up in the splendor of Taipei City. They were both educated in American language schools and eventually studied abroad at DHU. Winning my grandfather’s approval and control of the HMG was what they were raised to do. They upheld that challenge until my agongstepped down as CEO. Uncle Frederik lost the vote, and bàba never let him forget it. He pays for all of Uncle Frederik’s needs. But it’s not out of the kindness of his heart. His generosity sends a message:I keep you fed because I defeated you. I am better. I am victorious.
Now, that thirst for competition lives on in us.
Competition keeps you sharp,bàba always says,it keeps you driven and ambitious. Your blades will never grow dull if there’s always a reason to sharpen them.
“I heard about the joint project you’re working on.” Uncle Frederik offers me a reserved smile. “Congratulations, Diana.”
I smile proudly.“Xiè xiè,shushu.”
Bàba stares at my siblings expectantly. “The rest of you ought to follow in her steps. Especially you, Sophia.”
There’s a pointedness to his words. They stifle the same fires that once burned within her when Sophia fought to stand her ground and establish her own path away from the HMG.
Those fires are mere embers now, as Sophia keeps her head down. Her voice comes out small and meek: “Of course, bàba.”
“Diana is a shining example of what you can be, of what you can achieve if you justlistenedto me!”
Sophia’s jaw stiffens. Her knife stops rowing back and forth over her chicken.
“Of course.” Then she smiles a little too sweetly for someone being ripped into. “Although, Diana has so much on her plate: Classes, running the Howler, and vying for the CEO position. It’s a shame it’s taking a toll on her studies.”
My fingers pause over my glass of water. “What do you mean?”
Sophia swallows hard, her face hesitant. But when her eyes lift, they’re shining and calculating. “Well, I saw that email about your grade earlier when I was looking for that source on your phone. It’s okay, Diana. Failure is ultimately a part of success, is it not?”
She pops the chicken into her mouth and chews.
I remember when Sophia was my little sister. She used to ask me to help curl her hair because she couldn’t reach the back. She would borrow my makeup and my dresses. She hid under my bed covers when lightning storms rattled her bedroom windows. Now, Sophia is nothing more than another rival.
She smiles at me, a challenge flickering in her eyes.
That’s the thing with keeping your blades sharp. You don’t care who bleeds.
Mama gasps. “What is Sophia talking about, Diana?”
The clatter of silverware dropping down makes me flinch. I turn to see my whole family casting their attention towards me.
Gregory looks amused. Jonathan starts to smile.
