Page 26 of The Fall of a Promise

“You and Nico fight?” Liling pipes up.

“Of course we fight.” I laugh.

“Isn’t it a little too early—ouch, Lil! What the hell?” Kai exclaims after she stomps on his foot.

“Not. Helping. What he meant to ask was, what is it you fight about?” Lil grits between her teeth as Tao chuckles and pours us each a shot.

“We’re just having a hard time juggling our... responsibilities right now.”

I didn’t want to completely put mine and Nico’s business out there.

“I wish you would’ve told me,” Liling says as she rests her hand on my shoulder.

I love Lil. She has such a good heart and is quickly becoming one of my closest friends.

“I was embarrassed.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the fucking boss.”

Kai, Tao, and I all laugh at Lili’s attempt at cursing.

“That’s why I don’t talk about it. I’myourboss. It’s weird.”

“The dragon head also always used to be a man, so cheers to breaking the status quo,” Lili chirps as she holds out her shot glass.

“Well, whatever’s discussed here tonight stays here,” Kai confirms.

Lili and Tao nod.

We clink our glasses before knocking them on the counter and downing them. Tao immediately goes to refill them.

“So, what’s going on?” Lili asks before swallowing her shot.

“It’s stupid. We have a much bigger priority right now. I feel silly complaining.”

“You and Nico won’t be able to get through this until you’re working as a team,” Tao remarks.

“You’re right. I just...” I struggle to find the words. “I’m afraid of failing him. This marriage. And saying it out loud makes it seem so final.”

The phrase even taste horrid.

“You are not failing him or at marriage. Fighting is hardly failing.” Tao chuckles. “When you stop fighting, that’s when you have a problem.”

“He just does so much for me, and I pay him back by giving him a hard time,” I admit, feeling like an ungrateful bitch.

“You never keep score in a marriage,” Tao interjects.

Kai points his thumbs at the two. “Yeah, what they said.”

“It’s all the press, isn’t it? You make a face every time I have to bring it up. I can tell you don’t like it,” Lili says.

“It’s not that I don’t like them, Lili. It’s that I absolutelydespisethem. Loath them. I agreed to three, and my mother-in-law won’t stop. I’ve never wanted this. Now, I can’t even grab a sandwich without people taking my photo.”

“And what does Nico say about it?” She asks.

“Nothing. He just says it comes with the job.” I pause. “What if he realizes one day this isn’t what he wants?”

Kai and Lil share a look before rolling their eyes. Small things like that tell me how close they are. They have the same mannerisms. I’ve asked if they had a history, to which they both replied by scoffing and gagging on their finger.

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