Page 23 of Billionaire’s Heartbreak

Dishes began appearing across the room. Our table was among the first to be served—a large platter holding five different dishes, arranged with the precision of a traditional banquet.

I recognized the style immediately. Course after course—eight or nine, usually—would keep coming until no one could possibly eat another bite.

This was just the beginning.

Dannie walked over as the food arrived. “Do you mind?” he asked, standing between Kai and me.

“Here. Take my seat.” I shifted over, offering him mine. “You can take my tea. I don’t want it.”

A small, bitter part of me wondered why Dannie had insisted Kai and I work together when something as simple as me sitting beside him clearly unsettled him.

Dannie nodded, then waved a waitress over. “Could we get some mineral water here?”

Exactly what I always ordered at dinners. The familiarity of it stung.

“Everything go all right at the meeting?” he asked, methodically wiping his chopsticks with a napkin before moving on to his bowl and plate. When he reached for the cutlery in front of me, I blinked.

“You talking to me?”

“Both of you.”

“Fine,” Kai answered.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest. “No,” I said at the same time.

Dannie turned to me, his expression softening. “What’s the problem, honey?”

“I don’t know what my role is,” I admitted. I understood that he needed help with the company, but I still didn’t see where I fit. Everything already seemed handled. I signed papers. Listened to executives explain plans I barely understood. Nodded. Approved things. Kai would take care of the real business decisions.

“Just be pretty,” Dannie said lightly.

The words landed exactly where they were meant to. I knew he was joking. I knew he didn't mean to hurt me.

They still did.

“But—” I started. I could help with the business. I wanted to help. I’d told him that so many times before. I just never meant the triad.

Before I could continue, three older men approached the table. Dannie stood immediately. The change in him was subtle, but I noticed it. He greeted them with an easy smile, shaking their hands and exchanging a few light words as though their arrival were nothing out of the ordinary. Then he guided them toward their seats with the effortless courtesy reserved for honored guests.

Uncle Hong. Uncle Lam. Uncle Frank.

The man I thought was Uncle Hong wore a gray traditional long jacket. His eyes settled on me with a faint smile that sent a chill straight through me.

The other two barely looked my way, as if I were nothing more than decoration at the table.

“Do you know them?” I leaned closer and whispered to Kai. His eyebrow twitched.

When Dannie returned to his seat, his back was straighter. His movements were precise as he poured tea into each elder’s cup with both hands—a gesture of respect. The relaxed warmth he’d worn earlier had vanished.

The noise of the restaurant seemed to dull around us, as though our table existed inside a separate pocket of air. The three old men watched him without blinking.

A silent challenge. A test.

After a long moment, Dannie rose and gave a shallow bow. “Uncles,” he said evenly, his voice carrying just far enough to reach the nearby tables, “thank you for coming today. My grandmother and Auntie Five were pillars of our family. Your presence honors them.

“I’ve also heard certain rumors,” he continued, his gaze steady. “Talk that my family is divided. That my triad is unstable. That I’ve lost control.”

A murmur rippled through the room.