A visa?
Money?
A connection?
Was Emily just a means to something? LearningA New Language Online
Had he married my daughter for a reason that had nothing to do with love?
Joon came back to the table twenty minutes later.
He looked composed.
Too composed — the way a person looks after they’ve just talked themselves down from a ledge.
“Sorry about that,” he said, in English, for my benefit.
“Work.”
“On a weekend?” I said.
He met my eyes.
“It never really stops.”
He smiled.
I smiled back.
Under the table, my hand was gripping my phone so hard my knuckles ached.
Then Emily’s key turned in the front door.
She came in still wearing her coat, cheeks flushed from the cold, and her face lit up the moment she saw everyone gathered at the table.
“I’m so sorry I’m late — the meeting ran over—”
She stopped.
She looked at Joon.
Then at his parents.
Then at me.
Something in my face must have shifted, because hers did too.
“Mum?” she said.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” I said.
“Come sit down.
We’ve been keeping each other company.”
She crossed the room and hugged me, and when her arms came around me I had to work very hard not to hold on too long.
Because I didn’t know how to tell her.
I didn’t know how to say: *I think the man you love married you for a reason he has never told you. BookingInclusive LGBTQ+ Travel Experiences
And his father is terrified of what happens when you find out.*
Dinner was served.
We ate.
We talked.
