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He sneered at her, not saying anything as Gracie’s mind whirred, putting together what could have happened.
Had Chesney finally found his leaker and come to report them to Huang? Gracie assumed that it was August who had been leaking the articles, why else would he be here?
But no, because that didn’t explain Huang’s defeated body language. Gracie frowned, annoyed that she couldn’t work out for herself what had caused this strange confrontation.
“What’s going on, Andy?”
He grinned at her. “What you told me about the owners of the magazine got me thinking. I never understood why Huang refused to set up a website for Attitude. It’s so obviously necessary for the future of a magazine that’s marketed to teenagers. So why would he act against the best interests of the company? For ages I thought he was just determined to do things his own way.”
Huang sighed turning away completely without saying a word as Chesney continued:
“And then after you left, I caught Gussie sitting at Laura’s desk, copying the latest article she’s been working on.”
“Gussie...” Gracie said quietly. She should have known there was more behind his surly attitude whenever he spoke to her. August crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking over at the old man again.
“When I confronted him, he told me that he was only following Mr. Huang’s orders.”
“Orders!” Huang scoffed, finally breaking his silence.
“Don’t let him fire me!” August wailed suddenly. He must have sensed that, now Huang was participating in the conversation, this was his chance to ask for mercy.
“Why?” Chesney said quickly, his voice rising in anger, “Why would you want to work somewhere that you care so little about!”
There was a small sound behind Gracie as someone else stepped through the patio door.
Gracie looked the newcomer up and down. She was a young woman wearing bubble gum pink lipstick and circular sunglasses that were so mirrored that Gracie couldn’t see her eyes at all. The young woman strode past them all, heading over to Huang.
He looked up at her, his lips twitched like he was trying to smile but it seemed to Gracie that he looked closer to vomiting than actually looking happy to see her.
“What the hell? The gate was open! You’re the one who’s always going on about keeping it shut. Then I saw this chick,” the woman tilted her chin in Gracie’s direction, “Sneaking around the back of the house, like some kind of burglar...do I need to call the cops?”
She reached into the pocket of her denim shorts as Huang shook his head. “No, no, don’t do that.”
“And,” she drawled, taking her phone out of her pocket, “There’s some random car parked next to the pool house. What the hell is going on here? Who’s car is that?”
The whole time she spoke, she looked directly to Huang, dismissing everyone else in the room like they were all servants. Gracie recognized her voice, and from the casual way she spoke to Huang, she was sure that this was his niece: the one who would inherit Attitude magazine in three years time.
“Uh, that’s my car,” Chesney said, stepping forward. That also neatly answered the question of why Gracie hadn’t seen another car when she pulled up to the house.
Huang shook his head, looking even more broken.
“Diane,” he said gently, holding his hand out to her.
“What’s wrong with you?” she said, frowning down at him. She pulled up her sunglasses, looking at him suspiciously even as she reached out to take his hand.
“There’s...there’s something…”
“Uncle Clive?” she said, her voice faltering as she started to understand that Huang was in a strange mood.
“I’ve made such a mess of things,” Huang muttered to himself.
“No, you haven’t!” the younger Huang said quickly. “Just tell me what all this is about.”
“I…” Huang shook his head. “I did something...very foolish. I was...not always a good brother to your father.”
“Of course you were! That’s why he made you his executor.”
Huang shook his head, his whole body swaying. He let go of his niece’s hand and turned back to face the fireplace so that Gracie had to walk around the edge of the room to continue watching him.
