EVERGLOW

XXII. What broke him

Dylan looked anxiously at Yue as she sat across from him. Her eyes darted nervously between him and the welfare representative who rang their bell while she was still packing. Supposedly. He'd found her staring off into space surrounded by neatly zipped up cases and luggage.

He'd had to call her thrice before she realized he was in the room with her. She'd been quiet even after he told her that they had a visitor from the orphanage, and that they might need to answer a few questions.

The visit was unannounced, a requirement for its very nature. It was a good thing they hadn't left for Beijing yet.

Yue picked at her nails. He should have told her what to expect from the whole adoption process.

He wondered what was on her mind. Cai Hong was napping blissfully in his arms and anyone could see the baby was well taken care of. They were all together in the well-kept house, the perfect epitome of a happy family.

They were both actors and they could pretend magnificently about the last two years. Or he could, and she could nod along or something. The last few days were more than enough to make up for that. At least they were for him.

The middle-aged lady, dressed smartly in her pinstripe slacks and blazer, opened a notebook and fiddled with the buttons on a recorder. She seemed friendly enough, roughly around her forties and beaming with sunshine. This shouldn't be too difficult.

"All right then, let's start. Homestudy for Mr. and Mrs. Wang He Di, applying adoptive parents of Cai Hong," she spoke into the recorder, flashing her smile at them both. If she was aware of the nervous tension, she didn't let on. Or she might be used to it in her line of work.

It started off with a few questions requiring specific answers — age, educational background, and length of marriage. And then they got more complicated, delving into their own childhood, their relationship dynamics, parenting skills, even religious beliefs.

His head started to throb until he was more than happy to let Yue take the lead. She was sharp, and he had a feeling she was acing the whole thing for both of them. Judging by the way the lady nodded encouragingly at her, Yue was giving her exactly what she needed to write a glowing recommendation, without even lying. It was a good thing.

She was good with words, and telling things the way they needed to come out. But she sucked at outright lying.

He was just starting to feel at ease, when he noticed the change in the lady's stance. She leaned forward as if all the previous questions were mere distractions, and now she meant business. Her eyes suddenly seemed sharper as she shifted her gaze between them.

"Both of you are quite...famous. And your not-so-recent and...not-so-short separation has been the subject of a lot of speculation." She paused, and Dylan knew she was waiting for them to address the non-question. An impossibility when he's holding his breath.

"Is this something that might affect Cai Hong's need for stability?" she prompted after a few beats when none of them seemed forthcoming.

At the blink of an eye, he pulled on his mask, the one he wore out of the house every day while she was gone. When he looked up at her, he saw the Yue he'd known before hell happened and felt relieved that she was doing the same.

"I was burnt out from acting. I had just recently finished a series that...took quite a lot more than I bargained for." Her eyes shifted to his. "I told Dylan I wanted to do something else, something I've always wanted to do. He encouraged me to pursue writing and drawing books for children. I wanted to be anonymous though, and it was easier to do that in New York."