Zhu Zhu slipped her artbook into her purse and mumbled, “Finally.” Eyes glittering, He Bao yanked the gifts off the table and piled them onto a cart to wheel away.
Aiden approached the casket once more.
Infinite was an atheist group, but even his stepmother was superstitious with her talks of good luck and bad luck months. Due to his own brother’s influence, however, Aiden was one of the few who wasn’t. He stared at the casket.More like I don’t want to believe it. The Hui family is cursed at this rate.
Aiden ran his fingers across the polished casket that breathed death.But maybe we are cursed. So, if superstitions are real, then spirits are real. My brother can give me a sign.
His hand remained stubbornly cold.
Shaking his head, he backed away.
In the corner of his eyes, he watched the lingering stranger approach his stepmother. He walked closer. When the man spotted Aiden up close, he noticeably spoke louder. “I managed to keep the press from printing this version, but unfortunately, a copy was still printed. I have saved it.”
He presented a news spread of the death in bright color. Like every other news report, the photograph of the burning car was emblazoned on the top. However, a smaller picture in the corner depicted his brother in a suit with a lopsided smile. Aiden’s eyes widened in surprise. His stepmother snatched the spread. “When was this picture taken?” she hissed.
“I found the source. It was a paparazzi picture. From when he was together with Andrea.”
“They were never together. She was just a thing for him to have fun with. You have gotten rid of every last source of this photograph?”
“Of course. I would never let down the Hui family like that.” He nodded toward Aiden briefly before turning the copy over to the stepmother. “This is the last spread that contains an actual photograph of Hui Ye.”
“You are good to do so. Let us talk. We must continue to work together.” His stepmother shoved the spread into He Bao’s hands. “Tear this apart. Make sure no one can ever put it back together.”
The stepmother grabbed the man by the arm and led him away with continued whispers.
Aiden stared at the spread. He thought of the gallery on his phone—devoid of any photographs of his brother.
“Ma, do I have to?” He Bao called. “What if I get cursed or something because of tearing up the photo? You said it’s bad luck to destroy photos of the dead!”
“I’ll take care of it.” Aiden held his hand out. His foot tapped against the ground.
He Bao grinned. After shoving the spread into Aiden’s hands, he picked up his favorite gifts left on the table and chased after his mother. “Zhu Zhu, come on!”
Zhu Zhu rolled her eyes, still playing with her phone, and walked off after her brother.
Aiden held his breath, not daring to breathe until he saw them walk out of eyeshot. Panting and grinning, he dropped to the ground. The paper ripped painfully between his fingers. He tore the headline apart. Fire. Dead. Accident. The photograph of the burning car disintegrated beneath his greedy hands. Pieces of paper fluttered to the ground. The smile grew wider, and he grasped the one remaining piece intact.
The forbidden photo of his brother.
I can have a picture of him. No one needs to know.
He hugged his brother’s lopsided smile to his chest. Still unable to cry, Aiden rediscovered his ability to laugh, hiding the joy in a hall celebrating death.
• • •
“Hey, we need to talk about what to do for the future.” He Bao slammed open the door to the guest room, catching Aiden in the middle of packing. Aiden spared a glance to his stepbrother, but he continued folding his clothes. “Why are you packing? Are you still leaving?”
“I need to go back. I’ve already signed up for classes.”
“You can’t leave. How can you leave right now?” He Bao stormed out of his room. “Ma! Aiden said he’s going back to college!”
Sighing, Aiden flopped onto the bed and rubbed his forehead. He never intended to escape back to campus without their noticing, but a small part of him still dreamt he could magically teleport in a second.
His stepmother entered the room with her hands on her hips. He Bao followed behind her. “You’re leaving?”
Looking up, he nodded.
“Why would you go back to that college after everything that happened? You need to drop out for this semester. You can go back to school once everything’s calmed down—to a college that we trust, with people we know.”
