Chapter 271 - 271

Henry turned when he heard footsteps and there in a snug bathrobe was a disgusting site.  His uncle and aunt suċkɨnġ each other faces in his lobby was one of the most disgusting things Henry had ever seen.  He crossed his arms violently as if he was making a foul call at a soccer match. He raised his voice. "No. Absolutely not in my house.  The ancestors are watching you and will not be happy."

Sheng Mei laughed delicately so her elaborately quaffed hair shook out of the towel holding it up.  She wrapped the towel around her lover and pointed one end at her accusor. "Your father's funeral tablet is at my house so I can make sure he gets incense while you were away in England.  Nadius tells me you're a Duke now? What a letdown as your not even the first in the family to have a royal title. You're more dishonorable than me. My taxes are paid and I have my dogs groomed just yesterday.  I am very good at being a good sėxy fox wife. No one can have a fault with me."

Sheng Mei had her mouth covered by Nadius who whispered something to her so she walked off in a huff but not before blowing him a kiss.  Nadius straighted his bathrobe before tying it and pulling it down like would with a blazer after he put on the buŧŧon. The gesture did nothing to make the situation less awkward as he turned to Henry.  "Good morning, Henry Wong. I'm happy to see you before the business day has begun. But, I see you are missing one very lovely wife? Ellie? What happened? What did you do?"

Henry sighed deeply and for a moment ignored all of the questions so he could move forwards to give the old Russian some affection.  Nadius patted his back with loud thumps as Nadius picked up a flute of champagne. Henry coughed to clear the air. "What a wonderful welcome you had planned for me.  I am happy though that I have company tonight." Henry looked around the expanse of the house with a tone of regret. "I'd thought to be completely alone. But, it's also great timing as I was going to find you as soon as I had slept off the jetlag and not looked hungover as I do now.  I thought Aunt Sheng Mei had a fashion week event to attend?"

"Oh of course.  She does need to go meet with some new upcoming designer that they hired at Lanvin.  He's apparent just graduated from St. Martens. He's all the rage with the internet you know.  I hear he's from Malaysia and is very good with diagonals and hue. I have no idea what that means to clothing, but you know we're due to met the genius himself at an opera opening later tonight.  You could come with us to get your mind off things." Nadius eyes narrowed as he ȧssessed his nephew's displeasure at the idea of mingling with outside people. He took his champagne and forced Henry to drink it as he lead the muddled boy over to the famous resting room with the zen garden and two easy chairs.  Henry sank down into one of the chairs and mȯȧnėd massaging his temples with his hands. There was a red rimming to the young man's eyes that made Nadius incredibly concerned. Henry had obviously been drinking heavily which was not a good sign. Nadius moved closer. "You don't look jet lagged, Henry. I haven't seen you like this since your mother died.  Your not even this distraught when you break up with girlfriends. I think you have a problem that sleep can fix."

Henry ġrȯȧnėd and sat up straight.  He tried to wipe away the bleariness from his eyes.  Henry knew he probably needed some eyedrops to fake that he was better off than he was, but those were such a far walk away to go get.  What was the point when Nadius had already seen the worst of him. "You know how it is? Marriage is hard and takes sacrifices. I just don't want to talk about it.  I don't want to give you a migraine too. Do you even have time for me now because you were talking about the workday?"

"Would a bucket of cold water help you think more clearly?  I'm sure Michael would very much enjoy my form of therapy. It's cold and to the point.  Forget about work today. I'm here and I'm making some time so I can have a chat with you.  I could go out that door right now if you want to hide it around anymore. C'mon tell me. I don't care how bad it is.  If you need a better lawyer than Chou then I'll find somebody. If it's PR, then we got some Russians in England who'll make them quiet.  Nothing an old man can't solve. Talk to me."

Oh boy, Henry sighed. It was such a whirlwind to think of all the things his uncle didn't know about.  It was going to hurt either way if he found out about it now or later. The sting of judgement was always sharp.  What was the best even approach to begin to delve into the unwinding ball of anxiety which was Ellie Chen and his own's marriage.  Maybe that wasn't the best place to begin. Perhaps it was the trauma that was haunting him now, which had forced him to flee and make the decision to run away from someone he did not deserve.

Stone cold, Henry decided on his question as he put a hand down.  "I need to ask some old questions that have been nagging at me. I wish I had asked earlier so I wouldn't have these feelings now.  I wish I could just forget it. It would probably be best if I could forget it but I need to know who was my mother. I need to know."