154 Do I Tell?

'She really has been through a lot, shit, should I tell her about who I just saw..?'

"Hey! You're back, hah and it looks like you brought the buffet table with you too!"

"Well of course, that's a feast to die for in there, plus it looks it wouldn't kill you to have a few more of these cakes here. I mean you look great girl, but you seem to have lost a lot of weight, are you healthy?"

Chang's open smile became more reserved and a little coy as she looked up at him.

"Don't you know you're not supposed to ask a ladies weight? Yeah, I'm a little on the low side now, but I assure you I'm healthy, the way I was before I could have stood to lose a few pounds. I'm a little under 60 kg, compared to the 78kg I was before."

"Uh, translation please for the American."

"I was about a 170lbs before, now I'm about 130, see fine."

"Girl you're about 5'8, and stacked like a bad mama jama! That's way too low, here quickly start eating before you die!" Justin quickly set the plate loaded with all kinds of desserts as well as a bunch of different kind of veggie tarts stacked on each other.

"Hahaha I'm not going to die, I lost most of the weight after I had to go to the hospital for awhile, and haven't been able to really gain it back since then. If it makes you feel better though here, mmnm." Chang picked up one of the small tarts and took a bite and enjoyed it without reaching for another.

Justin gave her a dubious look before sighing and refilling their glasses with their pilfered champagne bottle.

"Alright so you left off right when you were about to tell me about your cousins doing something that made you want to change your name."

"Ah that's right, so I made the mistake of trusting my cousins for the longest time. Out of everyone they were some of the few people that were kind to me and I trusted them blindly for a while. I didn't realize it was all a set up for them to utterly ruin me and try to publicly shame me." Chang took a deep breath, steeling herself before continuing looking at her friend who was quickly stuffing a bunch of beautifully colored macrons into his mouth.

"Last year on my birthday, my grandfather Jean-Jacques held a similar party, but so soon after my mom's death I just felt so stifled, my birthday last year was the worst with both my parents gone. So in the middle of the party when my cousins proposed we escape to go somewhere to have fun, I was all for it. it was one of the worst mistakes I could have made.

----

"You should know why I am here, more than anyone else. I am here to see Chang, or should I say Charmaine, my wife." Liang Jian Amal looked down and gently smiled down at the older man, but his eyes flashed with hostile intent. "I've held down my end of the bargain, well mostly, not counting last year, do not tell me you plan to continue to stand between us, do you?"