Chapter 15
The Drink
The first round of greetings began almost immediately.
Dakota, standing beside Charles, drew more attention than she knew what to do with. She smiled when she was introduced, answered carefully, and glanced at me whenever she was unsure.
I corrected her quietly.
“Not President Chen. Chairman Chen.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise. Correct it next time.”
She nodded.
Charles heard us.
He did not say anything.
Soon, the toasts began.
At receptions like this, drinking was not about drinking.
It was hierarchy.
Respect.
Pressure.
A smiling form of negotiation.
For years, I had been the person who took glasses from Charles’s hand before anyone could insist too much. I had drunk until my stomach burned and my fingertips went cold. I had excused him with a smile,
