King of Pride (Kings of Sin #2) by Ana Huang

“She was understandably hesitant, given the situation you put her in, but she agreed. This will help quash rumors about you and your…friend.” Her eyes flicked over Isabella with disdain. “Not that you seem particularly worried about the tabloids catching you together.”

She was right. Even after the National Star scandal, I’d been careless about sneaking around with Isabella.

If I were smart, I’d cut off contact with her until after the vote, but she had a way of scrambling my brain. Perhaps that was part of the problem. Whenever I was with Isabella, the world seemed…brighter. It could be burning down around us and it wouldn’t matter as long as she was there.

“First, I’m not going on a date with Clarissa,” I said coolly. “It’s wrong to lead her on. Second, Isabella is sitting right here.”

“Is it leading her on?” My mother arched a sculpted brow and switched to Cantonese. “Your infatuation with Isabella will pass, and you’ll realize Clarissa is a much better fit for you when it comes to breeding, education, and temperament. You may think I’m overbearing, but I’m your mother. I only want what’s best for you. I’ve seen too many wayward children make terrible mistakes to allow you to do the same. Look at the Gohs. Their daughter ran off with that awful pool boy only to get knocked up and swindled out of her inheritance. Her poor parents haven’t been able to show their faces in society since.”

“Clarissa and Isabella aren’t dogs,” I said in Cantonese, striving for calm. “We can’t put them side by side and compare their breeding. However, if we did, might I remind you Isabella is the heiress to Hiraya Hotels? She’s not some lowly bartender, as you originally thought.”

I wasn’t upset at Isabella for hiding her family background from me. I was initially hurt that she hadn’t trusted me enough to tell me her secret, but I understood why she did it. Honestly, her family reveal made our relationship an easier sell to both my family and the board. A Young dating a bartender was scandalous. A Young dating an heiress was par for course.

My mother’s lips thinned. “It’s not about the wealth. It’s about suitability. She—”

“Don’t you think Kai should be the one who determines the suitability of his partner?” Isabella cut in. She smiled at the flare of surprise on my mother’s face. “I’m Filipino Chinese. I speak English, Tagalog, Hokkien, Mandarin, and Cantonese. I’m surprised you didn’t think of that, given all your education and breeding.”

I wiped a hand over my mouth, hiding my grin. A similar smirk tugged at Abigail’s lips.

We loved our mother, but we also loved seeing people call her out. It didn’t happen often.

She recovered with remarkable speed, as Leonora Young always did. “Then you should know why you and my son make a poor match,” she said in a voice like ice water. “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this…predicament. A Young has helmed our company since it was founded more than a century ago. I refuse to let a tawdry infatuation ruin our legacy.”

“It’s funny,” Isabella said. “You want Kai to run a Fortune 500 company, yet you treat him like a child who can’t make his own decisions. How do you reconcile those two things?”

My grin widened.

I should’ve been thinking about DigiStream, Tobias’s suspicious withdrawal, and getting my family out of my apartment as soon as possible, but all I could think about at that moment was how much I wanted to grab Isabella and kiss her.

My mother was, understandably, less impressed by Isabella’s comeback. “How dare you talk to me that way?” She turned furious eyes on me, her cheeks stained red with outrage. “Is this the type of woman you’re willing to throw away your future for?”

“No one is throwing away anything.” I ruthlessly corralled my amusement into a straight line. “Isabella isn’t responsible for any of this. It takes two to maintain a relationship. She didn’t force me to date her, nor did she tip her hand to the National Star. She’s as much a victim of Victor Black as anyone else.”

“Speaking of Victor, what are you going to do about him?” Abigail asked. She despised him almost as much as I did after the Star insinuated she was siphoning charity funds years ago.

“I’m taking care of it.” I’d ignored his machinations in the past because they weren’t worthy of my attention, but he’d gone too far. By the time I was done with him, he wouldn’t have a company or reputation left.

“We’ll discuss your private relationship later,” my mother said, her expression stiff. She must’ve realized she couldn’t get through to me with Isabella sitting right there. “However, our public statement maintains there was never a relationship and that the photos are innocent. Tobias’s withdrawal puts you in the lead again, but we can’t be complacent. We need to go on the media offensive.”

As the current CEO, she shouldn’t have been strategizing with me, but our family’s reputation was at stake. Leonora Young wasn’t a rule breaker by nature, but when pushed, the ends always justified the means.

“You think going on a date with Clarissa should be part of that offensive,” I said flatly. Without thinking, I curled my hand over Isabella’s. Hers rested in her lap, the skin ice cold. She was more nervous than her earlier bravado let on.