Victoria was beautiful and sophisticated. Her flower arrangements were second to none and she could estimate the number of bottles of Bollinger needed for any event down to the last magnum. On the surface Victoria seemed to be perfectly happy with her marriage. She had her own life and her own room. With immense wealth, the cloak of matrimony about her and an absentee husband, she could do as she pleased. She made sure she was the first to carry the latest Fendi bag, be seen at the chicest restaurants, and the one who always beat the good-looking tennis coach, game set and match. And she made sure her husband knew nothing about her. She was saving herself. She had put her life on hold until something better came along. Chan passed over her life like an unwelcome gust of wind over a new hairdo.

Chan would not be headed home that night. He would ring and leave a message for his wife on the house phone – she was probably down at the tennis club, working on her backhand again. He had schemes to hatch and people to see that night. He had thought of a way to get what he wanted. If he pressurised Lucy enough then she would have no choice but to comply with his demands. And Chan knew just how he would do it. Someone would have to get very hurt. Then Lucy would be really scared. Then she would agree to anything.

54

The next morning, Lucy was up before the others. Today was a new day. She was determined that it would be a new start for them all. Lucy’s guilty secret was out and aired and nearly dealt with. In time, Ka Lei would realise it wasn’t so bad.

Lucy tidied the flat and then she went out and bought some cakes for their breakfast and small gifts for Ka Lei and Georgina – a peace offering – a bracelet for Georgina and a hair ornament for Ka Lei. She made tea. She sat and waited. She heard Ka Lei start sobbing again. She heard Georgina – still comforting, whispering. Lucy made tea and she waited.

She took the gifts from their bags and placed them on top of the breakfast bar. She leaned her head against the wall behind and waited. It was a new sensation to her – loneliness. She and Ka Lei had always dealt with things together. How had she ended up sitting alone?

Now she was waiting for a chance to say sorry. She looked about the flat. It was true, it was a mess, but it had a dingy homeliness that she had always found comforting. The evenings they had sat together in this flat, planning futures that now seemed impossible, all those times she had taken for granted. That one day Ka Lei would stop loving her? That was something she’d never thought would happen. Now, the flat was turned into a strange place, full of unfamiliar things – Georgina’s things. It was all so changed. But she had to face the facts: they blamed her for everything and she deserved it. She stared at Georgina’s bedroom door. It was covered in photos of Ka Lei and Georgina. Lucy thought about the nights she had slept huddled with her sister and the comfort that she had taken for granted.

She sat and cried. She let go of tears that she had been holding inside for more than a decade. She had looked after Ka Lei since she was a baby. Ever since their mother had stopped coming home every night. Sometimes Lucy was hungry. Sometimes the baby seemed to cry forever. Lucy had gone to the old man in the shop below and asked for some food for the baby, and the man in the shop had told her how to feed her sister with a bottle. The tiny baby had felt so heavy that her arms shook with the strain of holding her, but she never let go. She spoke to her all the time, and sometimes the baby stopped her suckling to listen to what Lucy was saying. Sometimes she stopped to smile and the milk spilled from her mouth, which made Lucy laugh.

By the time Lucy was ten she had taken full charge of Ka Lei. Their mother came and went, sometimes disappearing for a week at a time. When she returned she was always very tired, and so Lucy had two babies to look after. Her mother would sleep for days, but she could not stay once she was rested.

At first Lucy pleaded with her to stay, but it was of no use. In the end, Lucy only welcomed her back for the money she left on the table. Sometimes it was a lot of money. Lucy hid it, saving it away so that the baby would never be hungry again.

When Lucy was eleven and Ka Lei was four, their mother was found drifting facedown among the boats at Aberdeen. By then Lucy had saved enough money to last the sisters a year.

Lucy’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the click of a door handle, and she wiped her face hurriedly. Georgina came out to make some tea for her and Ka Lei. She didn’t look at Lucy.

‘I boug you tese.’ Lucy pushed the gifts towards Georgina. Georgina glanced at them then went back to making tea.

‘I am sorry, Georgina. I had no choice. I owe too much money. I lose it gambling. So stupid. I am sorry. Had to pay it back. There was no other way. Had no choice.’

Georgina stopped and turned towards Lucy. Her eyes were swollen with crying and her hands were shaking with anger.

‘You had no choice?’

‘Believe me. I feel so bad but …’

‘You had no choice?’ Her voice was breaking with rage. ‘You sold your sister to pay off your gambling debt.’ She shook her head and lifted her palms towards the ceiling at the horror of it all. ‘How could you do that?’

Lucy attempted her explanation again. Georgina wasn’t listening. She shook her head in disbelief. ‘What is the going price for virginity these days? How much did you get for your sister?’ She turned to glare at Lucy. Her eyes burned as they filled with tears. Lucy looked away. She didn’t like the hatred that she saw.

‘Mr Chan say the debt is nearly finish now. I can work off the rest.’ She lied as much to herself as anyone else. No final settlement figure had been reached. She could only hope that this would be an end to it.

‘Yeah, right.’ Georgina picked up the tea and turned back to Lucy. ‘You can never repair the damage you’ve done to Ka Lei, Lucy – never.’ Then she went back into her room.

Lucy was stunned. She realised that, for the first time in her life, she was in danger of losing her sister. That thought hit Lucy like a punch in the stomach.

Ka Lei was curled into a ball. She lay on the bed and stared at the closed bedroom door, knowing that her sister was sitting on the other side. Her world was crumbling. She didn’t know how to maintain her balance. She only knew she must hang on to Georgina. Georgina was both her trapeze and her safety net. Lucy was the missed catch. Georgina was the person Ka Lei wanted to be with – she was her future. Somehow Lucy had blurred in Ka Lei’s mind to become someone else – a deceiver and a stranger. Now she was mourning the loss of her sister.

‘You all right, Ka Lei?’ Georgina sat down beside her.

‘I don’t understand why she did those things – bad things – hurt everybody. I don’t understand any more. But she is my sister. It is Lucy. It’s very hard for me. I love Lucy – but it’s so difficult now.’ She shook her head, confused, and stared at the door. Then, turning to Georgina, her eyes full of panic, she said: ‘Please don’t leave me, Georgina. I will die if you leave me.’

Georgina took her hands. ‘Look into my eyes, Ka Lei. What do you see?’

Ka Lei peered into them and smiled.

‘I see me.’

‘That’s because we are in each other’s souls – you and me. I am in you and you are in me. That will never change. Never. I belong here in Hong Kong. I belong here with you. I never realised how lonely I was until I came here. You are my best friend and my sister all in one.’

‘For me also. When I tink sometin – you say it! It very funny.’

‘I know! It is strange and wonderful. It makes me so happy to know that I have you and that we will always belong to one another. Everything will be all right – you’ll see.’