Frames and Flames
Maya screamed, "Holy crap, is that a ghost from a daytime drama? Babe, save me!"
The woman grabbed my leg, tears and snot covering her face. "You promised to come back and marry me when you succeeded! Why have you been gone three years? Who is she? Are you abandoning me and our son?"
I froze, one hand touching my short, boyish haircutcut to avoid an arranged marriage. Her desperation grew. "When we were together, you said I was the most beautiful woman alive! Now that our child is born, you pretend not to know me?"
Before I could speak, her toddler wiped snot all over my pants. "Daddy, hold me!"
Phones rose from the crowd, cameras flashing. The murmurs turned into loud accusations, branding me a deadbeat dad who abandoned his family. I looked desperately at Maya, but she was crying harder than the stranger.
"Babe, say something! Who is she? You owe me an explanation tonight!"
1
Maya stood before me, pounding her fists against my chest in a dramatic display of heartbreak.
"Say something! Who is this woman? And who is this ugly little kid?"
"So this is what you do! You tell me I'm your first, but behind my back, you've got a whole collection of mistresses! How could you do this to me? Today is our five-year anniversary!"
Maya was so deep in character that the other woman actually believed her. She wiped away a tear and whimpered.
"So you were already with someone when we met. No wonder you disappeared the morning after we slept together."
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have fallen for you so easily. I've ruined our child's life!"
"I don't want anything now. I know I can't compete with this lady. Just please take care of our son. If you could give me two thousand dollars a month for living expenses, I'd be content."
Two thousand dollars?!
I nearly choked on a boba pearl. If I hadn't just inherited the family business, two grand would be more than enough to buy my silence, not the other way around.
Realizing this wasn't part of the game, Maya dropped the act. "Wait, you've misunderstood. She's not"
The woman cut her off frantically. "Enough! What are you trying to say? That your man isn't that kind of person? Which scumbag has 'scumbag' written on his forehead?"
"If he hadn't forced himself on me, I never would have believed this could happen!"
"I'm a woman who has thrown away her pride and dignity! I'm not even asking for the justice I deserve. All I want is for him to provide for his child. Is that too much to ask?"
Gossip is a powerful force.
The moment she said "forced," the air went still. I deeply regretted not clearing the park of bystanders as the staff had suggested.
I gave Maya a look that screamed, This is all your fault. If you wanted an audience for your CEO fantasy, I could have hired actors. Now we're the main event!
Maya looked so guilty she seemed ready to bury her head in the nearest planter.
Before I could speak, a guy covered in tattoos stormed up to me. "It's bad enough you look like a pretty boy, but you don't even have the balls to act like a man. You're a disgrace to men everywhere!"
"Don't you feel any shame when you look in the mirror?"
I nodded earnestly. "Not really."
He sputtered, half-choked with rage.
I'm a woman. The short hair was just a tactic to avoid being married off by my family. Why should I feel ashamed for disgracing manhood?
The guy's face turned beet red. "Fine, fine! You're shameless, I can't argue with you! Let's call the police and let them sort it out!"
2
As he reached for his phone, the woman, Jenny, lunged forward and grabbed his hand.
"No! Calling the police will hurt his career! I don't want to cause him any more trouble."
She turned to me, her voice breaking. "Please, I'm begging you. Just help me with the baby. I wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't completely desperate My last few bosses haven't paid me in six months. I can't even afford formula for little Ben!"
Tears streamed down her face, and some of the onlookers were visibly moved. A few started to chime in.
"Come on, man, be a decent human being. It's your son. This poor girl has been through enough. She's not even asking for damages."
"A son just fell into your lap from the sky! If I were you, I'd be so happy I couldn't sleep for three days! Stop acting so high and mighty. If you can't afford to raise a kid, you shouldn't be taking a girl's clothes off!"
Maya, furious, tried to defend me, but everything she said only made us look worse. Soon, the crowd was calling us a pair of sickosme, the predator, and her, the accomplice who paid off my victims.
My temples throbbed with a building rage. Finally, I spoke, my voice tight.
"I am not an irresponsible person," I began. "But I need to make one thing perfectly clear. I have absolutely, completely, never met you before in my life! I sympathize with what you've been through, and it's outrageous, but is it possible you have the wrong person?"
Maya immediately jumped in. "Exactly! You must be mistaken! She's not that kind of person. Besides, it's impossible for her to get you pregnant!"
A bystander shot back, "And how would you know? Are you a worm in his stomach? Or have you two been partners in crime this whole time, so you know exactly which women your boyfriend has slept with?"
"Oh, I get it now," another woman sneered. "You know all about his cheating. You probably help him find his victims! As a woman, how can you be so vile?"
Maya was about to lose it and lunge at the woman, but Jenny's sharp voice stopped her.
"Your name is Corbin Jiang! That's right, isn't it?"
I froze. She actually knew my name.
"The night you took me to that hotel, I was drunk, but I saw your ID for a second. I remember your name! For three years, I haven't forgotten you for a single day! Corbin Jiang, you ruined my life! Why should you get away with it?"
Her hysterical cries ignited the crowd's fury.
"I thought it might be a mistake, but she knows his name! What else is there to say?"
"Hey, you slept with her. Just admit it! Don't be such a coward!"
"You're panicking now, but you were all too eager back at the hotel, weren't you?"
I stared hard at her, noticing the way her eyes darted away from mine.
"Since you saw my name, you must be very familiar with it. Write it down. In front of everyone."
A sheen of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. "I already said it, why do I have to write it? You're the one who won't admit what you did, and now you're doubting me?"
"I never said I doubted you. I just want to confirm it was you that night. It's just a name; it won't take long. Unless you're hiding something?" I leaned in closer, lowering my voice. "Or maybe you don't actually know how to spell my name at all. So who did you really sleep with that night? And whose ID did you see?"
3
Jenny's face flushed with anger. "Of course, I know! I just I didn't bring a pen!"
"That's okay," I said smoothly, pulling a pen from my jacket pocket. "I have one. And I have my ID, too. Don't worry, I'm not going to run out on my responsibilities."
She sputtered, trapped. Finally, defeated, she took the pen and a napkin and began to write. She wrote slowly, as if each stroke was a monumental effort.
When she was done, I took the paper and looked at it.
And I laughed.
Corbin Jiang.
A man's name.
She had no idea I was a woman. My real name was Corinne. Close, but crucially different.
I pulled out my ID, covering everything but my name.
"Take a good look."
The name was clearly printed: Corinne Jiang.
"Miss Jenny," I said, my voice cold, "if you're going to hunt someone down, at least do your homework. Rushing in blindly just gets you played."
The crowd started whispering among themselves, now suspecting that Jenny had indeed made a mistake.
Seeing the tide turn against her, Jenny burst into tears. "You're doing this on purpose! You got me drunk and drugged me that night! Of course, I don't remember everything perfectly! Even if I forgot exactly how to spell your name, I'll never forget the Porsche you were driving! You used that car to trick me!"
Ah. So that was it. She was after the car. As for my name, she must have overheard Maya calling me and latched onto it.
I nodded, stepping closer. "Then please, tell me. How, exactly, did I trick you? Since you hate me so much, you must remember that part vividly, right?"
Her face went white. "That was the most painful night of my life. Are you really going to make me recount it in public? I'm already at rock bottom. Are you trying to push me over the edge?"
As she spoke, she lowered her head and, hidden from the crowd, gave the child in her arms a sharp pinch.
The sleeping toddler instantly erupted into shrieks.
The crowd's attention shifted. Forgetting their anger at me, they rushed to help her soothe the crying child.
I turned to leave with Maya, but a hand shot out and clamped down on my wrist.
The next thing I knew, I was flying backward, landing hard on the pavement.
"Your son is still crying, and you're trying to run? What kind of man are you?" The tattooed guy stood over me, fuming. To Jenny, he said, "Miss, I've got him for you. He's going to acknowledge this kid today, one way or another. If he won't, I'll beat him until he does!"
Maya burst into tears, trying to rush to my side, but the crowd blocked her.
I slowly pushed myself up, my eyes fixed on Jenny. "So, what do you want?"
She put on a pained, pitiful expression. "I just I can't raise a child alone. I really don't have the means"
I cut her off with an impatient wave of my hand. "Get to the point. How much?"
"I told you, I'm not that kind of person"
I gave a cold laugh and slipped the bank card I'd just taken out back into my wallet. "Fine. If you came here to give me a child, then consider him received. You can go now."
Jenny's smile froze, her eyes filled with hurt. "How could you think of me like that? That's not what I meant. I don't want your money, but I had to borrow from all my relatives to raise him so far, so"
I took a deep breath. "You want me to pay off your debts?"
"Would you?"
Her innocent, manipulative expression almost made me puke. "You spelled my name wrong. You know nothing about my car besides the brand. What makes you think a few sob stories are enough to make me pay your debts? Do I look like an idiot? Find the man who actually slept with you. If you slander me again, I'll see you in court."
4
I rose shakily to my feet, ready to leave.
Jenny panicked, trying to soothe her screaming child while yelling at my back, "Fine, go! If you walk away now, you'll never see your son again! I'll jump with him right now! We'll die right in front of you, so we won't get in the way of you and your new girlfriend!"
Before anyone could react, she broke through the crowd, clutching the child, and sprinted away.
Two minutes later, the emergency lights at the very top of the roller coaster switched on.
She was sitting up there, the child in her arms, her figure swaying precariously against the night sky.
"Corbin Jiang," her voice, amplified by the park's speakers, echoed around us, "I don't blame you for not recognizing me, or for forgetting me. I only blame myself for choosing the wrong man. If we meet in the next life, if I had the same kind of family as that lady by your side would our story have ended differently?"
Her tragic monologue struck a chord with every person there.
Maya and I were stunned. We never thought a shakedown artist would take it this far.
Someone shoved me hard from behind. "What are you waiting for? Go save them!" a bystander roared.
"Just agree to whatever she wants! A life is at stake! If she dies, it's on you!"
"I've never seen a more shameless man in my life! Your wife and child are about to commit suicide, and you're just standing there! Will you be this calm when your own parents die? You'll get what's coming to you!"
I wanted to scream that he wasn't my son, that I didn't care if she jumped. But I knew this wasn't the time. Someone had started a live stream, and the camera was pointed directly at me.
For the sake of views, the streamers were embellishing the story. In their narrative, I was a monster who had abandoned his first family and was now driving them to their deaths for my new girlfriend.
Hundreds of thousands of viewers flooded the stream, the comments a torrent of curses.
"GIRL, DON'T DO IT! HE'S THE ONE WHO SHOULD DIE!"
"IF YOU DIE, YOU'RE JUST GIVING THE SCUMBAG AND HIS MISTRESS WHAT THEY WANT!"
"WAKE UP! YOUR SON NEEDS YOU!"
"THAT BASTARD BETTER GET STRUCK BY LIGHTNING!"
The cameras, the insults, the online vitriolit was a tidal wave threatening to drown me.
Left with no choice, I tried to negotiate. But no matter what I said, Jenny wouldn't budge from her demand: two million dollars.
After a thirty-minute standoff, the police arrived.
I finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Officer, I want to report her! She's falsely accusing me of getting her pregnant and trying to extort me for two million dollars! But I'm not even a"
Before I could say the word "man," Jenny's broken sobs rained down from above.
"Officer, don't believe him! I have proof! I had a paternity test done!"
The police urged her to come down, promising they would help her. But she refused, instead throwing two sheets of paper down from the coaster.
I stared at the fluttering papers, a growing sense of dread coiling in my stomach.
"Officer," I said quietly, "can she even hear me from all the way up there? I wasn't speaking very loudly. How did she know what I said?"
A bystander looked ready to hit me. "Officer, are you hearing this? What kind of monster is he? He didn't believe the poor girl, so of course, she brought evidence! It's perfectly normal!"
I tried to explain, but no one was listening.
An officer picked up the report and slowly opened it. The crowd fell silent, their eyes glued to the paper.
At that exact moment, a message from an unknown number popped up on my phone.
"After today, you're finished. Corinne Jiang, consider this my first gift to you."
Suddenly, a sickening thud echoed from the distance.
Panic erupted.
"Someone jumped! Someone jumped! Somebody help!"
"That poor girl her ghost will haunt this bastard forever!"
The officer holding the report froze, shoved it into my hands, and sprinted towards the commotion.
"The kid is yours," he'd said before he ran. "You'll never be able to explain this now."
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