Free Red Phoenix by Kylie Chan Page B

come to Hong Kong, help look after Simone, and brush up on my cooking while I was here. That’s all, Emma.’
    ‘It’s Lady Emma now,’ Simone said with relish.
    ‘No it isn’t, Simone, not for Charlie.’ I saw Charlie’s face. ‘Don’t worry about it, Charlie.’ I paid the parking ticket and guided Charlie to the car. ‘We need to talk. But we should wait until we have you settled in.’
    When we reached the car Charlie stopped.
    ‘Daddy bought it for Emma,’ Simone said proudly.
    Charlie glanced sharply at me.
    ‘I needed it,’ I said. ‘Simone starts school soon, and I’ll be taking her. I’ll be sharing it with Leo.’
    Charlie nodded, but she was obviously unhappy. We put her bags into the boot and she sat in the back of thecar with Simone. ‘How are you, my little Princess? You’ve grown so much. Starting school soon, eh? You’re a big girl already.’
    ‘I’m really good, Charlie. I’m learning energy work with Emma. Emma’s teaching the Disciples. She’s really good too. She’ll be in charge.’
    ‘Don’t worry about that, Simone,’ I said, not wanting to take the conversation in a difficult direction. ‘We’ll talk about that later.’
    Charlie appeared very uncomfortable.
    ‘Charlie, I’ll tell you all about it when we’re back at the Peak. In private,’ I said pointedly, and she nodded. But I could see she was concerned.
    When we arrived at the Peak I took Charlie into one of the student rooms behind the training room. ‘Is this okay? If it’s not good enough, you can go in with Simone, or you can have my room. I don’t mind.’
    ‘You can’t do that, Emma,’ Simone squeaked. ‘You can’t give Charlie your room, it’s not fitting.’
    Charlie didn’t miss that. ‘This will be fine, Emma, I’ve had this room before.’ She put her bag down and folded her arms over her chest. ‘Please tell me what’s going on.’
    ‘Simone, could you go to Monica for a while?’ I said. ‘Call me if you need me, I’m right here.’
    ‘Okay, Emma.’ Simone waved one hand as she went out.
    ‘She’s very grown-up for such a little girl,’ Charlie said.
    ‘She’s been through a lot lately. We all have.’ I gestured for her to sit on the bed and I sat on the student chair next to the desk. I leaned my elbow on the desk and rested my chin on my hand.
    ‘I heard about the Attack,’ Charlie said. ‘I heard that most of the Mountain was destroyed. It’s awful. I hope Mr Chen is okay.’
    ‘We nearly lost him, but the White Tiger helped and managed to pull him back. It was a very bad time for all of us.’
    ‘How is he now?’
    ‘He’s fine. We moved the Wudang Academy from the Mountain to here in Hong Kong. The students are staying and learning in buildings that he owns here.’
    ‘That’s wonderful! It’s fantastic he can teach again.’ She became serious. ‘He’s teaching you?’
    ‘Apparently I’m very talented. He already has me teaching energy work to the juniors, as if I didn’t have enough to do already.’
    ‘Well, a nanny’s job is never easy,’ she said cheerfully.
    I stopped and thought about what to say. This would be hard. I dropped my head and didn’t look at her. ‘I’m not the nanny any more, Charlie. He asked me to marry him.’
    ‘He can’t marry you. He can’t marry anyone.’
    ‘He promised to come back for me. And I promised to wait for him. When he comes back, we’ll be married.’
    ‘And in the meantime?’
    I dropped my head even lower and mumbled, ‘I’ll be Regent, Charlie. I’ll be in charge of the Mountain, of Simone, everything.’
    Charlie’s face screwed up with fury. ‘I knew it!’ She threw herself out of her chair and stood over me, shaking with rage. ‘You cow ? I knew you were after his money!’ She stormed into the hallway. ‘I don’t know what you did to him, but I’ll find out!’
    I rushed to follow her. ‘Wait!’
    She ignored me. She charged straight out the front door and slammed it behind her.
    I