After a second, she realized it was her phone. Someone was calling her. She glanced down at the screen.

Doctor Dad.

Panic shocked through her, making her palms prick and her face go cold. “My dad.” She held her phone out to Khải.

He shook his head and widened his eyes. “Why are you giving it to me? Answer it. Hurry, before he hangs up.”

She reached a finger toward the answer button, but she couldn’t bring herself to hit it. “What if he’s mad at me for calling too much? What if he thinks I’m a scammer? He’ll say all I want is a green card and his money. It’s true, I want a different life, but I also—

Khải snatched the phone from her and hit the button himself, followed by the speaker button. Then he held the phone out for her to talk.

She covered her mouth. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even move. Sky and earth, what did she do now? Could she hang up? She wanted to hang up.

“Hello?” a voice said, deep, kind, nice. Her dad. “I’ve missed a few calls from this number. Is this about the package I keep missing delivery of? I’d really like to get my hands on it. The name’s Phil Jackson.”

Khải looked from her to the phone and back again, quietly telling her to talk.

“Hello?” her dad asked again. “Is this the courier service?”

Somehow, she found her voice and said in her best English, “H-hi. I am not the courier service.”

“Oh, okay. So … why do you keep calling me?”

“I, um, I think …” She gulped down a deep breath of air. “My name is Esmeralda, and I think you are my dad.”

There was a long pause before he said, “Wow. Let me sit down.” Another long pause. She imagined him walking across his office in the hospital and sitting at his desk. “Okay. Tell me everything. Start at the beginning, with your mom.”

“Tr

“Wait, wait, hold on a second. Where was this business trip?”