The restaurant in Beijing was far more upscale and expensive than usual. Even by his father's standards, which was saying something.
Jack took a drink from his mineral water and kept his eyes firmly on the menu while he and his father waited for their mom to arrive. Jack wore the suit that his dad had gotten him for the dinner in Austria, along with the coat and scarf that his mom had given him. He figured that would appease both his parents regarding his attire.
"Oh, my, but getting out of Heathrow was ridiculous," said a girlish voice behind Jack, and he turned around to see his mom walking up to them. She wore a simple gray dress and her usual pearls. A waiter pulled out her chair and poured her a glass of wine.
His father made no comment, and Jack only gave her a hesitant smile. There was something wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"I knew that coat would look fantastic on you dear," said his mom, pride shining in her eyes as she looked at Jack, who smiled.
Well, so far things were going fine. They almost looked like a normal family to anyone looking.
And then it hit him.
Nobody was looking.
He glanced around. Their side of the restaurant was empty, with panels covering them from the far off tables at the other end of the restaurant.
He looked questioningly at his father who ignored him and gave the menu back to the waiter.
"Should we order now?" asked his father.
Jack nodded.
Dinner went on. Stiff and silent, with only the clanking of silverware between them. Even his mom, who loved to talk and talk about nothing and everything during dinner kept silent.
Jack wanted to scream.
There was no dessert. His parents ordered nothing, and Jack felt that he would vomit from the stress and worry churning in his stomach.
"We wanted to have dinner tonight with you Jack," said his father, and Jack cringed.
His father said 'we'. He never referred to them as 'we'. They each took their (usually opposing) decisions on their own, and the change in language made Jack mentally go through anything he might have done that would anger the both of them.
His father kept talking. "Because we wanted to tell you that after a lot of consideration, we have decided that it would be better for the three of us if your mother and I got divorced."
Jack felt his heart sink to the floor. It was almost a physical pain. A heaviness dragging him down straight from his chest.
"W-what? Because of that stupid fight over Wuya?" he asked, barely realizing that he had said it out loud.
His mother put her hand over Jack's own. "We had been considering it for a long time dear. That had nothing to do with it," she said.
But Jack knew she was lying. She only spoke calmly when she was lying.
"You can't be serious!" he cried. "That's so stupid! You've had worse fights!"
His father breathed deeply. "Yes, we have. That is why we think that it would be better for us to be separated from each other. We cannot resolve our differences, and the best solution for this is to remain apart from each other."
"This has nothing to do with you dear," said his mom. "This is a problem between us, and it has nothing to do with you. We still love you, and we will never stop loving you."
His dad patted Jack's shoulder, in a way that tried to show that he agreed with her.
But Jack knew the truth.
This was Wuya's fault.
It had to be.
It had to.