Falling Leaves

Adeline calls Susan about her disinheritance, and Susan is outraged on her behalf. She urges Adeline not to accept James’s paltry offer of Niang’s flat, as property values have recently fallen because of the Tiananmen Square incident.

When Adeline arrives at Niang’s flat, Gregory approaches her and kindly offers to split his portion of the will. James offers 10 percent of his share, including Niang’s flat, saying he’s “too old for legal battles” (263). Gregory then talks to Edgar—who refuses to part with anything—and Lydia—who demands to hear a confession from Adeline as to the “real” reason she was disinherited. Adeline is puzzled, and Gregory explains, “‘She likes to hear confessions. They make her feel powerful. In China during the Cultural Revolution, people were confessing all over the place’” (263). Adeline says that Lydia can keep her money and she doesn’t want anything from her.

Looking through Niang’s desk, Adeline discovers numerous letters from Lydia that denounce her and insinuate egregious lies about her character. Adeline realizes that these lies spread by Lydia are the reason she was disinherited and that ironically, Lydia wouldn’t have been communicating with Niang if she hadn’t smoothed over their relationship herself.