Rich People Problems

On Sunday night, after putting her son to bed, Astrid texted Michael, asking him to refrain from letting Cassian play video games for hours straight; this activity made it more difficult to get the boy to sleep. Michael replied, accusing Astrid of exaggerating and saying that he slept fine at Michael’s house. Anyway, Michael went on, he would soon be getting custody of Astrid. When Astrid denied this possibility, Michael accused her of being “a lying cheating whore” (249).

After receiving this message, Astrid’s message app briefly froze. Then, a photograph appeared on the small screen. It was of her and Charlie “lounging together on pillows on the deck of a vintage Chinese junk that had been cruising the South China Sea” (249). Charlie had taken Astrid on this trip after Michael had surprised her in Hong Kong with news that he wanted to leave her.

Michael texted again to say that he had plenty more pics. In a fury, Astrid called him, but the phone went straight to voice mail. She left a message, asking him to stop. For the good of their son, she pleaded, they should try to come to a sensible agreement. In response, Michael sent along a second file. It was a grainy video showing Astrid and Charlie having sex. Michael demanded that Astrid give him 5 billion, or she would lose Cassian forever.

Astrid called Charlie to tell him about the video that Michael sent. After she sent the video clip to Charlie, he determined that the video was taken in his bedroom in Hong Kong. Charlie wondered if he was still under surveillance. Astrid paced her own bedroom, wondering if Michael, who had once been “a high-level security expert for the Ministry of Defense,” had planted a camera in her bedroom too. She no longer felt safe in her home.

Charlie called Astrid again. He was having his security team do a full sweep of his house while he spoke to Astrid from his car. He also advised that Astrid get a security detail; she refused. She concluded that Michael sent the video to scare them and make them feel unsafe in their homes. She insisted that they resist his efforts by returning to their respective homes and refusing to be intimidated. 

Tan and Tan was a small law firm located in the OCBC Center—a building designed by I.M. Pei and nicknamed “the calculator” for his flat shape and its windows that looked like button pads. The Leongs first arrived at the firm, followed by the Youngs and the Aakaras. Cathleen Kah—Henry Leong’s wife who worked at the firm as senior partner—greeted everyone in the reception area and ushered them into a conference room where Freddie Tan had already assembled with Alfred and Leonard Shang and Oliver T’sien. Eddie wondered why Leonard and Oliver were present.

Everyone took their seats at the table, sitting with their respective families. Eddie was an exception: He sat at the head of the table. He then eagerly suggested that they should begin the meeting. Freddie, who referred to Eddie as “kiddo,” told him that they were waiting for one more person. Jacqueline Ling entered soon thereafter and sat beside Nick.

After Jacqueline arrived, Freddie summoned his assistant, Tuan, who arrived holding a large envelope folder. Freddie slid a document out of the folder. He began reading what was Su Yi Shang’s last will and testament. Su Yi, Freddie read, had designated her nephew, Leonard, and her great-nephew, Oliver, the co-executors of her will. To her devoted maid, Ah Ling, she left $3 million, which pleased Victoria, though she worried about the 2 million that the chef, Ah Ching, received, assuming that the latter would be angered by receiving 1 million less than Ah Ling. Su Yi left 1 million to her gardener and “all the rights and future royalties related to [her] orchid hybrids” (257). To her devoted Thai maids, she left 1 million dollars each and a pair of “antique Peranakan gold-and-diamond bracelets” (258). Vikram Ghale received half a million dollars and a Nambu pistol left to her by Count Hisaichi Terauchi. Finally, her chauffeur, Ahmad Bin Youssef, received a quarter of a million and the 1935 Hispano-Suiza Type 68 J12 Cabriolet, which she had received from her father on her 16th birthday. Alfred listened in envy; he had wanted that car and resolved to buy it from Ahmad. The remainder of the employees at Tyersall Park received 50,000 each.

As for Su Yi’s personal effects, Victoria received a painting by Édouard Villard that she had long detested but one that Su Yi knew her daughter would sell to buy her dream home in England. Victoria quietly thinks to herself that her mother’s posthumous criticism doesn’t faze her; indeed, she was shopping for townhouses on the Sotheby’s real estate website. Su Yi’s only son, Philip, received all of his father’s belongings. Alix received Su Yi’s collection of “ivory-and-jade name seals,” considering that she was the only one of the Young children who knew Mandarin (259). To her daughter-in-law, Eleanor, she left her almond soap—a joke about Eleanor supposedly being dirty.

For her beloved Astrid, Su Yi left most of her vintage wardrobe. To Eddie, she left her deceased husband’s “Asprey sapphire-and-platinum cuff links,” given to James by the Sultan of Perawak (260). Though James was too modest to wear the accessories, Su Yi noted, she knew that Eddie would have no such problem. Eddie impatiently waited to hear who would inherit Tyersall Park.

To her grandson, Alexander, the black sheep of the family for marrying a dark-skinned Malay woman, Su Yi bequeathed her 80-acre estate in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. Astrid looked at her father, who was stunned, but only smiled, eager to Skype with her brother later to tell him about his inheritance.

Su Yi left her property in Chiang Mai to Catherine, which caused Cat to begin sobbing, while her sisters bolted up, wondering what property Su Yi had in Thailand.

As for Tyersall Park, Su Yi divided the property into shares: Philip received 30%; each of her daughters received 12.5%; Su Yi’s grandsons, Nicholas and Alistair, each received 10%. This, much to Eddie’s consternation, concluded Su Yi’s last will and testament. He was more horrified to learn that his wife was a witness to the signature of Su Yi’s will, which was signed in 2009. Eddie realized that Su Yi had never changed her will, not even when Nick married Rachel. Nick concluded that his cousin was right. This made him feel more guilty for having spent so many years angry with his Ah Ma.

What was more shocking to the family was that Su Yi wasn’t the great heiress that they had believed she was. She had neither stocks nor shares in Shang Enterprises—her family business—but had only been raised to live like a princess. Her father had stipulated in his will that Su Yi’s lifestyle was to be funded by a trust, which carried her for nine decades. In all, Su Yi had somewhere around $50 million. Freddie Tan noted that her “one major income-producing asset” were her shares in Ling Holdings, which were worth about half a billion (265). She had left her shares to her goddaughter, Jacqueline. In the end, Jacqueline had inherited more from the estate than any of Su Yi’s blood relatives.

Felicity realized that the only thing of any value that the family would inherit was Tyersall Park. Freddie advised them to sell it, as the property was worth around 1 billion. Victoria refused to entertain the idea. Felicity looked at her husband and began to cry. If they sold the property, she would only receive a few hundred million, thereby making her a nobody. Philip got up and claimed that his mother’s decision to divide the property made it clear what they should do: They were to sell it.

Astrid was at a nearby café with Rachel, Carlton, and Nick when she received a phone call from Charlie. His security team, he reported, hadn’t found anything in his apartment. Nothing was found in his Singapore house either. He concluded that, whoever had planted a device had returned to the scene of the crime to remove it. Charlie then invited Astrid to join him in Hong Kong where he was staying at the Peninsula Hotel in the suite. Heads of state normally stayed there, Charlie noted, so it couldn’t be safer. Astrid refused, saying that, if she left, it would let Michael know that he had succeeded in intimidating her. Charlie worked harder to convince her to go to Hong Kong, where they could begin planning their wedding and get on with their lives, now that Su Yi had passed. Astrid agreed.