Rich People Problems

Kitty was floating on a lounger in her pool. She had just sent out her maid to buy a stack of the new issue of Tattle, released that morning. When the maid returned, Kitty was eager “to see her photo on the cover under the headline ‘Princess Kitty’” (275). Instead, she saw Colette and her husband, Lucien, sitting at a breakfast table beside a huge orangutan. The headline read “Lords of the Jungle: The Earl and Countess of Palliser.”

Kitty angrily dialed Oliver. When he answered, she asked if he had seen the latest issue of Tattle. The latest issue wasn’t available in Hong Kong, but he figured that he could see it online. When he logged on to the magazine’s website, he was equally shocked to see an article about Colette, her new life at Gatherum Castle, and her modest brush-off regarding questions about her own life, which she found less interesting than the plight of orangutans in Indonesia. She noted that she and her husband had decided to move to Singapore because it provided an excellent base from which they could fight for the existence of the orangutans, which was imperiled by the palm oil industry.

After he finished reading the article, Oliver dialed Violet Poon at Tattle and asked her to explain what had happened to Kitty’s story. Violet explained that her boss at made the decision last minute to replace Kitty’s story with Colette’s. Kitty’s would likely be saved for the September issue.

Oliver hung up, took a deep breath, and dialed Kitty’s number. He attempted to placate her by saying that far more people would see the September issue. Kitty then revealed that she knew Colette was at Su Yi Shang’s funeral, despite Oliver’s assurance that she wouldn’t be there. Oliver said that he didn’t know that Lucien’s family knew his great-uncle Alfred. Kitty insisted that Colette was trying to insult her. The only way to top Colette would be for Oliver to secure Kitty a royal title. If he couldn’t do that, he’d be out of both a job and his retainer fee. Kitty then hung up.

Fear suddenly overcame Oliver. His family was struggling financially. The T’sien accounts held only 10 million and much of that funded his grandmother Rosemary’s lifestyle. In the 1900s, his family was one of the largest landowners in Singapore. They had only one property now, worth about 35 million. His father would have been one of five to inherit a portion of that windfall, but the 7 million he would have received would have been far less than what he owed to debtors. 

Nick and Rachel walked into the dining room to find that it was turned into a kind of situation room to strategize on all of the offers that were coming in for the house. His aunt Victoria told him that she was eager to sell the house quickly, especially because it was nearly Lunar New Year, meaning that people were feeling especially prosperous and venturesome. The top bid, Alix reported, exceeded 3 billion. Nick was dismayed to hear from his aunt Felicity that developers were primarily interested in the land, meaning that they might have razed the house.

The frontrunners to purchase the house was an organization called Zion Estates, which wanted to create “[a] luxury Christian community” (285). Nick was disgusted by Victoria’s hypocrisy. He got up from the table and left, taking Rachel with him. He offered to drive his wife to his favorite restaurant for lunch—a noodle café that had been in Singapore since the 1930s, known for having the best noodles on the island. When they arrived, they saw that the café had been torn down; a Tory Burch store was to be built in its place.

Nick sat down on the pavement. Rachel had never seen him so upset. He became determined to save Tyersall Park, refusing to allow it to turn into a “grotesque gated community that only [allowed] in millionaire Christians” (287). 

Astrid entered the dining room at Helena May, a historic private ladies’ club in Hong Kong. Astrid Wu was waiting for her at a window-side table. This was their third meeting and their first since the soup incident. Isabel asked what Astrid was doing since she arrived in Hong Kong. Astrid was reluctant to tell Isabel that she had spent most of the week planning her wedding and viewing the new house Charlie had built for them in Shek O. Isabel admitted that she was nervous about their meeting, still mortified over her behavior in Singapore. Astrid let her know that all was forgiven. The most important thing, she noted, was that Isabel was well again.

After lunch, Isabel asked what Astrid’s plans were and offered to have her driver drop Astrid off to wherever she needed to be. Astrid noted that she was soon leaving for Singapore but would see Charlie first. She noted that he was waiting at the new house, expecting Astrid to come and confirm decisions about décor. Isabel said that she would have loved to see the house at Shek O, especially because her daughters would have been spending so much time there. Astrid invited her to go over with her.

The women got into Isabel’s “chauffeured Range Rover” and rode to Shek O, “a historic fishing village on the southeast corner of Hong Kong Island” (291). Isabel noted that Charlie had always wanted to live in the enclave, which was one of the world’s most exclusive neighborhoods. The house he had built for him and Astrid was an oceanfront villa on a cliff. Astrid and Isabel went into the living room. A large vintage George Nakashima dining table had recently been delivered. It sat under the Lindsey Adelman chandelier. Isabel quietly disapproved of the décor but said that her daughters, Chloe and Delphine, would love it. Astrid told Isabel that she would always be welcome in the house.