The Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy
“Do you honestly think your brothers are perfectly content in their marriages?”
“Are you kidding me? I think they are all miserable in one way or another, but none of them would ever admit it. No one is allowed to be unhappy in my family. I think only Alex in LA is truly happy—he got away and got to be with the love of his life. It’s just pathetic that Salimah’s not accepted. So ironic, isn’t it, when you think that all the family money originally comes from Malaysia.”
“At least they make each other happy. That’s the only thing that matters,” Charlie said.
“You know, when I visited them a few months ago, I thought to myself, ‘I wish I could do this too.’ Sometimes I wish I could just pack a bag and move to California, where no one knows me and no one cares. Cassian can grow up far away from all the pressures he’s going to have to start facing very soon. And I would be perfectly happy, I swear to God, living in a beach shack.”
I could be too, Charlie thought to himself.
They were both silent for a moment, and then Charlie spoke up. “So what are you going to do?”
“There’s nothing to do, really. Michael will calm down in a couple of days and we’ll go home. If you can help me prove that my father had nothing to do with the acquisition of his company, I’m sure that will go a long way toward making him happier.”
Charlie was silent for a moment. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“You’re the best, Charlie, you really are.”
The minute he was off the phone with Astrid, Charlie placed a call to his chief financial officer: “Hey, Aaron. Remember the Michael Teo Cloud Nine acquisition back in 2010?”
“How could I ever forget? We’re still writing down the losses on that one,” Aaron replied.
“Why in God’s name did you name the holding company Pebble Beach LTD?”
“Dude, I was standing on the eighteenth hole when you called to tell me to buy the company. It’s the greatest finishing hole in the world. Why are you asking?”
“Never mind.”
* * *
*1 In Hokkien: “So expensive! I’m not coming out with the money!”
*2 Hokkien for “put in a doggie bag.”
10
QUEEN MARY HOSPITAL
POK FU LAM, HONG KONG
Nick was doing the New York Times crossword puzzle on his iPad when the police officer on guard outside the room poked his head in.
“Sir, there’s a couple at reception demanding to see Ms. Chu. They have two cartfuls of food products with them, and the man says he’s her brother.”
“Oh yes.” Nick smiled, leaning over and whispering softly into Rachel’s ear. “Baby…you awake? Carlton and Colette are here. Are you up for seeing people?”
Rachel, who had been napping intermittently all morning, opened her eyes groggily. “Um, sure.”
“Send them up,” Nick instructed the officer.
It had been two days since Rachel had been moved from the intensive care unit to the private ward, and her condition had been steadily improving ever since the doctors discovered the precise drug that had been used to poison her and swiftly administered an antidote.
Soon there was a knock on the door, and Carlton and Colette entered the room. “Hey, Sis! This isn’t exactly what I thought the Four Seasons Hangzhou was going to be like,” Carlton teased, coming up to her bedside and squeezing her hand gently.
Rachel smiled weakly. “You guys really shouldn’t have taken the trouble—”
“Oh, come on! We caught the first flight out the minute Nick called,” Carlton said. “Besides, there’s a sale at Joyce that Colette wanted to get to.”
Colette smacked Carlton’s arm. “When we hadn’t heard from you guys by Monday, we thought you were just having too good a time in Hangzhou without us.”