China Rich Girlfriend (21 page)

“Yes. Do you like my Mao? My father gave that to me for my sixteenth birthday.”

“What a cool birthday present,” Rachel remarked.

“Yes, it was the favorite out of all my presents that year. I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and Andy could do my portrait.” Colette sighed. Nick stood in front of the painting, staring with amusement at the Communist leader's receding hairline, alternately wondering what the dictator or the artist might have made of a girl like Colette Bing.

Nick and Rachel began heading toward the right, but Colette said, “Oh, you can skip that gallery over there, that's just filled with boring junk my father had to have when he first started collecting—Picassos, Gauguins, that sort of thing. Come see what I've been buying lately.” They were steered into a gallery where the walls were a veritable checklist of the artists du jour from all the international art fairs—a mouthwatering Vik Muniz chocolate syrup painting, Bridget Riley's migraine-inducing canvas of overlapping tiny squares, a heroin-fueled scrawl by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and, of course, an immense Mona Kuhn image of two preposterously photogenic Nordic youths posing nude on a dewy doorstep.

Rounding the corner, they came into an even larger gallery that contained only one enormous piece of art—twenty-four scrolls that were hung together to form a vast, intricate landscape.

Nick was taken aback. “Hey, isn't that
The Palace of Eighteen Perfections
? I thought Kitty—”

At that moment, Roxanne gasped in alarm and put her hand over her earpiece. “Are you sure?” she said into her headset, before grabbing Colette's arm. “Your parents just checked in at the guardhouse.”

Colette looked panic-stricken for a split second. “Already? They're much too early! Nothing's ready!” Turning to Rachel and Nick, she said, “I'm sorry to end the tour now, but my parents have arrived.”

The group rushed back toward the grand salon, as Colette barked out orders to Roxanne. “Alert all staff! Where's that damn Wolseley? Tell Ping Gao to start cooking the parchment chicken now! And tell Baptiste to decant the whiskey! And why aren't the bamboo groves around the central pool lit?”

“They are on a timer. They don't come on until seven o'clock along with the lights,” Roxanne responded.

“Turn everything on now! And turn off this silly whimpering man—you know my father only likes listening to Chinese folk songs! And get Kate and Pippa into their cages—you know how allergic my mother is!”

Hearing their names, the dogs started yapping excitedly.

“Kill the Bon Iver and put on the Peng Liyuan!”
^*3
Roxanne rasped into her headset as she ran toward the service wing with the dogs, almost tripping on their leashes.

By the time Carlton, Colette, Nick, and Rachel reached the front door of the main pavilion, the entire staff was already assembled at the foot of the steps. Rachel attempted to count the number of people but stopped at thirty. The maids stood elegantly in their black silk
qipaos
on the left and the men in their black James Perse uniforms on the right, creating two diagonal lines in V formation like migrating geese. Colette took her place at the apex of the V, as the rest of the group waited at the top of the steps.

Colette turned around and made a final inspection. “Who has the towels? The hot towels?”

One of the younger maids stepped out of the line holding a small silver chest.

“What are you doing? Get back in formation!” Roxanne screamed, as the convoy of black Audi SUVs came speeding up the driveway.

The doors on the lead SUV flung open, and several men in black suits and dark sunglasses emerged, one of them approaching the middle car and opening the door. Judging by how thick the door was, Nick surmised it was a reinforced bombproof model. A short, stocky man in a bespoke three-piece suit was the first to emerge.

Roxanne, who was standing next to Nick, let out a barely audible gasp.

Seeing that the man appeared to be no older than his mid-twenties, Nick asked, “I take it that's not Colette's father?”

“It's not,” Roxanne said curtly, before stealing a quick glance at Carlton.

SINGAPORE

“Is that all you're wearing?” Michael asked, lurking by the doorway of Astrid's dressing room.

“What do you mean? Am I too scantily clad for you?” Astrid joked as she struggled to fasten the delicate clasp on her sandals.

“You look so casual.”

“I'm not
that
casual,” Astrid said, standing up. She was wearing a short black tunic dress with crochet panels and black fringe.

“We're going to one of the best restaurants in Singapore, and it's with the IBM people.”

“Just because André is a top restaurant doesn't mean it's formal. I thought this was just a casual business dinner with a few of your clients.”

“It is, but the bigwig is flying in and he's bringing his wife, who's supposedly very chic.”

Astrid shot Michael a look. Had aliens secretly abducted her husband and replaced him with some finicky fashion editor? In the six years they had been married, Michael had never made a single comment about what she wore. He had, on certain occasions, grunted that something looked “sexy” or “pretty” on her, but he had never used a word like “chic.” Until today, it wasn't part of his vocabulary.

Astrid dabbed a little rose essential oil onto her neck and said, “If the wife is as chic as you say, she will probably appreciate this Altuzarra dress—it's a runway look that never went into production, which I'm
wearing with Tabitha Simmons silk stripe sandals, Line Vautrin gold earrings, and my Peranakan gold bracelet.”

“Maybe it's all the gold. It looks a bit
kan chia
^*1
to me. Couldn't you swap it out for diamonds or something?”

“There's nothing
kan chia
about this bracelet—it's actually part of an heirloom suite that my great-aunt Matilda Leong bequeathed to me, which is now on loan to the Asian Civilisations Museum. They are dying for me to let them display this piece too, but I held on to it for sentimental reasons.”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to offend your auntie. And I'm not a fashion guerrilla or whatever like you. This is one of the most important business deals I've ever been involved in, but please wear what you want. I'll be downstairs waiting,” Michael said in a patronizing tone.

Astrid sighed. She knew all this fuss had something to do with that silly Hong Kong gossip columnist's barb about Michael needing to upgrade his wife's jewelry. Even though he denied it, the comment must have gotten under his skin. She made her way to the vault, punched in the nine-digit code to open the door, and peered inside. Damn, the earrings she was thinking of were at the big vault at OCBC Bank. The only thing she had of any significant size at home was a pair of gargantuan Wartski diamond-and-emerald pendant earrings that her grandmother had inexplicably handed her after mah-jongg at Tyersall Park the other day. The emeralds on each side were almost the size of walnuts. Apparently the last time her grandmother had worn them was at King Bhumibol of Thailand's coronation in 1950.
Well, if Michael really wants a Busby Berkeley showstopper, that's what he's going to get. But what outfit could possibly go with these earrings?

Astrid scanned her closet and pulled out a black Yves Saint Laurent jumpsuit with a drawstring waist and jet beaded sleeves. This was just dressy and yet simple enough to complement a pair of outrageously bling earrings. She would wear them with a pair of Alaïa ankle boots to give the whole look an extra edge. Astrid felt a little lump in her throat as she put the jumpsuit on—she had never worn it before because it was
too precious to her. It was from Yves's final couture collection in 2002, and though she was only twenty-three when she had her fitting for this, it still draped against her body more perfectly than almost anything else she owned.
God, I miss Yves
.

Astrid headed downstairs to the nursery, where she found Michael keeping Cassian company at the children's dining table while he ate his spaghetti with meatballs.

“
Wow, vous êtes top, madame!
” Cassian's nanny exclaimed as Astrid entered.

“
Merci, Ludivine
.”

“Saint Laurent?”

“
Qui d'autre?
”

Ludivine placed her hand on her chest and shook her head in awe. (She could not wait to try it on as soon as madame left the house tomorrow.)

Astrid turned to Michael. “Is this good enough to impress your IBM bigwig?”

“Where on earth did you get those earrings?
Tzeen
or
keh?
”
^*2
Michael exclaimed.

“
Tzeen!
My grandmother just gave them to me,” Astrid replied, slightly annoyed that Michael only noticed the earrings and failed to appreciate the subtle genius of her jumpsuit.

“
Wah lan!
^*3
Van Cleef and Ah Ma strikes again.”

Astrid winced. Michael had punished Cassian for using cuss words, and yet here he was swearing like a sailor right in front of him.

“Look—doesn't Mummy look pretty tonight?” Michael said to Cassian, pinching a meatball from his bowl and popping it into his mouth.

“Yes. Mummy always looks pretty,” Cassian said. “And stop stealing my meatballs!”

Astrid melted instantly. How could she be annoyed at Michael when he looked so cute sitting in the little chair next to Cassian? Things had gotten much better between father and son since she returned from Venice. After kissing Cassian goodbye, the two of them headed outside to the front driveway, where their chauffeur, Youssef, was doing a final polish on the chrome work of Michael's 1961 red Ferrari California Spyder.

Jesus, he's really out to impress tonight
, Astrid thought.

“Thanks for changing, hon. It really means a lot to me,” Michael said as he held open the car door.

Astrid nodded as she climbed in. “If you think it makes any difference, I'm happy to help.”

They drove in silence at first, enjoying the balmy breeze through the open top, but as he turned onto Holland Road, Michael picked up the conversation again. “How much do you think your earrings are worth?”

“Probably more than this car.”

“I paid $8.9 mil for this 'Rari. You really think your earrings are worth more? We should get them valued.”

Astrid found his line of questioning slightly tacky. She never thought of jewelry in terms of prices and wondered why Michael even brought it up. “I'm never going to sell them, so what's the point?”

“Well, we do want to insure them, don't we?”

“It all goes under my family's umbrella policy. I just add it to a list that Miss Seong keeps at the family office.”

“I didn't know about this. Can my vintage sports cars get on the policy too?”

“I don't think so. It's just for Leongs,” Astrid blurted out, before regretting her choice of words.

Michael didn't seem to notice and continued chattering away. “You're really getting all of your Ah Ma's biggest jewels, aren't you? Your cousins must be envious as hell.”

“Oh, there's plenty to go around. Fiona got the Grand Duchess Olga sapphires, and my cousin Cecilia got some superb imperial jade. My grandmother is very discerning—she gives the right pieces to whomever she knows will appreciate them the most.”

“Do you think she feels she's going to conk off soon?”

“What a thing to say!” Astrid exclaimed, giving Michael a look of horror.

“Come on,
lah
, it must be going through her mind, which is why she's begun divesting all her stuff. Old people can sense when they are going to die, you know.”

“Michael, my grandmother has been around all my life, and I can't even begin to imagine the day when she won't be here.”

“Sorry—I was just making conversation.”

They lapsed into silence again, Michael focusing on the client dinner and Astrid contemplating their disagreeable conversation. Michael had always shied away from anything to do with money when they first got
married, especially if it involved her family, and went to great pains to show that he had absolutely no interest in her financial affairs. Indeed, their marriage had been rocked to its core by his insecurities over her fortune and his ill-conceived attempt to set her free, but thankfully that awful period was well behind them.

But ever since his business had exploded into a huge success, he had become the proverbial mouse that roared. It dawned on Astrid that at family gatherings these days, her husband always seemed to be at the center of the financial debates with the men. Michael relished being the go-to guy for advice about the tech industry and the newfound respect he was forging with her father and brothers, who had for years treated him with barely veiled condescension. He had also discovered his acquisitive side, and Astrid had watched in wide-eyed wonder as his tastes had upgraded faster than you could say “Do you take Amex?”

She glanced over at him now, cutting such a dashing figure in his dark gray Cesare Attolini suit and his perfectly knotted Borrelli tie, the face of his Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph glinting under the flash of streetlamps as he shifted gears forcefully on his iconic automobile, the one that every hot-blooded male from James Dean to Ferris Bueller had coveted. She was proud of all he had achieved, but part of her missed the old Michael, the man who was happiest lounging at home in his soccer kit enjoying his plate of
tau you bahk
^*4
with white rice and his Tiger beer.

As they drove along palm-tree-lined Neil Road, Astrid gazed at all the colorful heritage shophouses. Then she realized they had just sped past the restaurant. “Hey, you missed the turn. That was Bukit Pasoh we just passed.”

“Don't worry, I did that on purpose. We're going to circle the block for a while.”

“Why? Aren't we already late?”

“I've decided to give them a little more time to cool their heels. I instructed the maître d' to make sure they get drinks at the bar first, and that they are seated right by the window so that they will have the best view of us pulling up. I want all the guys to see me get out of this car, and then I want them to see
you
getting out of this car.”

Astrid almost wanted to laugh. Who was this man next to her talking this way?

Michael continued, “We're playing this game of chicken right now, and I know they want to see who blinks first. They have raging hard-ons to acquire this new proprietary technology that we've developed, and it's really important that I am able to convey the right image to them.”

They finally pulled up outside the elegant white colonial-era shophouse that had been converted into one of the island's most acclaimed restaurants. As Astrid got out of the car, Michael looked her over and said, “You know, I think you made a mistake changing out of that first cocktail dress. It showed off your sexy legs. But at least you have those earrings. That's really going to make their jaws drop, especially the wife. It'll be great—I want them to know that I'm not going to be a cheap date.”

Staring at him in disbelief, Astrid stumbled for a moment on the pristine wooden deck leading to the front door.

Michael grimaced. “Shit, I hope they didn't see you do that. Why the hell are you wearing those ridiculous boots anyway?”

Astrid breathed in deeply. “What's the wife's name again?”

“Wendy. And they have a dog named Gizmo. You can talk about the dog with her.”

A wave of nausea churned like acid at the base of her throat. For the first time in her life, she had a true appreciation of how it felt to be treated like a cheap date.