“Tell me.”
“He’s on holiday with his family. Skiing in Switzerland! Can you imagine? I happened to be in Switzerland too, attending a very important conference with the world’s most important businessmen, political leaders, and Pharrell, but I dropped everything and flew straight to Singapore the minute I heard you were ill!” Eddie looked up at her heart monitor and saw that it was accelerating from 80 to 95 beats per minute.
Su Yi let out a brief sigh. “Who else is here?”
“Our whole family came down from Hong Kong. Even Cecilia and Alistair.”
“Where are they?”
“Everyone’s at the zoo right now. Fiona, Constantine, Augustine, Kalliste, Cecilia, and Jake. Ah Tock got them special VIP tickets for that River Safari thing, but they will be back by tea time. Uncle Alfred gets in later tonight, and…um, I’m told that Nicky is arriving tomorrow.”
“Nicky? Coming from New York?” Su Yi muttered.
“Yes. That’s what I hear.”
Su Yi remained silent, and Eddie observed that the heart rate number on her monitor was rising rapidly: 100, 105, 110 beats per minute.
“You don’t want to see him, do you?” Eddie asked. Su Yi simply closed her eyes, a lone tear streaming down the side of her face. Eddie glanced uneasily at the monitor: 120, 130. “I don’t blame you, Ah Ma. Showing up here like this now, after all he’s done to betray your wishes—”
“No, no,” Su Yi finally said. Her heart rate suddenly jumped to 145 beats per minute, and Eddie looked at her in alarm. When the number hit 150, the heart monitor began emitting a high-pitched beep, and Professor Oon rushed into the room along with another doctor.
“She’s elevating too rapidly!” one of the doctors said in alarm. “Should we defibrillate?”
“No, no, I’m going to give her a slow bolus of digoxin. Eddie, please clear the room,” Pro
fessor Oon ordered, as two nurses rushed in to assist.
Eddie backed out just as his aunt Victoria entered the sitting room. “Is everything okay?”
“Don’t go in now. I think Ah Ma’s having another heart attack! I mentioned Nicky and she began to freak out.”
Victoria moaned. “Why on earth did you mention Nicky?”
“She wanted to know who was here and who was coming. I can tell you one thing, though—Ah Ma does not wish to see Nicky. She does not even want him to set foot in this house! It was the last thing she told me.”
* * *
*1 M.C. is an abbreviation for Mom Chao, which translates to Serene Highness and is the title reserved for the grandchildren of the King of Thailand. Since King Chulalongkorn (1853–1910) had ninety-seven children by thirty-six wives and King Mongkut (1804–1868) had eighty-two children by thirty-nine wives, there are several hundred people still alive who can use the title of Mom Chao.
*2 Catherine Young Aakara, like many of the girls of her generation and social standing, attended the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Girls’ School in Singapore, where they were taught by British nuns and developed the curious distinctive accents that made them all sound like extras in BBC period dramas.
*3 Cantonese for “Wow, what a good life.”
*4 To his eternal chagrin, Eddie had not been invited to his cousin’s wedding to M.R. Piyarasmi Apitchatpongse. Only his parents had been invited to the small, intimate destination wedding held at a private villa in the Similan Islands.
*5 The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with international public health issues. The South-East Asia Regional Office is located in Bangkok.
*6 One of the most sought-after bespoke watches in the world, each Roger W. Smith watch is made by hand, takes eleven months to complete, and there’s a four-year waiting list for one (probably five years after this is published).
*7 An abbreviation for food and beverage, currently one of the hottest industries in Asia. All the CRAs that used to work in M&A want to get in to F&B these days.
*8 Cantonese for “Have you lost your mind?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JODHPUR, INDIA
Astrid stood on the balcony, breathing in the luxuriant scent that wafted up from the rose gardens below. From her vantage point at the Umaid Bhawan Palace Hotel, she had a sweeping view of the city. To the east, an impossibly romantic-looking fort perched on a mountaintop, while in the distance the tight clusters of vibrant blue buildings that made up the medieval city of Jodhpur gleamed in the early-morning light. The Blue City, Astrid thought to herself. She had heard somewhere that all the houses here were painted this shade of cobalt because it was believed to ward off evil spirits. The color reminded her of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s estate in Marrakech—the Majorelle Gardens—much of which was also painted a distinctive shade of blue, the only house in an entire city of rose ochre allowed by decree of the king to be painted a different color.