“That! Woman! Tried! To! Steal! My! Seamstress! I found this girl, Minnie Pock, who did the most wonderful tailoring. She had a little shop next to Fitzpatrick’s on Dunearn Road, soooo convenient, and she could replicate all the Nina Ricci, Scherrer, and Féraud dresses I loved so perfectly.”
“My goodness, Mabel, those Louis Férauds were fakes? They looked like they came straight from his Paris boutique!” Jacqueline lied.
Mabel nodded indignantly. “Yes, I had everyone fooled. But then that Irene Wu came along and tried to hire the girl to work in their tacky ‘mansion’ full-time! So then I had to go and hire her full-time!”
“So you won?” Jacqueline asked.
“Yes, but it should never have happened. I had to pay Minnie Pock almost fifteen percent over what Irene offered to pay her!”
“It was 1987, Mum. Time to get over it,” Cassandra said.
“People like the Wus…they never know when to stop. And now look what’s happened? Once again they are dragging our family name into the mud. Who sent this article to you anyway?”
“Mrs. Lee Yong Chien posted it to her Facebook page,” Cassandra replied.
“Mrs. Lee Yong Chien is on Facebook? I don’t believe it! The old lady can’t even draw her own eyebrows!” Mabel exclaimed.
“Rosie, that adopted daughter she treats like a slave, does everything for her! Ever since Mrs. Lee discovered Facebook, she’s been posting like a fiend. Every other day there’s either annoying photos of her grandchildren winning some award or pictures of some funeral she’s attending.”
“Aiyah, if Mrs. Lee knows about this, then the whole of Singapore will soon know. All her mah-jongg kakis*7 will find out about this!” Mabel surmised.
“Ah Ma, I don’t think you understand—this is on Facebook. The whole world can already see this,” Lucia informed her.
Mabel tut-tutted sadly. “Then I truly feel sorry for Su Yi! This is happening at the worst time. I thought Astrid was her last hope, but one by one all her grandchildren have disgraced her. How is she ever going to close her eyes in peace? No wonder she changed her will yet again!”
“Really?” Jacqueline and Cassandra gasped in unison.
Jacqueline sat bolt upright in her chair. “Is this why Alfred rushed back to Singapore?”
Mabel looked a bit flustered. “Aiyah, I’m not supposed to say a
nything.”
“Say what? What did Dad tell you?” Cassandra prodded, leaning forward in anticipation.
“Nothing, nothing!” Mabel insisted.
“Mum, you are so bad at lying. You clearly know something. Come on, spit it out!”
Mabel stared down at her bowl of porridge, looking conflicted.
“Oh well, there’s no use trying to force her. After all these years, your mother still doesn’t trust us. So sad.” Jacqueline sighed, giving Mabel her seductive, sideways stare.
“See what you’ve done? You’ve insulted Jacqueline!” Cassandra scolded her mother.
“Hiyah! You two! I know you are both such big mouths. If I tell you, you must promise not to say anything, okay?”
The two ladies nodded in unison like obedient schoolgirls.
Mabel, who had grown up surrounded by staff and usually spoke in her unfiltered manner with no thought to their presence, did the rare thing of making eye contact with George, the head footman, who immediately recognized her signal for privacy. George gestured quickly to the four other footmen, and they made a discreet exit from the morning room.
As soon as the door closed, Mabel said in a hushed tone, “I know your father had a big meeting with all the lawyers from Tan and Tan two days ago. Very hush hush. And then Freddie Tan went off to see Su Yi. By himself.”
“Hmmm,” Jacqueline said, digesting this intriguing new tidbit.
Cassandra winked at Jacqueline. “Don’t worry—I’m sure you’re still in the will!”
Jacqueline laughed lightly. “Come on, I am the last person to expect to be in Su Yi’s will. She’s already been so generous to me over the years.”