“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.”

“A marvelous time, as you can see,” Rachel said drolly, extending her arms to show off her IV tubes.

“I still can’t believe you can get an attack of gallstones when you’re this young! I thought it only happened to old people,” Colette said.

“Actually, it can happen to anyone,” Nick said.

Colette perched on the edge of Rachel’s hospital bed and said, “Well, I’m so glad you’re back on the mend.”

“Did you guys fly down on your smaller plane…Grande?” Rachel asked Colette.

“Oh, you mean Venti? No, no we didn’t,” Colette said, rolling her eyes. “My father has cut off my fleet privileges. Ever since I turned down Richie Yang’s proposal, my parents have been furious and they have this idea that they’re going to teach me some kind of lesson. Can you believe they put a freeze on my bank account, and my Titanium card got revolted? Well, guess what? The joke’s on them, because I can survive just fine without their help—you are now looking at the new international brand ambassador for Prêt-à-Couture!”