“But your family already has so much. More than enough for a hundred lifetimes.”

“I know it can’t make much sense to you—coming from where you do—but believe me, my father does not think he has enough. Nowhere near.”

Rachel shook her head in disgust. “I hope you realize that you’re going to have to stand up to your father at some point.”

“I realize that. I’ve already been doing that—I said no to Richie, remember? And now I’m trying to prove to my father that I can do just fine, thank you very much, without his money. I know he’s testing me—he’s always doing such things—and I know he’s not going to cut me off for long. I mean, it’s not like he’s really going to stop paying the landscape architect at my country estate. But now I need your help.”

“What can I do?”

Colette’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Carlton finally picked up the phone. He told me to stop calling him. He said so many horrid, horrid things, I don’t even want to tell you. And he told me that he never wants to see me again! Can you believe it? I know he’s just upset about what happened to you. I know he’s feeling guilty, blaming himself in some way. Please, you’ve got to convince him that you’re fine, and that we’re friends, and that he doesn’t have to be angry at me anymore. I have something very important to discuss with him, and I need to see him as soon as possible. Will you please help me?”

Rachel sat quietly, watching the tears spill down Colette’s cheeks. “You know, I haven’t seen Carlton since getting back to Shanghai. He hasn’t spoken to me or his parents. I don’t think he’s ready to talk to anyone yet.”

“He’ll talk to you, Rachel, and I know where he is. He’s in the Presidential suite at the Portman Ritz-Carlton—that’s where he always hides out. Will you go and see him for me? Please?”

“I can’t do that, Colette. I don’t want to force Carlton into seeing me until he’s ready. And I really don’t think I should be getting in the middle of your relationship. Nothing I can say will make him stop feeling the way he wants to feel. You need to give him time to heal, and he needs to figure out for himself what he wants.”

“But he never knows what he wants. You have to tell him!” Colette pleaded. “I think the longer he broods about this, the more it will fester—like his accident. He was already such a mess all the time when he was recovering from his accident, I don’t want him to get into another mess in his head about this.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Colette. People are messy. Life gets messy. Things are not always going to work out perfectly just because you want them to.”

“That’s not true. Things always end up working out for me,” Colette said impetuously.