“Well, I hope you won’t come to regret your actions,” Corinna said worriedly.

“Higher, I think. Sorry, what were you saying, Corinna?” Kitty asked, momentarily distracted.

“I said…oh never mind. I hope you can work things out with Bernard amicably.”

“What does ‘amicably’ mean?”

“Friendly, peacefully.”

“I don’t want a war with Bernard. I just want him to be able to share Gisele with me, that’s all.”

“That’s the spirit. Anyway, good luck, and be sure to call me the next time you’re in Hong Kong.”

“We’ll take Gisele for high tea at the Four Seasons!”

“No, the Mandarin. Always the Mandarin. And don’t say ‘high tea’—high tea is only for factory workers. It’s ‘afternoon tea.’ ”

“Of course. Whatever you say, Corinna.”

Kitty hung up the phone and took a few steps back. “You know, Oliver, you were right. It didn’t need to be higher. Let’s move it all back to where you had it originally.”

Oliver T’sien winked at her. “I was right when I told you to buy this house, and I was right when I told you to buy the painting, wasn’t I? I always imagined it looking utterly exquisite against this wall. It’s all about how the light filters in through those old lead-glass windows.”

“You’re right, it’s all going to be utterly exquisite,” Kitty said, gazing out the window as the workmen began rehanging The Palace of Eighteen Perfections on her drawing-room wall.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I could not have written this book without the help, inspiration, expertise, patience, support, genius, and general good humor of these remarkable people:

Alan Bienstock

Ryan Matthew Chan

Lacy Crawford

Cleo Davis-Urman

David Elliott

Simone Gers

Aaron Goldberg

Jeffrey Hang

Daniel K. Isaac

Jenny Jackson

Jeanne Lawrence

Baptiste Lignel

Wah Guan Lim

Carmen Loke

Alexandra Machinist

Pang Lee Ting

David Sangalli

Jeannette Watson Sanger

Sandi Tan

Jackie Zirkman

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Kwan is the author of Crazy Rich Asians, the international bestseller now being adapted as a major motion picture. Born and raised in Singapore, Kwan has called Manhattan home for the past two decades but still craves pineapple tarts and a decent plate of Hokkien mee.

Please visit www.kevinkwanbooks.com