“She had no income, but the Trust paid for all her expenses. My father’s wording in his will was very specific. He stipulated that ‘Su Yi’s every need, desire, and whim is to be taken care of in her lifetime by the Trust.’ So we did.”
“The Trust paid for everything?” Felicity was incredulous.
Alfred sighed. “Everything. As you well know, your mother did not have any concept of money. She was born to live like a princess, and she continued to live this way for nine decades. Supporting all of you, maintaining her lifestyle at Tyersall Park, in Cameron Highlands, everywhere she traveled. How much do you think it costs to keep a staff of seventy for so many years? To throw grand parties every Friday night? Believe me, your mother blew through a vast amount.”
“What will the Trust pay for now?” Victoria asked.
Alfred leaned back in his chair. “Well…nothing. The Trust has met all its fiduciary duties to your mother.”
Victoria looked at her uncle, almost afraid to ask the next question. “So are you telling us that we are inheriting nothing from the Shang Trust?”
Alfred shook his head solemnly. The room went silent for a moment as everyone soaked in this bombshell.
Felicity was silent, the enormity of her uncle’s words slowly sinking in. All this time she thought her mother the great heiress had been co-owner of an empire worth hundreds of billions, and now it turns out she had never even been part of the equation. This meant in turn that she would inherit nothing from Shang Enterprises. She was not a great heiress to anything. She had only been left 12.5 percent of the house, just like the rest of her sisters. But this wasn’t right. She was the eldest child. How could Mummy do this to her? Collecting herself, Felicity steeled herself and looked Alfred in the eye with a question. “How much does Mummy have in her bank accounts?”
“Not much, really. Some of her accounts are absolutely ancient. Hoare’s only has about three million pounds—she inherited that account from my mother, and that was Mum’s shopping account when she ordered things from Harrods. Landolt & Cie in Switzerland holds her gold bullion, and that was really just in case the world went to absolute hell. I’d say she has about forty-five, fifty million total.”
Freddie chimed in, “But that money will automatically go toward paying for all the legacies she left—to Ah Ching, Ah Ling, and so forth.”
Victoria frowned at Freddie accusingly. “I don’t believe this! I don’t believe that all this time Mummy had so little money!”
Freddie sighed. “Well, she did have one major income-producing asset, and that was her Ling Holdings Preference Shares. She had one million shares that paid a considerable dividend, but she reinvested it all in buying more shares. Her shares are valued at about half a billion dollars today, but as you all know, that’s spoken for now.”
The sisters stared at Jacqueline in absolute horror. Su Yi’s beautiful goddaughter had automatically inherited more money from their mother’s estate than they did.
“So you’re telling me the only thing of any income-generating value we’re inheriting from our mother is Tyersall Park?” Felicity said slowly, as if not quite believing her own words.
“Well, that isn’t exactly chopped liver. Tyersall Park is worth about a billion dollars today if you sold it,” Freddie remarked.
“Two billion,” Alfred piped up.
Victoria shook her head vehemently. “But we could never sell Tyersall Park! It has to stay in the family. Where does that leave us? We get nothing! Am I supposed to live off the proceeds of one miserable Vuillard?”
Felicity looked at her husband with tears in her eyes and said in a quivering voice, “If we are forced to sell Tyersall Park I only get a few hundred million. I’m going to be a nobody now!”
Harry squeezed her hand encouragingly. “Darling, you’re my wife. You’re Puan Sri Harry Leong and we have our own money. You’ll never be a nobody.”
Philip got up from the table abruptly and spoke for the first time. “This was obviously Mum’s plan all along. If she wanted one of us to get Tyersall Park, she would have left it to that person outright. But the way she divided it up, she knew there would be only one thing we could do. She wanted us to sell the damned house!”
* * *
*1 The Leongs’ third son, Alexander, who married a Malay woman and has three children with her, lives in Brentwood, California. He has neither returned to Singapore nor spoken to his father in eleven years.
*2 None of the grandchildren’s spouses were invited to this meeting, with the exception of Henry Leong’s wife, Cathleen Kah. The fact that she is a senior partner at Tan and Tan and is descended from the distinguished family that provides the firm with forty percent of its billable hours might have had something to do with it.
*3 For comparison, a 1936 Hispano-Suiza Type 68 J12 Cabriolet sold at 2010 auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $1,400,000.
*4 Indonesian slang for someone that is stupid or retarded.
CHAPTER EIGHT
DEMPSEY HILL, SINGAPORE
PS.Café was an oasis nestled in the parklands of the former Dempsey Hill barracks, and the moment Nick entered the tranquil space with Astrid he felt like he could breathe easier.
As if echoing his thoughts, Astrid said, “I’m so glad we managed to make our escape.”
“Two hours with the family in the lawyers’ office…I think it’s going to take me a year to recover!” Nick laughed, looking around to see if Rachel and Carlton had arrived. “Ah, they’re hiding over in the corner.”
“So you have a hot date tomorrow night?” Rachel teased her brother as they sat at a table bathed in sunlight filtering through the giant plate-glass windows.
“I’m hoping it will be a hot date! You know, sometimes an actual date just screws things up,” Carlton said, taking a sip of his lychee-and-lime soda.
“Scheherazade and you have been inseparable for the past week. I don’t see how you could possibly screw it up at this point.” Rachel looked up and saw Nick and Astrid navigating between the crowded tables toward them. “Here they come. Let’s ask Astrid—”
“Noooo!” Carlton said bashfully.
“Ask me what?” Astrid asked as she leaned over to give Rachel a peck on the cheek.
“In your expert opinion, do you think it’s a bad idea for Carlton to take your cousin on a date?”
“What, a real date? I figured they were already halfway to Vegas to get married!” Astrid teased.
“Stop it, I’m not sure she’s that into me,” Carlton said.
“Carlton, if she wasn’t into you, you wouldn’t even be able to get close.”
“Really?” Carlton seemed dubious.