Astrid considered the piece for several moments. “I love it—it goes great under the Lindsey Adelman chandelier.”

“Phew, I’m so relieved!” Charlie said with a chuckle.

Isabel stared up at the bronze light fixture that resembled blown-glass bubbles budding from the stems of an intricate tree branch, saying nothing. In her former life as Mrs. Charles Wu, she would have vetoed all of this, but now as the three of them headed for the front door, she simply said, “I do think Chloe and Delphine will love it here.”

“Well, you will always be welcome,” Astrid said, her heart soaring that Isabel was being so agreeable about everything. It had been such an unexpectedly lovely day. As they stepped outside into the courtyard, Astrid’s phone pinged, and she saw four text messages suddenly pop up:

LUDIVINE DOLAN: I went to pick up Cassian after school but found out that his father already got him.

….

FELICITY LEONG: WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT TIME YOU GETTING BACK TONIGHT? COME STRAIGHT TO TYERSALL PK! SO MUCH HAPPENING WITH THE HOUSE! WE NEED YOU!

….

OLIVER T’SIEN: Aren’t you friends with Prince Alois of Liechtenstein? And that Poet Prince Fazza of Dubai? Can you connect us? Call me, will explain.

….

LUDIVINE DOLAN: Just spoke to Mr. Teo and asked if he needed me to help with Cassian but he wants me to take the rest of the day off. No idea what’s happening.

Astrid put her phone back into her purse, suddenly feeling a bit sick to her stomach. Why the hell did she have to go back to Singapore?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BONDI BEACH, SYDNEY

“Are you fishing on your dock?” Nick asked when his father picked up the phone. He could hear the crashing waves along the seashore.

“No, I’m doing the cliff walk from Bondi to Coogee right now.”

“I love that hike.”

“Yeah, it’s a good day for it. You know your mother invited Daisy, Nadine, Lorena, and Carol to Sydney? The whole gin gang’s here, and it’s such a toilet-seat-down invasion, I needed to get out of the house. The ladies are busy hatching some kind of plot…I think involving Tyersall Park.”

“That’s the reason I was calling, Dad. It looks like things are moving far too quickly with the house. Your sisters seem really primed to sell it to the highest bidder, and I don’t even want to tell you what those developers have planned.”

“Does it even matter? Once we sell it, the new owners can do whatever they want.”

“But I feel like everyone’s losing sight of the big picture,” Nick argued. “Tyersall Park is a unique property, and we need to make sure that it’s preserved. I mean, I’m at the house right now, and even just looking out the window onto the gardens—the rambutan trees are bearing fruit, and they are flaming red. There’s nothing quite like it.”

“I think you’re being too sentimental,” Philip said.

“Maybe I am, but I’m just surprised that no one else cares about this house in the way that I do. Everyone’s just seeing dollar signs while I see something so rare that needs to be protected.”

Philip sighed. “Nicky, I know for you this house was like some never-never land, but for the rest of us, it was a bit of a prison. Living in a palace was no fun as a kid. I grew up with nothing but rules. There were so many rooms I wasn’t even allowed to enter, chairs I couldn’t sit in because they were too valuable. You have no idea, because by the time you came along, my mother was a very different person.”

“Yes, I’ve heard the stories. But surely you must have some good memories?”

“To me, it’s just one gigantic headache. Don’t forget, I was shipped off to boarding school practically as soon as I could walk, so it never truly felt like home to me. Now, even the thought of having to come back to Singapore to deal with all these property folks fills me with dread. Do you know how many ACS old boys have called me up out of the blue to invite me to lunch, to golf, all that nonsense? People I haven’t seen in eons are suddenly behaving like my best friend because they can smell the money.”

“I’m sorry that’s happening, Dad. But let me ask you something.” Nick took a deep breath as he prepared to make his pitch. “If I can somehow raise the money, would you consider leveraging your thirty percent stake and joining me and possibly Alistair to buy everyone else out? If you give me a little time, I know I can find a way to make it financially worthwhile for us to own the estate.”

The line went silent for a moment, and Nick wasn’t sure if his father was upset or if he was just on a particularly arduous stretch of the hike. Suddenly he spoke up again. “If you care that much about Tyersall Park, why don’t you handle this whole house sale? Do what you think is best. I’ll give you permission to act as my proxy, power of attorney, whatever they call it. In fact, I’ll sign over my thirty percent stake to you right now.”

“Really?” Nick said, not quite believing what he was hearing.

“Sure. I mean, it’s all going be yours one day anyway.”

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“Do whatever you want with the house, just keep me out of it,” Philip said, climbing along the edge of a beautiful cliff-side cemetery overlooking the South Pacific. “Nicky, I’m up at that cemetery by Bronte now. Will you make sure—”

“Yes, Dad, you’ve told me many times before. You want to be buried there. You want to have a view of the humpback whales doing backflips for all of eternity.”

“And if they run out of lots, you’ll find another ocean-side spot? New Zealand, Tasmania, anyplace but Singapore.”

“Of course.” Nick laughed. He hung up the phone and found Rachel staring at him curiously. “That sounded weird, from what I heard.”

“Yeah, it was one of the weirdest calls I’ve ever made. I think my father just gave me his share of Tyersall Park.”

“WHAAT?” Rachel’s eyes got huge.

“He told me he’d sign over his stake, and I can do whatever I want as long as I leave him out of it.”

“What’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch. My dad has never been interested in financial matters at all. He really would rather not be bothered with it.”

“I guess when you’ve been born with it…” Rachel shrugged.

“Precisely! I still can’t believe how easy it was to convince him, though. I thought I was going to have to fly down to Sydney and grovel on my knees.”

“With your father’s share in your hands, you’re the biggest stakeholder now!” Rachel said excitedly.

“No, we are. And this gives us the leverage to stall the bidding war and buy some time.”

“Do you want to go downstairs and break the news to your aunties?”

Nick grinned. “No time like the present.”

They left their bedroom and walked over to the drawing room where Felicity, Victoria, and Alix were all sitting, unusually silent.

“I have an announcement to make,” Nick said boldly.

Felicity had a peculiar look on her face. “Nicky, we just got off the phone. It seems we have a new offer on the table.”