“Ohmygod, if I were to actually see the video I think I would instantly go blind! How could you have slept with that man when you’re not even married to him? This is God punishing you!”

“I’m sorry, I’ve had sex before marriage, okay, and I’ve had sex with Charlie, who, by the way, I was having sex with the first time he was my fiancé over a decade ago!”

“The two of you have brought nothing but disgrace onto us. You have disgraced your father and me and you have disgraced your family for generations! And you have ruined poor Cassian’s life! How will he ever show his face at ACS again?”

“I’m on my way to get Cassian now.”

“We already got him. Ludivine just collected him from school and is bringing him over here.”

“Oh good, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Absolutely not! What are you thinking? We don’t want you anywhere near this house!”

“Stop being ridiculous, Mum—”

“Ridiculous? I don’t know how I’m ever going to recover from this! You need to leave Singapore and not come back until things blow over! Don’t you realize what this scandal has done to your father’s reputation? Good grief, this might affect the next election! This might throw the sale of Tyersall Park into jeopardy! My God, the price might come tumbling down! I can feel my blood pressure skyrocketing now. Oh my goodness I need my pills. Sunali, where are my pills?” Felicity shrieked to one of her maids.

“Calm down, Mum, I don’t see how this has anything to do with Tyersall Park!”

“How can you not see it? You have tainted the family legacy! Do not come over to Nassim Road, do you understand? Your father does not want to see your face! He says you are dead to him!”

Astrid felt winded for a few moments, overwhelmed by her mother’s attack. Thankfully, her phone beeped and Charlie’s number flashed on the screen.

“Okay, Mum, don’t worry, I’m not coming over. I’m not going to shame you for one moment longer,” she said, switching over to Charlie.

There was a short pause, and then Charlie’s voice came through. “Astrid, are you okay?”

“Yes, thank God it’s you!” Astrid said with a heavy sigh.

“Are you driving?”

“Yes, I was on the way to get Cassian out of school, but—”

“Can you find someplace to pull over?” Charlie’s voice sounded strange.

“Sure, I just got to Tanglin Road. Let me pull over into this Esso right here.”

Astrid parked in the gas station and relaxed into her seat. “Okay, I’m parked.”

“Good, good. First of all, are you okay?” Charlie asked.

“Well, my mum just screamed at me in a way I’ve never heard before and ordered me to leave the country. Otherwise, life is peachy. How has your day been so far?”

“I’m not sure how to tell you this, Astrid,” Charlie said in a shaky voice.

“Let me guess, you found out why Michael leaked the video?”

“Actually, Michael didn’t leak it.”

“He didn’t?”

“No. It was Isabel.”

“ISABEL? How did she even get the video?”

“We’re not sure…we’re still trying to piece it all together, but the video came from her phone. She posted it to the gossip blog.”

“Why on earth would she do that?”

“She had another psychotic episode, Astrid. And this time, she tried to hang herself.”

“She what?” Astrid found herself going numb.

“She tried hanging herself in our new house, on the dining-room chandelier. She wanted to curse the house and curse our marriage forever.”

“So what happened?” Astrid barely got the words out.

“The chandelier broke, and that saved her. But now she’s on life support. She’s in a coma, and they don’t know if she’ll ever come out of it,” Charlie said, his voice cracking in grief.

“No. No, no, no, no, no,” Astrid cried, breaking down into uncontrollable sobs.

* * *

* Sophie is the sister of Colin Khoo, and they are cousins to Astrid through their late mother, who was Harry Leong’s sister. Yes, Singapore is a very small world, and even smaller within the high-net-worth crowd.

PART FOUR

I often think how unfairly life’s good fortune is sometimes distributed.

—LEO TOLSTOY, WAR AND PEACE

What’s a soup kitchen?

—PARIS HILTON

Four days after Isabel’s suicide attempt, an exclusive story broke in The Daily Post:

HEIRESS DRIVES RIVAL TO SUICIDE ATTEMPT AFTER SEX VIDEO LEAK!

The gorgeous Singaporean heiress Astrid Leong’s sensational $5 billion divorce from venture capitalist Michael Teo continues to pile up collateral damage. The latest victim is Isabel Wu, the ex-wife of Astrid’s current boyfriend, tech billionaire Charles Wu.

Apparently, an explicit video of Ms. Leong in bed with Mr. Wu sent Mrs. Wu into an emotional tailspin, and after leaking the video to a popular Chinese gossip blog, Mrs. Wu tried to hang herself at the spectacular new Tom Kundig–designed mansion that her ex-husband has been building in Shek O.

Isabel has been in a coma at Hong Kong Sanatorium for over a week, where sources say there had been a concerted attempt by Mr. Wu to keep the tragedy under wraps. But Isabel’s mother, The Hon. Madam Justice Deirdre Lai, demands a further investigation into her daughter’s suicide attempt. “Charlie and Astrid are responsible, and I want the world to know what they have done to my daughter!” sobbed the Hong Kong High Court Judge.

The scandal has become the talk of Asia, splitting Hong Kong society as friends and family take opposing sides. An insider on Team Charlie says, “Isabel has been suffering from mental health issues for over two decades. The footage in question was secretly recorded long after Isabel and Charlie’s marriage fell apart, and Isabel leaked it while she was suffering from a manic episode. Charlie and Astrid are the real victims here.”

“Nonsense!” counters an insider from Team Isabel. “Izzie was devastated by this video. It was recorded while Isabel and Charlie were happily married, and it really put her over the edge to learn just how long their affair had been going on.”

Deirdre Lai says, “My poor granddaughters Chloe and Delphine! First they have a porn star for a father, and now they might lose their mother! Can you believe that after all this, that dirty woman dared to show up at the hospital where my poor daughter lies in a coma?”

The Daily Post tried to contact Ms. Leong for a comment, but since her appearance at Hong Kong Sanatorium, Ms. Leong has seemingly vanished. When we contacted her family’s company, Leong Holdings, for comment, spokeswoman Zoe Quan said, “Astrid Leong has no functioning role in this company, and we have no comment.” When we inquired as to Astrid’s whereabouts, Ms. Quan hurriedly barked, “No idea, lah! She is out of the country for an indefinite period.”