Кевин Кван - China Rich Girlfriend

The morning after they had returned to Shanghai, Rachel had been bombarded with voice mails from Colette: “Oh my God, Rachel, I am so, so sorry. I don’t know what to say. I just found out about Roxanne and everything. Please call me back.”

Followed very shortly by: “Rachel, where are you? Can I please see you? I called the Peninsula and they said you never checked in. Are you with the Baos? Call me back, please.”

Half an hour later: “Hi, it’s me again, Colette. Is Carlton with you? I’m really worried for him. He’s completely disappeared and not returning my calls or texts. Please call me.”

And then in the afternoon, a tearful voice message: “Rachel, I really hope and pray that you know I had NOTHING to do with this. Nothing at all. Please believe me. This is just horrible. Please let me explain.”

Nick felt strongly that Rachel should not return any of Colette’s calls. “You know, I really don’t believe that she’s as innocent as Roxanne claims. She’s ultimately responsible for what happened to you, and I’d just as soon never see or hear from her again.”

Rachel was more sympathetic. “Say what you want about her being an obscenely spoiled princess, but you can’t say she hasn’t been nice to us.”

“I just don’t want to ever see you get hurt again, that’s all,” Nick said, his brow furrowed with worry.

“I know. But I don’t believe Colette really wanted to see me hurt, and I certainly don’t think she’s going to hurt me now. I feel like I owe it to her to at least hear her out.”

At five o’clock the next afternoon, Rachel walked into the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on the Bund, tailed discreetly by two of Bao Gaoliang’s security men that Nick insisted accompany her. She made her way to the Grand Brasserie, a magnificent space framed by an elliptical mezzanine, tall marble columns that rose up to the second floor, and a stunningly landscaped interior courtyard. Colette got out of her seat and rushed toward Rachel the minute she saw her.

“I’m so glad you came! I didn’t know if you would,” Colette said, hugging her tightly.

“Of course I would,” Rachel said.

“They have a fabulous high tea here. You must try the scones — they’re just like the ones at Claridges. Now, what tea do you feel like today? I think I’ll have the Darjeeling, that’s always the best.” Colette fluttered nervously.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Rachel said, trying to put her at ease. She noticed that Colette was dressed in a completely different manner than she had ever seen her — in an austerely elegant gray-and-white dress accessorized with nothing but a Maltese cross made out of old cabochon emeralds. She wore less makeup than usual, and her eyes appeared to be swollen from crying.

“Rachel, you must believe me when I say that I had no idea Roxanne was going to do what she did. It was as much a shock to me as it must have been to you. I never, ever ordered Roxanne to do anything that would harm you. Nothing at all. You believe me, don’t you? Please say you believe me.”

“I believe you,” Rachel said.

“Oh thank God. Thank God.” Colette sighed. “For a while there I thought you were going to hate me forever.”

“I could never hate you, Colette,” Rachel said gently, placing her hand over Colette’s.

Two steaming pots of tea arrived, along with a tall silver stand overflowing with daintily cut triangles of sandwiches, scones, and a decadent array of sweet confections. As Colette began piling glistening pastries and fluffy warm scones onto Rachel’s plate, she continued to explain herself.

“Roxanne was the one who came up with the idea of eavesdropping on the Baos after we left — it was all her idea. But then, when we heard their conversation, I was in shock, that’s all. All I could think of was that I had hurt Carlton, that I had made things far worse for him. And in that moment, just that one moment, I got really upset — not at you, but at the whole situation — and Roxanne misinterpreted my feelings.”

“Boy, she really misinterpreted,” Rachel remarked.

“Yes she did. Roxanne and I…we have a complicated relationship. She’s worked for me for five years now — she was an eighteenth-birthday present from my father — and she knows me inside out. Before she came to work for me, she had a miserable job at P. J. Whitney, and she’s so thankful to me, she doesn’t have anything else — I’m her whole life. She’s like that Helen Mirren character in Gosford Park , the ultimate housekeeper — she can anticipate my needs even before I know what they are, and she does things all the time that she thinks are good for me, even when I don’t ask her. But she crossed the line, she really crossed the line. I hope you know I fired her. I sent her a text message firing her the minute I found out everything.”

Yeah, I’m sure she gets great Wi-Fi in her prison cell , Rachel thought. “What I’m not clear on, Colette, is why you got so upset over Carlton potentially losing some of his inheritance. Why does it matter to you so much?”

Colette looked down at her plate and began to pick at the raisins on a scone. “I don’t think you know the pressures I’ve had to face in my life. I know how fortunate I am, believe me I do, but with this fortune has come tremendous burdens. I’m the only child, and ever since I was born, my parents have had these great expectations of me. They gave me the best of everything, the best schools, the best doctors — you know, my mother sent me to get my eyelids done when I was six? Through my teens, there was always some surgery done on me every year to make me look prettier. But in return they have always expected me to be the best. To be the top performer in school. To be the best of everything. I thought that they were priming me to succeed in business, but it turns out all they want is for me to get married and start giving them grandsons. To them, I am a crown princess, and they only want me to marry a crown prince. Richie Yang was their handpicked choice, and they were so angry when I turned him down. But I don’t love him, Rachel. I love Carlton — I’m sure you’ve always known that — and even though I’m not ready to get married, I want Carlton to be the one when I am ready. I can picture myself with him — he’s got that wonderful accent, and the height, and that beautiful face — we would have the most beautiful children together. My father doesn’t see any of that. He doesn’t understand someone like Carlton, he only gets traditional types like Richie. So Carlton is already in a tough spot, and if he were to lose his fortune — even a small part of it — it would only further diminish my father’s view of him. And it would make it even more impossible for me to marry him one day.”

“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?”