"No need to apologize. It's just a few minutes past ten, so you're fashionably late, haha," Freddie joked.
Jacqueline took a seat next to Nick, who leaned over and gave her a friendly peck on the cheek. Freddie looked around at the anxiously assembled group and decided it was time to put them out of their misery. "Well, we all know why we're here, so let's get on with it."
Eleanor smiled pensively, while Philip leaned back in his chair. Alfred peered down at the sumptuously lacquered wood grain, wondering whether the table had been made by David Linley. Nick winked at Astrid seated across from him, and Astrid smiled back.
Freddie pressed a button on the telephone next to him. "Tuan, you can bring it in now." An assistant, nattily dressed in a red sweater vest and striped tie, entered the room, ceremoniously holding an oversize parchment envelope folder. The assistant placed the folder on the table next to Freddie, and then handed him a horn-handled letter opener. Everyone could see Su Yi's personal wax seal on the envelope flap. Freddie took the letter opener and dramatically flicked the blade underneath the bloodred wax. Eddie inhaled audibly.
Freddie carefully slid out a legal-size document from the envelope, held it up to the room so everyone could clearly see what it was, and then he began to read:
I, Shang Su Yi of Tyersall Park, Tyersall Avenue, Singapore, revoke all former wills and testamentary dispositions heretofore made by me and declare this to be my last Will.
1. Appointment of Executors. I appoint my nephew Sir Leonard SHANG and my great-nephew Oliver T'SIEN to be the Co-Executors of my Will.
(Eddie darted his eyes over at his cousins, a little dismayed. Why in the world would Ah Ma choose them as the executors? Oliver I can handle but, ugh, now I have to suck up to that pretentious Leonard!)
2. Specific Cash Legacies. I direct my Residuary Estate to execute payment on the following legacies:
a. $3,000,000 to my housekeeper LEE Ah Ling, who has served my family with excellence and devotion since she was a teenager.
(Victoria smiled. Oh good, she deserves it.)
b. $2,000,000 to my personal chef LIM Ah Ching, who has nourished my family with her fine culinary talents since 1965.
(Victoria, shaking her head: Ah Ching's going to throw a fit when she realizes she got less than Ah Ling. Better not eat the soup tonight!)
c. $1,000,000 to my head gardener Jacob THESEIRA, who has maintained the grounds of Tyersall Park with such loving care. I further bequeath to him all the rights and future royalties related to the orchid hybrids we developed together over the course of five decades.
d. $1,000,000 to each of my dear lady's maids Madri VISUDHAROMN and Patravadee VAROPRAKORN along with the antique Peranakan gold-and-diamond bracelets labeled for them in the Tyersall Park vault.
e. $500,000 to my head of security Captain Vikram GHALE, who has diligently protected me since 1983. I further bequeath to him the Type 14 Nambu pistol given to me by Count Hisaichi Terauchi preceding his departure from Singapore in 1944.
(Eleanor: Wah, so generous! I wonder if Old Lady knew that he made a fortune with his day trading?)
f. $250,000 to my chauffeur Ahmad BIN YOUSSEF. I further bequeath to him the 1935 Hispano-Suiza Type 68 J12 Cabriolet*3 that was given to me by my father on my sixteenth birthday.
(Alfred: Damn, I wanted the Hispano! I guess I can buy it off him.)
g. I bequeath every remaining employee of Tyersall Park not mentioned here the amount of $50,000 each.
3. Specific Legacies of Personal Property.
a. I direct that my jewelry collection be given and distributed according to the detailed list in Appendix A of this my Last Will and Testament, and as labeled in my vault at Tyersall Park.
(Cecilia Cheng Moncur: I wonder why she bothered. Everyone knows Astrid already got all the good shit.)
b. I direct that all artwork, antiques, and other household goods not specifically gifted by my Will be distributed equally among my surviving children by my executors in as nearly equal portions as may be practicable, with the exception of the following:
i. To my daughter Felicity YOUNG LEONG, I bequeath my collection of Celadon porcelain, which I know she will cherish and keep immaculately spotless for all eternity.
(Alix: Hahaha! Felicity and her OCD. Mummy sure had a sense of humor when she wrote her will!)
ii. To my daughter Victoria YOUNG, I bequeath a small painting of a woman by her bedroom window by Édouard Vuillard. I know she has always detested this painting, so I trust she will divest of it immediately and use the proceeds to buy that dream house in England that she keeps talking about.