Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians #3)(160)

Rachel sat on the edge of her bed, blinking away the tears. "Wow. I'm getting chills. It's starting to make sense now … why your grandmother was so opposed to our marrying."

"She felt that her father had been right to choose my grandfather for her, and she should have obeyed his wishes all along. That's why she was so adamant that I obey her!" Nick said.

Rachel nodded slowly. "Yes, and think about how she found out that my mother had an affair with a man out of wedlock, and that I came from that relationship. It must have brought back all her own fears and her guilt over her affair."

Nick sighed. "It was so misguided, but she thought she was protecting me. Let me show you something. It fell out of one of her diaries." Nick took out a small folded letter and handed it to Rachel. Embossed in red below an ornate coat of arms were the words:



       
         
       
        

WINDSOR CASTLE

My Dear Su Yi,

I cannot begin to express my debt of gratitude for all you and your brother Alexander did during the darkest days of the war. Allowing Tyersall Park to be a safe haven for some of our most essential British and Australian officers played no small role in saving countless lives. Your acts of heroism, too many to recount here, will never be forgotten.

Sincerely,

George R.I.



"George R.I … ." Rachel looked at Nick incredulously.

"Yep, Queen Elizabeth's father. He was the king during the war. Rachel, you won't believe some of the stories in my grandmother's diaries. You know, growing up I was told so many stories of how my grandfather was a war hero, how he saved countless lives as a surgeon. But it turns out my grandmother and her brother were also instrumental in saving so many lives. Right as the occupation was beginning, Alexander was in Indonesia officially to oversee my great-grandfather's business interests, but secretly he was helping get important people out of the country. He helped hide some of Singapore's most crucial anti-Japanese activists-people like Tan Kah Kee and Ng Aik Huan-in Sumatra. In the end, he was tortured to death by a Japanese agent trying to find out his secrets."

"Oh no!" Rachel gasped, putting her hands over her mouth.

"Yes, but as it turns out my grandmother had secretly returned to Singapore at the height of the Japanese occupation. And she had made a daring trip to see Alexander in Indonesia right before he died. She absolutely adored him, and this tragedy is what galvanized her to continue his fight. Tyersall Park became a sort of Underground Railroad for all the operatives passing from Malaysia through Singapore, trying to get to safety in Indonesia and Australia. It became a place for secret high-level meetings and a safe house for some of the key people who were being hunted down by the Japanese."

"How amazing! I would have thought that this house would be too conspicuous a place," Rachel remarked.

"Well, it would have been, but the leader of the occupying Japanese forces, Count Hisaichi Terauchi, commandeered Tyersall Park and took over the main house. So my grandmother and all the servants were made to live in the back wing, and that's how she managed to hide so many people right under the nose of the general. She disguised them as part of the staff-because there were so many of them everywhere, the Japanese troops never noticed. And then she managed to get them in and out through the secret passage from the conservatory to the Botanic Gardens."

"The one you used to sneak into the house!" Rachel exclaimed.

Nick held the letter up to Rachel. "This is not just about me anymore and losing my childhood home or my connection to the past. It's much bigger than that. This house should be a historic landmark, a heritage site for all Singaporeans. It's far too important to be altered in any way, and I believe conservationists would argue it urgently needs to be preserved." 

"Does this mean you can block the sale to the Bings?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Knowing Jack Bing, I'm sure he'll put up a fight."

"And so will your aunties. They're going to want their money from the sale. What would happen if you deprived them of what they see as their rightful inheritance?"

"What if there was another way where no one had to be deprived? I've been thinking it over for the past few days, and I think I have a plan that can save this historical landmark and transform it into something viable for the future."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but we're going to need people with really deep pockets to believe in us."

Rachel's mind began to race. "I think I may know just the people we need to talk to."