In the midst of his reverie, there was a sudden flurry of activity as Axel Vervoordt entered the room, impeccably dressed in a gray suit with a black turtleneck, and surrounded by a monastic entourage of assistants. "Oliver T'sien, what a pleasure to see you again!" the legendary antiquarian said.
"Axel, the pleasure is all mine. May I introduce Mrs. Jack Bing."
"Welcome to Kanaal," Axel said, giving Kitty a courtly bow.
"Thank you. Axel, I am in awe of your creations! I've never seen anything quite like this before, and I feel like I just want to move in here right now," Kitty effused.
"Thank you. Mrs. Bing, if you enjoy what you see here, perhaps I can invite you to visit me at my private residence Kasteel van's-Gravenwezel while you are with us in Antwerp."
"You won't want to miss this, Kitty. Kasteel van's-Gravenwezel is one of the most beautiful castles in the world," Oliver explained.
Kitty batted her eyelashes at Axel. "I'd love to!"
"If I had known earlier that the two of you were coming today, I would have invited you to lunch. Her Majesty the Queen honored us with her presence today, and she brought along a most delightful couple."
"I hope you had a lovely time," Oliver said.
"We did, we did. This young couple have just acquired the most magnificent property in Singapour. It is apparently the largest private estate on the island."
Kitty's face went pale.
Axel continued. "Wait a minute-it completely escaped my mind. You're from Singapour, aren't you, Oliver?"
"Indeed I am," Oliver said, forcing a smile.
"Have you heard of this property? Apparently it's quite an architectural folly-a mixture of styles and periods, but set on sixty-four acres. Tivoli Park, I think it is called." Axel cocked his head.
Kitty calmly walked out onto the balcony of the showroom and could be seen jabbing her iPhone screen frantically.
"Actually, I believe you mean Tyersall Park," Oliver corrected him.
"Yes, that's the place! Apparently, the lady's father has given her the property as a wedding present, and she wants me to help her with the redo. It will be quite the commission."
Oliver looked out the window, where Kitty was screaming in Mandarin and gesticulating wildly into her phone. "I know you never discuss your clients, but I'm going to guess that the couple were an English lord and his Chinese wife?"
Axel smiled. "Nothing escapes you, does it? I haven't attempted anything on this scale before in Asia, and I do believe I'm going to be calling on you for some help."
"Congratulations, Axel. It would be a pleasure," Oliver managed to utter as he felt like he was going to throw up.
"Now, what can I do for you and Mrs. Bing?"
Oliver watched Kitty fling her cell phone off the balcony into the canal far below. "Oh we were just in the neighborhood. I'm about to take her to meet Dries at Het Modepaleis, so I figured we should stop by."
···
"He said Colette was a new woman. That she had transformed her life and he was proud of her for wanting to do something good in the world. That's why she needed a proper house in Singapore. How gullible can you be?" Kitty cried.
"Yes, let it out. Let it all out," a soothing voice above her said.
"He said that Colette had made a secret trip to see him in Shanghai. She had prostrated herself at his feet and begged for his forgiveness. Can you fucking believe it?" Kitty was lying on the massage table, her head in the face cradle, as her massage therapist Elenya placed a row of hot stones along her spine.
"Good, good. As I place this stone on your lower back, I want you to really feel it burn into your second chakra, and I want you to go deeper into your anger and release it," Elenya encouraged.
"He said, 'Do not make me choose between you and my daughter, because you will lose. I only have one daughter, and I can always get another wife.' I hate him I hate him I hate him!" Kitty screamed, tears flowing freely and dripping on the tatami-matted floor.
Suddenly the floor trembled violently, and a couple of the stones rolled off her back onto the side of the table. Oliver, sitting in an armchair next to the massage table, pulled his seat belt tighter.
"That wasn't turbulence, Kitty. That was your anger releasing into the universe. How does it feel?" Elenya asked, as she began to rub Kitty's feet with a steaming hot towel.
"It feels fucking great! I want to tell the pilots to steer this plane and crash it right into his fucking face!" Kitty screamed again, before breaking into loud heaving sobs.