❝all that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost❞
- j.r. tolkien
in which she has problems money could never fix.
[crazy rich asians 2018]
[nov 30...
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──── ❝ chapter i ❞ ────
❝ gossip calls ❞
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THE PRIVATE JET WILL MOST likely be my favorite part about this trip. I already know that it'll be the only time that I'll have to myself before I'm thrown back into the shark tank. Of course, it's still hard to determine whether or not I'm one of those sharks or the blood in the water that draws them in. Still, even with that lingering thought, it'll be nice to have half a day to myself without having to see cousin Alistair and Kitty Pong snog all night long.
Speaking of hesitance to see my relatives, I can't help but wonder what it'll be like when I have to see my brother and that girl he's bringing. Do I really have to see him again? And do I really have to meet his new girlfriend? Because, I mean, I already have the largest feeling that this Rachel Chu is doing the same thing every girl who's crossed his path before has done.
Everyone knows that out of all of Ah Ma's grandchildren, Nick's the favorite. Nick's the one to inherit everything. Nick's the one who will outshine us all! It's inevitable, and it isn't just me who knows that either. I've never really spoken with Alistair or Eddie, but in the talks I've had with Astrid, I know she has to feel some twinge of resentment even if she won't admit it.
I turn on the television; I'd much rather plague my thoughts with trashy American reality shows than spend the next thirteen hours squeezing my fully abused stress ball while worrying over what was bound to transpire in the upcoming days.
This distraction works for approximately two hours before someone started calling on FaceTime. Glancing at the name, I groaned when I saw the words "Mother." And, I won't lie, I considered not picking up, but I was sure that my mum would continue to call back until I answered. No doubt she had something to say about the whole Rachel Chu thing, some that couldn't wait until I actually landed in Singapore.
Pressing the "answer" button, I plastered the fakest smile I cold to alleviate the woman's possible suspicions of how much I truly dislike her. Call me fake all you want, but you never let family know your true feelings for them.
"Hi, mum-"
"So Diana, did you hear about Nick's new girlfriend?" Typical.
"Yes, of course," I sighed. "It's a little hard not to when it's all anybody has been talking about in Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter... Facebook. So, what?"
"Well, what do you think about her?"
"Think about her? I haven't met her." I was nearly ready to roll my eyes, but I held myself back. "All I know is that her name is Rachel Chu and she's from New York. I don't think that those two bits of information and all of the shit people have been saying about her online is enough to justify a personal opinion yet."
"Hmm.. But what do you think of her? Gut feelings?"
Honestly, I don't give a shit. If I can barely give two fucks about my own asshole brother, what qualifies me to give any about his stupid American girlfriend? I mean, if I'm being forced to tell the whole truth, I'd just say that I looked at a single picture of this "more-than-likely-a-gold-digging" bitch with devil horns drawn on and that maybe I laughed at it. But since nobody was forcing me to tell the whole truth:
"She's alright, I guess."
"Alright?" Mother said incredulously. "Diana, nobody is ever just 'alright.' On a scale of Elizabeth to Amanda, what do-"
"So, now you're using Nick's exes to rate her beauty?" I raised a defined eyebrow. I was beginning to tire of this, "Seriously, mum, she's just 'okay.' Don't you have some bible study with your friends today?"
"Well, that ended nearly thirty min-" Fuck.
"Wait, what's that, mum? I-I think I'm losing signal!" I said loudly, lying right through my teeth but not caring in the process either.
"But I-"
"Sorry, can't hear you!"
I pressed the "END CALL" button and instantly felt a wave of relief wash over me before switching the television back on. And, yeah, I was thrilled to no longer have to hear mother's annoyingly stern voice, but it dawned on me that the same kind of shit would happen for the next few days.
My family and their little minion-like friends in their prayer circles while doing anything but praying. Gossiping night and day about whether their sons and daughters were going to marry soon and breaking the very amendments they swore they followed. No doubt, where I was concerned, all the rage would be about if Asher Kim and I were going to pull a forbidden and star-crossed love affair.
Ah, Asher Kim... He's the teenaged heartthrob of Singapore. Much like my family, his money goes back. Not as far as mine, I'll say, but Singapore was still fairly fresh when they moved down from South Korea. That's the reason the older generation of our family has such tensions; two wealthy families hoping to take claim of the same ground? It's a true Montague and Capulet story, and, if the tabloids' rumors were to reign true, Asher and I would be the Romeo and Juliet of the story. Of course, it hopefully wouldn't end in death, just the unionization of the two estates.
But the tabloids' rumors rarely ever prove to be real. I want nothing to do with Asher Kim... I only wish that he wanted nothing to do with me. Yeah, the jerk's had a crush on me since we were introduced at the age of two. Truthfully, the only good thing to come out of knowing Asher is knowing his sister, Avaline. Let's just say that if you know Avaline Kim, every party has your name on the guest list. Hopefully, Avaline will be throwing one of those wild parties while I'm home.
"Can I get you anything, ma'am?" One of the flight attendments asked suddenly.
"Oh, no thank you. But could you tell me when we'll be landing?"
