Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

excommunicated me for defying their wishes and marrying a girl whose skin tone was
just one shade too dark for them.”
“I still can’t believe they disowned you for marrying Salimah. She’s a Cambridgeeducated
pediatrician, for God’s sake!” Charlie exclaimed.
“How accomplished she was didn’t matter to them one bit. I’ll never forget what my
father said to me when I told him I was marrying her with or without his blessing. He
said, ‘If you don’t care about your own future, think of the children you will have with
that woman. For eleven generations, the blood will never be pure.’ And that’s the last
conversation I ever had with my father.”
“Unbelievable!” Charlie shook his head. “Were you surprised that he harbored those
feelings?”
“Not really. My parents have always been racist and elitist to the extreme, like so many
in their crowd. Peel away the veneer of wealth and sophistication and you’ll find
extremely provincial, narrow-minded people. The problem is that they all have too much
money, and it’s come so easily to them that they think they’re bloody geniuses and so
they are always right.”
Charlie laughed as he took a swig of his beer. “I’m lucky, I guess—my father always told
me I was an idiot who was wrong about everything.”
“By sheer dumb luck, my father was born in the right place at the right moment in time
—when the whole region was going through enormous, unprecedented growth. And oh
yeah, he also inherited an empire that had already been set up four generations before
him. I think he looks down on people like your father—people who are self-made—
because at the heart of it he is a deeply insecure individual. He knows he did absolutely
nothing to deserve his fortune, and so the only thing he can do is disparage others who
have the audacity to make their own money. His friends are all the same—they are
frightened of the new money that’s rolling in, and that’s why they cluster in their little
enclaves. I’m so glad I got away from all those people.”
“If Astrid ever comes back to me, she’ll never have to put up with her parents if she
doesn’t wish to. I want to build a whole new life for us, and I want her to live anywhere in
the world she wants to live,” Charlie said, his voice thick with emotion.
Alex raised his glass to Charlie. “You know, I always thought it was a pity the two of you
didn’t get married the first time around. You and Astrid let my parents scare you off too
easily then. I swear to you, if I knew where Astrid was, you’d be the first person to know.
But my sister is a smart girl. She knows how to disappear, and she knows where
everyone’s likely to be looking for her. If I were you, I’d be looking in all the unlikeliest
places, rather than all her old haunts or cities where her best friends are.”
After seeing Alex off, Charlie went back to his suite and found that the butler had
already performed the turndown service. The shades were drawn, and the television was
set on the channel with New Age music playing softly. He threw off his shoes, unbuttoned
his shirt, and sank into the bed. After dialing room service to order a hamburger, he
reached into his pocket and took out the letter that Astrid wrote to him from Paris,
reading it yet again.