Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

overnight!” Ah Tock exclaimed.
Victoria gave him a look that said: Do I look like I give a damn how much it costs?
In moments like these, Ah Tock couldn’t believe he was actually related to these people.
For the life of him, he could not imagine why the Aakaras needed to have special mineral
water from some obscure spring in the Bernese Oberland flown in just for them. Wasn’t
Singapore tap water—rated one of the best in the world—good enough for these people?
Or Perrier, for fuck’s sake? Were these delicate Thai royals going to drop dead if they had
to drink Perrier?
“How are things coming along with the room?” Victoria asked.
“The team will be here to install everything tomorrow morning. I’ve also rented two
mobile-home units, which we can park behind the French walled garden. This is where
the doctors and nurses can be based, since you don’t want them in the house,” Ah Tock
reported.
“It’s not that we don’t want them in the house, but between Alix and Malcolm coming
in from Hong Kong and the Aakaras bringing all their maids, there’s just no room.”
Ah Tock was incredulous. This was the biggest private house in Singapore—he had
never been able to count how many bedrooms there actually were—and they couldn’t
even find space for the dedicated medical team that would be moving in to care for their
dying mother?
“How many maids is Auntie Cat bringing?”
“She usually brings three of her own, five when Taksin joins her, but with all her sons
and their wives coming, goodness knows how many of them will show up.” Victoria
sighed.
“The team from Mount E came earlier today to do their assessment, and they think that
the best place to set up the cardiac care unit is in the conservatory,” he said, trying to
reason with his cousin.
Victoria shook her head irritatedly. “No, that won’t do. Mummy will want to be upstairs
in her own bedroom.”
At this point, Ah Ling felt like she had to interject. “But Victoria, the conservatory is
perfect. They won’t have to transport her upstairs, not to mention all the machines and
generators. It’s secluded from any noise in the service wing, and they can set up all the
machines in the adjoining dining room and have the wiring brought in right through the
conservatory doors.”
“It’s no use arguing. Years ago when I suggested to Mummy that she move her
bedroom downstairs so that she didn’t have to keep climbing the stairs, she said to me, ‘I
will never sleep downstairs. The servants sleep downstairs. And the only members of my
family who have ever slept downstairs have done so in their coffins.’ Trust me, she will
expect everything to be set up in her bedroom.”
Ah Tock had to resist rolling his eyes. Even from her deathbed, Great-auntie Su Yi was
still trying to control the whole world. And a little gratitude from Her Imperial Highness
would have been nice—he had worked nonstop to make all this happen in record time,