Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

CHAPTER TEN
PORTO FINO ELITE ESTATES, SHANGHAI
Lined up in perfect military precision on the steps of the monolithic granite-and-concrete
structure were six attendants. Back in the days when Colette Bing was the mistress of the
house—thanks to her indulgent father, Jack—the staff had been clad in chic black T-shirts
and black jeans from James Perse. But ever since Kitty Pong Tai Bing had taken over the
grand residence at the heart of Porto Fino Elite Estates, she had outfitted the men in
black-tie butler’s uniforms and the women in classic black-and-white French maid outfits.
As the convoy of black Audi SUVs pulled up to the house, Kitty, her daughter, Gisele,
her infant son, Harvard, and the children’s nannies alighted from the car and the line of
staffers bowed in unison before scurrying around to gather all the luggage.
“Oooh! It’s good to be home!” Kitty squealed, kicking off her red Aquazzura suede
fringe-and-tassel sandals as she entered the great hall, which was now reduced to a
construction site with scaffolding against the walls, plastic tarp on all the furniture, and
exposed wiring hanging from the ceiling. In an effort to remove every last reminder of
Colette’s taste, Kitty had spent the past year “collaborating” with Thierry Catroux—the
celebrated interior designer who worked only with billionaires—to redesign every last
square inch of the estate.
“Where is my husband?” Kitty asked Laurent, the estate manager she had poached
from some tech mogul’s estate in Kona to replace Wolseley, Colette’s British butler, who
had once worked for Princess Michael of Kent at Kensington Palace.
“Mr. Bing is having his daily massage, madame.”
Kitty headed over to the spa pavilion and descended the steps to the subterranean
swimming pool encircled with carved marble pillars. As she walked down the lacqueredcinnabar
passageway leading to the treatment rooms, she smiled at the thought of all this
coming down too—Colette’s hammam-inspired Turkish spa was going to be transformed
into a futuristic Egyptian fantasy spa inspired by the movie Stargate. It was her own idea!
Kitty entered the treatment room illuminated by scented candles and found Jack lying
facedown on the massage bed. The scent of frankincense permeated the air, as Céline
Dion played softly in the background. One of the female therapists * was doing reflexology