On January 21, 2015, former Miss Venezuela, Bettina Ortiz y Meña, was on Harbor Island in the Bahamas. She walked toward her favorite corner table at Sip Sip, which overlooked the sea, but was angry to find a group of noisy, unglamorous tourists taking her presumed spot. She stormed off to complain to the chef, Julie, who informed her that the “tourist in the red fishing cap [was] the Duke of Glencora” (1). Julie then pointed out the Chinese fellow sitting beside him and identified him as Alfred Shang—a Singaporean who lived in England on an estate that was supposedly about half the size of Scotland.

Bettina snorted, claiming that she had never seen Shang’s name on any of the lists naming rich notables. Julie reminded her that there are people “far too rich and powerful to ever appear on those lists” (3). Meanwhile, Alfred Shang’s cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. When he answered, he heard the voice of Ah Ling—his sister Su Yi’s trusted, longtime housekeeper. Ah Ling informed him that Su Yi was taken to the hospital due to a possible heart attack. Alfred wondered where Su Yi’s daughters Victoria and Felicity were.