After the funeral, guests went into a white tent near the cathedral to enjoy an afternoon-tea buffet, which included flutes of Lillet champagne and nyonya cakes.

Carlton asked Astrid if he could have a quick word with her. She went along with him to a corner. He directed her to go “the chapel behind the north transept” where Charlie emerged from a small alcove (246). Astrid was shocked to see him. He brought with him a letter, written by his estranged wife, Isabel Wu. In it, she apologized for throwing soup at Astrid and wrote that she accepted Astrid and Charlie’s relationship.

On Sunday night, after putting her son to bed, Astrid texted Michael, asking him to refrain from letting Cassian play video games for hours straight; this activity made it more difficult to get the boy to sleep. Michael replied, accusing Astrid of exaggerating and saying that he slept fine at Michael’s house. Anyway, Michael went on, he would soon be getting custody of Astrid. When Astrid denied this possibility, Michael accused her of being “a lying cheating whore” (249).

After receiving this message, Astrid’s message app briefly froze. Then, a photograph appeared on the small screen.