Chapter 2

The dust never settled. I was jittery for a couple of months, working longer hours and even doing deliveries to make ends meet. Of course, Yun would not let me use the new BMW to do such menial work, so I rented one of those pay-to-use bicycles and shuttled food from restaurant to customer at estates far away from where any of her friends lived. And, yes, I had to take the bus there. With Clement constantly reassuring us that everything was in order, Yun began to enjoy the status of living in a private property and driving a European car. I didn’t know why, but her social media started getting updated more often - pictures of her by the pool, on the deck chair, selfies of her in bikini, posing by the car at scenic spots around the island, every picture being coupled with cryptic messages - you know, something like humble bragging. Within her immediate family, she was the first to move out of public housing. And that alone came with bragging rights. Among her friends and peers, she was the first to own two properties. Yes, some of them also owned European cars, but Yun’s was the latest model, and the ‘sport’ version to boot. Add into this equation, Clement’s sales bible of selling both condos after a few years to upgrade to a house with some land, Yun talked as if she had everything worked out.

All along, I knew Yun was a proud woman. She cared about her ‘face’, her reputation. She needed to appear as if she were a league above her friends. I didn’t have much say in these matters, I was the beta male, remember? As long as she was happy, I was happy. I had a beautiful wife, the sex was great, we owned two properties and a luxury car, what more could a man ask for? Sure, in reality we were barely making ends meet and Yun was secretly having to cut back on expenses. But to her and the rest of the social media world, she was living the life, the Singapore Dream.

Then in mid-2023, our whole world came crashing down. Clement, with his shitload of shady dealings, was the first to be investigated by the authorities. This was even before the news of the government clamping down on people exploiting loopholes was released. And you know what he did? That fucker packed up, crossed the border into Malaysia and disappeared. And who do you think the authorities would go after next? People like Yun and me of course. Long story short, we were avoiding taxes and we were given a choice; pay the taxes we owed plus the fine, or get ready to be dragged through a very public case in the news along with others like us.

Yun’s cousin was also caught in this whole Clement fiasco. She did the same thing as us, selling her flat and getting two private properties. And now that the taxman had come knocking, her cousin was turning to us for help, no doubt drawn in by the lavish lifestyle that Yun portrayed on social media. But Yun denied everything, insisting that we went by the book and paid all the taxes She refused to admit, even to her own cousin, that we were in deep shit. Shit so deep that no amount of ‘girl-math’ or glamorous posts on the internet would ever get us out of. Yun flatly rejected her cousin’s plea for a loan, saying that we were cash-short but asset-rich.