His aunt Jacqueline Ling informs him that in consequence of his planned marriage, he will find himself shut out of his family and his ancestral home, and warns him that this will be more intolerable than he anticipates.

His mother Bao Shaoyen, while lunching with Eleanor Young and some friends, shows them a photo of Carlton before the accident, and they realize he strongly resembles Rachel Chu.

Finding herself continually shunned, she hires the services of Corinna Ko-Tung, a woman from a well-born family, who helps Kitty appear more sophisticated.

Years ago, she endured life as Su Yi's disapproved daughter-in-law due to Philip marrying her out of love.

Rachel meets her father, Bao Gaoliang, prior to the wedding, and is afterwards invited to spend time with his entire family in Shanghai during her honeymoon.

Bao Shaoyen is in fear of losing her husband's political advantages for having an illegitimate child, and wishes to prevent Rachel from receiving Carlton's inheritance.

At the hospital, Peik Lin and Nick receive a bouquet of flowers with a note, saying that Rachel was poisoned with Tarquinioid as a warning to never return back to China.

The poison is extremely rare, and Carlton believes that his parents' pharmaceutical company may be involved, as they recently acquired the rights to distribution of Tarquinioid.

Refusing to believe his mother, Carlton then confesses to his father about how she bribed everyone to cover up the truth of his accident as well as the other girl's death.

However, when Rachel discovered the truth about the crash, he believes Shaoyen intentionally poisoned her in order to prevent her from causing a scandal.

Now remorseful for how he's treated Rachel, Bao Gaoliang visits her and Nick over in Hong Kong at Eddie's apartment.

Michael gets interviewed by a magazine about his family, naming him Father of the Year after bragging about his accomplishments and showcasing his luxury items.

The magazines are recalled and retracted from distribution, and Michael begins to believe that his company's situation is the result of Astrid's father's meddling.

Michael confronts Astrid about her relationship with Charlie, revealing he has secretly read her messages and listened to all of her phone calls with him.

Kitty reveals to Corinna where Bernard is hiding: in a small house in Los Angeles while undergoing reconstructive surgery.

She returns to her lavish house in Singapore with her daughter and reconnects her mother-in-law Carol Tai with her granddaughter, while beginning her lawsuit with Bernard for custody of Giselle.

Anne Kingston of Maclean's wrote of the novel, "Kevin Kwan’s sequel to the bestselling Crazy Rich Asians is perhaps even more delicious than the first.

Screenwriter Adele Lim declined to work on the sequels because of an equal-pay inequity dispute during negotiations in fall 2018.

[19] Color Force had hired the experienced Peter Chiarelli to write the screenplay for the Crazy Rich Asians adaptation; when Chu joined the original production, he brought Lim on to add authentic details from Singapore and Malaysia.

"[21] The sequel film was expected to focus on the relationship between Charlie and Astrid, the search for Rachel's father, and Kitty Pong.