It is the tale of two letters, both with vastly different implications for the future ownership of billionaire Stanley Ho Hung-sun's sprawling empire.
But they share one thing in common: both letters bear the signature of Stanley Ho.
Complicating matters further, a statement issued late last night by Ho's third wife, Ina Chan Un Chan, called for an end to the familial discord, battles for control of Ho's corporate interests and a dismissal of the legal team appointed last week by Ho. That statement, too, was signed by Stanley Ho.
On January 5 this year, the 89-year-old casino magnate sent a letter to his daughter, Daisy Ho Chiu-fung. It was not a fatherly new year's greeting. Ho had just learned that Daisy and four of her siblings - Pansy, Maisy, Josie and Lawrence - together with third wife Chan had taken control of the business empire he had spent the past five decades building.
This was done 'without my consent and knowledge', Ho wrote to Daisy, according to a copy of the letter seen by the South China Morning Post. On the contrary, Ho said that he had intended for his main assets to be distributed equally among each of his four families, which include three surviving wives and 16 surviving children, according to the letter.
'I have tried to call you and contact you through SMS and your secretary in order to come personally to explain to me what is going on,' Stanley Ho wrote to Daisy. 'However, you have not responded so I have no other way but through this letter to command you to come to my house, Repulse Bay Road No1,' he wrote.