Becoming a Scott

Chapter 32

The witnessing of the signing of the will went about as well as anyone could've expected it to go. The whole family and the attorneys were all seated and standing in the dinning room. Her grandmother sat at the head of the table and dictated the new clauses of the will. 

Uncle Richard, Aunt Matilda, Riley and Michael were sitting on one side of the table, silently listening to the words and holding back panic. Christina sat across from them with a set jaw and with straight posture, she did her best to mask the hesitation that still infected her heart.

I deserve this, my family deserves this, Christina thought to herself repeatedly.

"The property, the vacation home, thirty six-percent of the shares of the company, and all familial priced possessions will be allocated into the possession of my granddaughter Christina Scott Ruiz." Her grandmother spoke evenly, as if she was doing nothing more than ordering Isabela to fetch her tea.

Uncle Richard scoffed, his grip tightening on the back of his daughter chair.

"When I pass away and Christina has successfully concluded her education," her grandmother added, reading from the new will in her hands, "she will fill my role as president of the Scott Trading Company and therefore will hold control over the various business that make up the subsidiaries-"

Aunt Matilda snapped her head to give her husband a warning glance. The two of them seemed to twitch in anger but knew better than to speak. It was Michael who slammed his hand on the table, "Grandmother please, you can't give such power to a foreigner who has no experiences with business dealings!"

Ander sat up in his seat, preparing himself to say a few choice words.

"Some decorum please," one of the attorney stated.

Her grandmother hummed, barely looking up from the will. "If you'd let me finish my sentence, Michael." She turned back to the will, "This means that Christina will be switching her field of education to business and is expected to work closely alongside me from here on out. She will live on campus but will be expected to return on the weekends and excuse herself from her classes when I see it fit."

Christina took a deep breath. Her grandmother had never cared to mention these would be the details of the agreement. She had hoped that by winning she would be guaranteed to become somewhat independent from her family and grandmother but she was clearly too naive and had not thought about the logistics.

"As if a couple classes could help a girl who spent the majority of her life in poverty." Any Matilda spat out.

Riley stood up from her seat, "Michael and I were raised learning the trade and becoming literate in the stock market."

"Please," her uncle Joel spoke from beside Christina, "for the sake of effectiveness, stop interrupting." He had remained silent this entire time and seemed rather calm about the whole thing.

"But," her grandmother spoke after clearing her throat, "Christina's final accession into the business will be determined by her uncles. Richard and Joel Scott have an individual vote as to whether or not they see her fit to take over as president. This means that the two brothers have to come to an agreement, if one denies, then the matter will be voted on by the board of trustees."

Christina was angered by this last attempt from her grandmother to fuck her over even from the grave, but she had to remind herself that she had gotten what she wanted. Who cared about running a company? She wanted the property and then funds, that would be enough for her.

However, Michael seemed particularly happy to hear this last bit and Ander's face went white.

Her grandmother handed the will to one of the attorneys. "My two son's will sign the document as witnesses. That is all that has been changed as of now."

Uncle Richard and Joel signed the papers quickly, the two of them wanting to be done with all of this.

Ander got up from his seat and waited for Christina. His eyes seemed to hover on the high school ring hanging from the thin silver chain around her neck. He had scrambled to look for something this morning that wouldn't make her look like an idiot and had managed to borrow something from his mother's jewelry collection.

"It was lovely as ever to see you again Mrs. Scott," he offered with a big grin to Christina's grandmother.

"I can imagine for you it has been." Her grandmother answered with a sweet smile before lowering her tone so that only he could hear, "Though I'm sure you realize just how deceptive I can be."

He hummed, "Certainly did take me by surprise even if it shouldn't have." He turned back to call to Christina, as her grandmother left the room, but she was hugging her uncle Joel. The two of them exchanged small words and Ander waited patiently, trying to figure out how he would break the news to Christina that she was nowhere near done with any of this. In fact, it seemed that it had all just begun.

"If you were trying to come after the Scott fortune, you sure failed." Michael said as he came towards the end of the table. His parents and Riley had left quickly, without giving a goodbye or even a nod of the head. "There's no chance of Christina taking over the company."

Ander looked over at his old friend with impatience. "There's still a lot that can happen between now and then."

Michael let out a low laugh and shook his head, "Are you sure you wouldn't want to call off the engagement now, before you're stuck with a crumbling estate and a hopeless wife."

Ander forced a fake smile on his lips and stood back from him, "She's not hopeless, not in any sense. Christina is the one woman who managed to make me rethink marriage."

"You act on impulse, Ander, this had nothing to do with her scheming. There was something of gain in this for you... at least you thought there was." He laughed one last time before walking away, overjoyed by the fact that his grandmother was much smarter than he had ever given her credit for.

"Hey," Christina spoke as Ander walked over. "Uncle Joel is inviting us out to the track so we can catch the last couple of races for the afternoon."

Uncle Joel sighed, "Get some of the edge of. I'll invite Isabela as well if you'd like me to." Even as he spoke casually there was some tension in his tone. Uncle Joel and Ander were both fully aware of something Christina was too unexpirienced to realize.

"Yeah, we should get her out of this house. I have a feeling it'll be very suffocating very soon." Christina said with a shiver.

"The three of you can go on," Ander answered, "I've got some people I plan on meeting tonight." He hesitated before adding, "I'll see you back at the house, Christina."

She looked at him, her eyes widening before she finally spoke. "Okay,"

Ander and Joel exchanged a glare before Ander nodded his head and left.