'' He left all of it to me and then some to my father. What is that supposed to mean?'' I ask the lawyer who is sitting in front of me. We are sitting in a café next to the campus. Adari Mayson was my grandpa's lawyer. He took care of every legal matter regarding his personal affairs. He worked with a team of other lawyers to handle the legal matters of the companies and estates. ''Do you have any idea how many assets your grandpa had, Mr. Woods?'' his voice is rough and raspy. He looks in his late sixties, his head is bald and shiny. He has dark skin and brown eyes; he is skinny and looks small. He reminds me of Barak Obama but shorter. 'I have no idea what my grandpa owned.'' I answer with a slight shrug. I've cut the ties with this family for years and even when I was back home before the incident, I wasn't made aware of business. My only goal was getting good grades in school.
Mr. Mayson opens his suitcase and takes out many papers. He chooses some of them and displays them on the table between us. He notices the confusion on my face so he elaborates. "These estates and these companies are what he owned. This is in France; this one is in Canada and this one in Italy. Those are all in the states. As for the companies, they manly operate in shipping and logistics. They are both based in the US but have many major branches abroad...'' I can't focus as the lawyer explains the rest. The table between us holds the evidence of everything we have now. Many estates, in many countries. The companies and their hubs. I have no idea what this all means but it seems a lot. How did my grandpa handle all of this on his own?
''How did grandpa manage this all by himself?'' I ask tearing my eyes away from the papers on the table. The lawyer has his hands lifted midair in an explaining motion with his mouth open. I realize I interrupted him mid-sentence. ''I am sorry, Mr. Mayson. It all seems too much. I wasn't aware of any of this. I need to know how I can do it on my own too.'' I apologize, my voice laced with sincerity. ''Of course, Mr. Woods'' The lawyer doesn't skip a bit and if he felt disrespected by my interruption, he doesn't show it.
''There are 10 estates in total, two companies and 15 branches and a net worth of 1.3 billion. Your grandfather had business partners and employees who handled everything together. They reported to him weekly and he made decisions based on what he saw fit. He didn't do it all on his own, he worked with other COOs and representatives. He was the one who took the big decisions but the insignificant little operations were ran by people fit for their position.'' The lawyer informs me a polite smile on his lips. ''What is left for me, and what is left for my father?'' I ask curious. '' You will own 7 estates and he can have 3. The 3 that you choose for him. As for the company, he can no longer work as COO. He will have to work in a branch and not the headquarters, he will be sent abroad and he will work under someone. That was your grandfather's condition. You are the major shareholder, and most of the assets are left for you. What's left is merely a courtesy of your grandfather towards his son. As for the money you will be the one deciding how much he gets.''
I didn't know I held this much power over my dad's fate. Now I understand his panic. He is left with barely anything right now. And even if we get access to our assets, I am left with much more than him. ''What is the condition that's left by my grandpa for us in order to inherit this?'' I ask even though my dad already told me about it. But I need to hear it from the lawyer with more details. ''Conditions. There are two.'' Mr. Mayson informs me and the confusion on my face propels him to elaborate further. '' There are two conditions. The first one concerning your relationship with your father. You have 6 months to try and fix it. During the 6 months period you will not have access to any assets in the will. It's up to you both to find means to live. Your father won't even keep his job as COO of the company. Past 6 months, the jury will judge how you two have progressed as father and soon. The jury being your grandpa's friends: Robert Blue, Jason Adams, and Juliette Versia. If they are not convinced by your display of father and son bond you will have failed the 6-months period. As a consequence, your father loses all his inheritance to you. You will get everything. And he will get nothing. As for the second condition, it concerns your marital status you need to get married in under a year from getting your inheritance. Or else you will lose everything left by your grandfather to you. It will all be transferred to other family members, charity and employees...''
''But my dad didn't tell me any of this. He lied to me actually. He said WE will lose everything if we couldn't convince the jury that we are on good terms, he didn't tell me he will lose it to me. And this part about me getting married, he never brought it up.'' Anger is evident in my voice as I fight my temper. ''My only guess is that your father is afraid if you knew the real condition you will realize you have nothing to lose if the jury deemed the whole ordeal fake. As for the second condition I believe your grandfather wanted to force you to face your fears regarding commitment and marriage. You know after what happened...'' the lawyer explains in a serious voice that reminds me of my grandpa's.
My meeting with my grandpa's lawyer left me feeling more lost than before. I don't know why I thought that my dad was telling the truth about the will. I had hoped after all this time, he would have stopped playing his games and manipulating people. Manipulating his only son. I understand why my grandpa wanted to fix my relationship with my father but I don't understand his second condition. Marriage? What was he thinking? I am only 20, and I don't see myself married anytime soon. Plus, I don't do girlfriends. My parents' marriage was a failure and so is the one my father has with Melissa. I don't want to get married. I don't want my children to witness the broken relationship that I might have with their mother just like I witnessed it with my mom and dad.
YOU ARE READING
My curse
RomanceSky is a college student with a curse. She can see how, when, and where people will die. All she has to do is touch their hands and then she gets a vision of their end. Since she was a child, the curse has made her life a nightmare. She saw the deat...
