The Sins Of The Past

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Later in the afternoon, the immediate family of the late John Niarchos gathered inside his study room. I was seated beside Ares behind a big round table. Ares' parents were there, Ares' cousin Kane, the estate attorney, the accountant for the estate and their family lawyer. Each one of us was given a copy of the Last Will and Testament of Mr. John Niarchos.

We were given time to read the Will. I was surprised how rich Mr. John Niarchos was. The Will stated massive properties and billions of dollars. He could even buy his own country!

Ares' father got the house in Greece, varied real estate properties in South America and many shares in the stock market. His mother Caitlyn inherited a mansion in California, with a big sum of money. Kane would get the house in Milan, Italy and a vineyard.

Ares on the other hand, got the mansion in New York and the business, the Niarchos Group of Companies. The paintings and collections in the house would be given to Ares for keeping and to be passed on to his heirs. There was a mention of a big amount of money deposited in Swiss Bank that Ares could get if he adhered to the stipulated conditions. I was looking for the conditions in the ten-pages documents but couldn't find one. What are the conditions?

I was not mentioned in the will and I wondered why I was there. Probably, I was invited because I was Ares' wife and everything he inherited in the tenure of our marriage became our conjugal property.

But I didn't need his money. I just wanted to be with him, always. I loved him so much.

The estate attorney adjourned the meeting when no one contested the will. But he asked me and Ares to remain seated for the reading of the conditions of the will, together with the accountant of the estate and their family lawyer.

I was surprised.

I looked at Ares and his expression was unreadable. I took his hand and held it closely to my lap.

"What is this?" I asked him.

"I don't know." Was all he said.

The estate attorney sipped his glass of water then focused his attention to us. "Mr. Niarachos, it is clearly stated in the Will that you will inherit everything that is in the Swiss bank account of your grandfather, that estimates around a hundred billion pounds."

I gasped at the mention of the amount. Ares just looked at me, then squeezed my hand gently.

"But on the following conditions." The attorney continued.

Ares nodded and exhaled heavily.

"You will get the money if you comply with everything. Let's see... first condition. If you stayed being married to Rachel White Niarchos before Mr. John Niarchos died."

"We're still married." Ares answered.

"Yeah. We are." I said, backing up Ares.

"Okay. Second. If you've been loyal to your wife, never had an affair or had mistresses."

"No... no... never. I'm always loyal to my marriage. Never even dated anyone ever since."

The attorney nodded. "Good. So I guess, you can have everything then. Congratulations."

Ares stood up and shook the estate attorney's hand. "Thank you."

"Congratulations to both of you."

We were on our way out when their family lawyer talked to Ares. I heard him say behind me. "I reviewed the divorce paper last night. It's safe to sign it now."