Taking Back Control

Chapter 28 Understanding the Trust

Chapter 28    Understanding the Trust

Rory sat done in her grandfather's office in the back part of the house and opened the folder that DJ gave her. As she read the documents again, she looked at the date on the paper. The trust fund was written on the day before she was born. Rory wondered if her mother ever knew about it and if not, why was that information kept from her. Should she ask her grandmother's Emily and Francine about this? Should she talk to her parents about this? Why did it remain a secret for so long?

Rory got up and walked over to the window that was in the office. She looked out over the back yard where the gardens were. The families both had so many secrets. For awhile Rory's existence was one of those secrets.

Turning around, Rory put her hands back on the leather chair she was sitting in and wondered if it matters now. Life might have been different for her mother and father; would they have gotten married earlier? Would she still have gone to Chilton maybe even dated Tristan? Her life would have been different. Rory thought about all those years that she never saw or had a relationship with her grandparents. She never met Francine or Straub Hayden until she was sixteen and that turned into an embarrassing evening. She often wondered why her mother let her grandmother bully her. The games her grandmother Emily played to get her way... the Friday night dinners, the parties her grandmother insisted on giving her..., sweet sixteen, her twenty-first, the trip to Europe and then the Yale sausage party. Though her father wasn't around much when she was younger, she had a good life. She knew her father loved her, and her mother was her best friend who sacrificed a lot for her.

Rory smiled; her life didn't turn out so bad. Even though her grandmother Emily and mother disagreed, Rory was able to form a close relationship with her Gilmore grandparents. Rory idolized her grandfather Richard, and when he passed away, she was devastated. Without his influence and connections, she never would have gone to Yale or Chilton. They made sure that Rory had the best education and provided the funding for her when she needed it. She sat back down at the desk and thought about Chilton where she met, Tristan, Louise, Madelyn, and Paris. Paris, her nemesis at Chilton, became her best friend. Despite everything, Rory trusted Paris, to be honest, and straight with her.

Picking the papers back up, Rory sighed and continued reading through the document; she wished Jess was here so she could talk to him. She couldn't discuss this with Lane. Lane was her childhood friend, but she would never understand, their lives were so different. Lane was married and the mother of two twin boys and her and her husband were in a rock band on the weekends. She wondered if she should call Finn if he would be able to help her, but then she remembered that he was away for a while and couldn't be reached.

Paris already told her what she should do, today, on the car ride home. She argued with Rory on the way home telling her that it was a "No Brainier," the company was her grandfather's legacy to her. It was her birthright. She wanted to argue back and remind her that Straub told her that her birth was a mistake

It was only three o'clock, and she wasn't sure what time her mother or Luke were bringing her grandmother's car back. She wouldn't see Tristan for at least four hours; she didn't know what to do. Rory got up and walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee and then returned to the office and continued to read the information. Coffee always settled her when she had some important decisions to make.

The Hayden Publishing Company, initially called Hayden and Sons Publishing company, HSP, was a merger of three major publishing houses and was heavily invested now in the digital print and publication. She read, back in 2014 - 15 that the company was losing money, then in the fall of 2016, their book products and other book publishing revenue, such as advertising and the sale of publishing rights, accounted for approximately 41% of their income. The Research revenue showed a 7% decrease, which was driven by the company transition to time-based digital journal subscription agreements, and the Professional Development segment showed a decline of 1%. She also noticed and highlighted that there was an increase in revenue that had to do with their online test and Preparation and certification, which was able to offset the decline of book revenue.