House of Dolls

The Heir to a Fortune

Time was all he had. There were no obligations, no school, and no Anna. Nathan had been absent from the Cox residence for several days. He stayed in a run-down motel after leaving Anna's house to mentally prepare himself for going over the details of his parents' will. He was aware since he was an only child, they had left him everything, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to discover.

Nathan paced back and forth in his seedy motel room, checking the time obsessively to see if it was time to leave for the attorney's meeting. It was finally three o'clock, and it was time to go. Nathan got into his beat-up old car and drove five minutes to the office. He walked into his parents' attorney's office expecting to leave a wealthy man.

Gary Kurt, Warren's best friend, was the attorney. He was a dapper man who always dressed in expensive suits. Warren entrusted him with his entire estate as well as his farm's business dealings. Nathan knew Gary well, so he expected a pleasant and relaxed meeting.

He approached the receptionist's window to check in, "Hi, Nathan Hickey, here to see Gary Kurt."

"Hi Mr. Hickey, go ahead and take a seat, and I'll let Mr. Kurt know you are here. Would you like something to drink?"

Nathan shook his head no, retreated to a small waiting area with four high-backed chairs, and took a seat. He waited fifteen minutes before being greeted by Gary.

"Hey Nathan, how's it going?" Gary asked as he reached out his hand to greet Nathan.

He firmly shook his hand and gave him a nod hello. "Things are going OK right now, you know, considering everything that has happened." Nathan needed to appear as if he was still grieving his parent's death. That was the final barrier he had to clear before he could finally be free. Mr. Kurt led Nathan to a private room with a small mahogany conference table, where they could be alone. The gleam from the freshly polished table put Nathan in a trance before Gary motioned for Nathan to take a seat and began.

"Alright, Nathan. So as you know, I am your parent's estate attorney and the executor of their will, so I am going to go over everything that is written out here, OK." Nathan nodded his head in agreement to continue. "As you probably already know, your parents left you everything. The 1,241 acres, the Farmhouse on the land, all of the livestock, the business, three vehicles, plus their five million apiece in life insurance. All of these things combined totals quite a bit of money, Nathan."

"OK, well, how much?" Nathan sat back and took a sip of water from his glass, eager to hear how much he had just inherited.

"With all of it, it totals $22, 752, 000," Gary stated.

Nathan spit his water out as he heard the figure. His eyes were wide with disbelief. "I'm sorry, did you say over twenty-two million, as in dollars?" Nathan couldn't believe what he had just heard. In his mind, he was doing cartwheels, but he still had to appear upset. "Wow, I can't believe my parents loved me that much to leave me all of this." And just like he had before, Nathan turned on the waterworks.

"I'm so sorry, Nathan. Your parents were both great people who loved you very much. They wanted to make sure you had enough money for the rest of your life." Gary felt for Nathan, but he needed to continue. He sat with Nathan for about another hour. The two of them went over Pennsylvania's inheritance tax, ways to invest as well as the importance of a board of advisors.

Nathan sat and pretended to be interested in what Gary had said, but all he could think about was the amount of money that would soon be deposited into his bank account. Nathan had plans for the farm, the business, and the vacant lot where his childhood home had once stood. He had no intention of keeping any of it. Nathan intended to sell the farm and everything on it while cashing checks as they came in. Because his uncle had always wanted the business, he intended to sell it to him. Nathan didn't want the hassle of running the farm, and he had bigger plans for his future, none of which included anything related to his family name. Gary led Nathan out after they had finished speaking.