Chapter 3 - The Reading of the Will
The private library of the Vance Ancestral Manor was steeped in history. High wood-paneled walls were lined with thousands of leather-bound volumes, and a roaring fire crackled in the hearth, doing little to warm the thick, tense air.
Ethan sat in the center of the room in a green velvet armchair, his arm draped over the back of Chloe’s chair. He had already poured himself a double scotch, his posture relaxed, almost bored. Maya sat across the room by the window, her hands resting quietly in her lap, looking out at the rain-lashed gardens.
Arthur Pendelton stood behind the massive mahogany desk, adjusting a pair of reading glasses. He placed a thick, wax-sealed parchment document in front of him. Beside him sat two junior legal associates, their laptops open, faces completely expressionless.
"Thank you all for coming," Arthur began, his voice formal. "As the designated executor of the Estate of Eleanor Margaret Vance, I am legally required to read her final will and testament in the presence of the primary immediate family and named parties."
"Let's speed this up, Arthur," Ethan said, checking his Patek Philippe watch. "I have a board meeting call with the Singapore investors at six. Just read the distribution percentages so we can get the signatures finalized."
Arthur looked over the top of his glasses at Ethan, a long, measuring look. "Very well, Ethan."
He broke the wax seal, unfolding the heavy paper.
"I, Eleanor Margaret Vance, being of sound mind and body, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament. To my son, Ethan Vance, I leave the memories of a mother who tried, desperately, to teach him that wealth without integrity is a hollow kingdom."
Ethan frowned, his hand stopping over his glass. "What kind of preamble is that?"
Arthur continued, ignoring the interruption. "For the past eighteen months, I have watched with profound disappointment as my son dismantled his moral obligations, engaging in a deceitful affair with his subordinate, Chloe Davenport, while simultaneously gaslighting and emotionally neglecting his wife, Maya, under the guise of corporate necessity."
Chloe gasped, her face turning a deep crimson. "Hey! She can't say that in a legal document!"
"Shut up, Chloe," Ethan growled, sitting up straight, a sudden knot forming in his stomach. "Arthur, what is this? My mother’s personal opinions have no bearing on the asset allocation."
"Let me finish, Ethan," Arthur said, his voice dropping into a lethal, steady rhythm. "Therefore, regarding the Vance Ancestral Trust, which includes the global real estate holdings, the family seat in Chicago, the liquid reserves totaling six hundred and fifty million dollars, and most critically, the forty-eight percent controlling voting shares of Vance Technologies Corporation..."
Ethan leaned forward, his knuckles turning white on the armrest. This was it. The forty-eight percent shares, combined with his own twelve percent, would give him absolute, unassailable control of his tech empire, allowing him to kick out the old-guard board members who had been questioning his leadership.
Arthur took a deep breath. "I hereby bequeath the entirety of the Vance Ancestral Trust, including all real estate, liquid funds, and all forty-eight percent of the controlling voting shares of Vance Technologies Corporation, solely and unconditionally to my beloved daughter-in-law, Maya Sterling Vance."
The library went utterly, terrifyingly silent.
The only sound was the crackle of the fireplace.
Ethan’s face went completely white. The glass of scotch slipped from his fingers, falling onto the thick Persian rug, the amber liquid soaking into the wool. He stood up so fast his chair screeched against the floor.
"No..." Ethan whispered, his voice shaking. "No! That’s impossible! That’s legally invalid! She can't leave my company—my family trust—to an outsider! She was sick! She was senile! You manipulated her, Arthur!"
Beside him, Chloe stood up, her voice rising to a shrill scream. "What do you mean she gets everything?! What about the baby? What about the two million dollars we offered her to walk away?!"
Maya didn't move. She sat by the window, her breath catching in her throat, looking at Arthur with wide, stunned eyes. She had known Eleanor loved her, but she had never, in her wildest dreams, imagined the matriarch would hand her the keys to the kingdom.
"Sit down, Ethan," Arthur said, his voice slamming through the room like a gavel. "Your mother was subjected to three independent psychological evaluations by the chief of psychiatry at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the weeks leading up to her passing. All records are attached here. She was perfectly lucid. She knew exactly what you were doing. And she made sure you would never be able to use the Vance name to shield your cruelty again."
May you like
Ethan stared at the document, his breath coming in ragged, panicked gasps. He looked across the room at Maya, the woman he had tried to evict with a measly two million dollars just three days ago.
The tables hadn't just turned. The entire world had just been ripped out from under his feet.
