Chapter4
1069 Words
Inheritance Unveiled
A Rosso Corsa Ferrari 488 GTB sped to the spot in under twenty-five minutes.
“Carry her.”
“Yes, master.’’
Both Damien and his chauffeur carried Clara in the car and drove to the nearest hospital.
Damien paid thousands of dollars to make sure an effective and immediate treatment was given to his mother.
The doctors and nurses arrived and checked her pulse and heartbeat before any treatment was given. Not long after, she was awakened.
Sitting at the tip of her bed is Damien, while his chauffeur is in the receptionist's room.
“Where am I? What happened?” Clara couldn't tell why she was at the hospital.
“The last time I checked, we were at the restaurant discussing the inheritance file, and here. How?” She asked, continuing.
“You'll be fine mum. Please rest.” Damien responded.
Damien called on the doctor to check on his mother again.
“She couldn't remember all that happened earlier, doctor,” Damien said.
The doctor checked through her vitals again.
“She has a little case of amnesia. She can't recollect everything that happened earlier, but sooner or later, she would regain all lost memory.” The doctor told Damien.
It was not long after that Clara was discharged. Damien ordered his chauffeur to drive his mother home.
“Who is he?” Clara asked
“Uhm… he is my friend, I called on him for help when the incident happened,” Damien replied.
“What inci….”
“Please, let's head home. Thanks to God that you are fine now. That is all that matters at the moment.” Damien responded.
While in the car, when taking Clara home, Damien’s phone flashed for a text message which reads;
“I can't continue being mistreated, please, come take me away.”
This message came in from Tessa. Damien immediately gave Clara's home address to his chauffeur.
“I have to leave now, Mum. I'll give you a call often. Please take good care of yourself.”
“I'll.” Clara hugged his son so tightly.
Back at Hayes’ estate, Damien was expecting the usual chaos- Lady Agatha’s drama, but the reverse was the case. The whole compound was as silent as a graveyard.
“What could be happening?” Damien thought.
Upon entering the elegantly furnished sitting room, everyone in the house, including the cooks, maids, gardeners, chauffeurs and gatekeeper, was seated. Damien could recognise everyone's faces except for one unfamiliar man in his mid-50s.
While he was trying to figure out the reason for the settings, Tessa walked sluggishly in his direction looking unhappy.
Her hair unkempt, and face stressed. She's not been emotionally stable all this while.
“Tessa! What's the problem? Why are you looking this way?” Damien asked, holding her palms tightly and massaging her hair and face trying to figure out what was wrong.
“I just wanted you to be here, I'll be fine.” She replied curtly.
“Sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Who's that man clad in a leather jacket?” Damien asked, pointing to the strange man.
“Haven't you met with him before? He's Hayes’ lawyer- Sir Liam Harrington. He came in not quite long. He's here to share Grandpa's property.”
“Uhm uhm” Liam cleared his throat.
“Now that everyone is present, let's hit the nail on the head.” he began.
“Before the death of our beloved legend, Late Ronan Hayes, he had a lot of properties worth billions of thousands of dollars. He has then, in his goodwills distributed all among these people I'd be listing out.” he continued.
He began with Ronan's smallest possessions, handing out personal notes, keepsakes, vehicles, tools, insurance benefits, gift cards, mementoes, books, furniture, bonuses, collectables, devices, and even charity donations to all of Hayes’ estate staff.
It wasn't new that the non-family members inherited a few of his properties. Everyone knew he was a kind person when he was alive. It wasn't the first time he gifted them randomly.
Only a deep smile crossed over all of the staff faces.
The lawyer then continued with the smaller ones; vacation homes, some family heirlooms, and modest investments among all family members except Tessa.
Deep down her cousin and uncles were glad, thinking Tessa would inherit nothing and would remain pessimistic, still married to the “poor Damien” who only intended to bask in their reflected glory. She would eventually regret her choice.
Liam proceeded to the larger properties, Hayes’ Estate to be willed to my wife, Lady Agatha.
“Congrats, grandma,” Maya whispered and went to hug Lady Agatha, who was seated on her golden sparkling chair made solely for her.
Tessa was already melting. She remembered she was her grandfather's favourite. She wondered if this had been pre-planned by anyone with the lawyer.
“Why have I not been offered any of these properties?” Tessa thought to herself.
But Damien kept calming her and assuring her that she'd be fine even if nothing was eventually willed to her.
Liam went through more rounds, and Tessa's name was excluded; this time, Tessa's mother- Fiona, Bruce, Derek, and Maya began to feel like something was wrong.
Not until the lawyer mentioned one of Ronan's biggest properties- a commercial building at Nexa district, and it was willed solely to Tessa.
A shocked silence filled the room, with looks of disbelief on her grandmother’s and everyone's faces, including Tessa's.
But the surprises weren’t over. The lawyer continued, announcing that “Hayes Leading Technology” would go to Damien Whitlock.
At the mention of Damien's name, a sudden spark of realisation appeared to him. He remembered Ronan's words again;
“take every responsibility at Hayes’ Technology very seriously, even when the company doesn't belong to you and has its director. Sooner, you would understand better.”
“Is this why?” Damien was lost in his thoughts.
The atmosphere of the room became more intense. Everyone was looking left and right, trying to understand what was really going on. Including Damien, they were all left speechless.
Lady Agatha immediately lashed out.
“This is impossible! You charmed and manipulated him before his death, and then you killed him. Now you want to have all that we've been building before your existence.”
Lady Agatha panting as she talked to Damien angrily.
- Writer
