Inheritance Clause

Chapter1 Episode1

Marisol Reyes had buried her father three days ago.

Now, it seemed a lawyer was about to bury her too.

“Read it again,” she said.

Her voice was steady, even though everything inside her was shaking.

Mr. Halloway adjusted his glasses and looked down at the papers in front of him. He looked like he wished the words on the page were different.

“The company,” he said slowly, “every share, every vote, and complete control, has been divided equally between Marisol Reyes and Julian Voss. Fifty percent each.”

“That’s impossible.”

Marisol placed both hands hard on the table.

“Julian Voss hasn’t worked here in eight years. He left. He walked away. My father never even mentioned his name after that.”

“And yet…”

Halloway moved the papers closer to her.

“There is one condition. You should read this part yourself.”

Marisol picked up the document.

She read the paragraph once.

Then again.

She was sure she had misunderstood it.

She hadn’t.

“If both named parties are unmarried at the time this document is read,” she read quietly, “they must marry each other within thirty days and remain married for at least one year.”

Her eyes moved down the page.

“During that year, all major company decisions, including mergers, acquisitions, senior appointments, and major structural changes, must receive written approval from both parties.”

She stopped.

There was more.

“If either party refuses to follow the agreement, all shares belonging to that person will immediately be transferred to the other party.”

Marisol slowly lowered the paper.

For a moment, she couldn’t speak.

“My father wrote this?”

“He did.”

“My father,” she said, almost laughing from disbelief, “who hadn’t spoken to Julian Voss in eight years, wants me to marry him?”

Halloway looked uncomfortable.

“Your father was a complicated man, Ms. Reyes.”

“That is one way to describe him.”

Marisol stood.

She couldn’t sit there anymore.

She walked toward the large window and stared outside.

The city stretched below her. Tall buildings stood against the gray sky, while the river moved quietly in the distance. On the other side, construction workers were busy building something new.

She barely noticed any of it.

Her father had spent the last three years keeping her in the dark.

He had allowed her to run the company’s shipping and logistics department, but he had never treated her like she truly belonged there.

He never told her she was doing a good job.

He never told her what he was planning.

He never told her the truth about Julian.

And now, after his death, his final decision had been revealed.

He had left her a trap.

And Julian Voss was standing right in the middle of it.

“Does Julian know?” she asked.

“He is finding out this morning.”

Halloway checked his watch.

“Actually, I think he may already be here.”

Almost immediately, the office door opened.

No knock.

Julian Voss walked in.

Marisol turned.

For a second, she forgot how to breathe.

He looked older than she remembered.

Eight years had passed since she last saw him, and somehow those years had changed him.

When Julian left at twenty-six, he had been restless and sharp. He was the kind of man who couldn’t sit still when he was angry. He would walk around a room instead of taking a seat.

The man standing in front of her now was different.

He was calm.

Too calm.

His shoulders were relaxed, his face showed almost no emotion, and his dark eyes gave away nothing.

Except that they were fixed directly on her.

“Marisol.”

He said her name slowly, as if he were hearing it for the first time in years.

“Julian.”

She didn’t offer her hand.

Neither did he.

Halloway cleared his throat.

“I assume you’ve heard about the will.”

“I’ve heard.”

Julian kept his eyes on Marisol.

“I suppose she has too.”

“I’m standing right here,” Marisol said sharply. “You can speak to me directly.”

For a brief moment, something almost like a smile appeared on his face.

“Fine.”

He looked directly at her.

“Marisol. Your father just left me half of everything I once walked away from, but there’s one condition.”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“I have to marry his daughter.”

He paused.

“Do you want to explain why?”

“I don’t know why.”

Marisol folded her arms.

“I found out four minutes before you did.”

“That’s comforting.”

“I wasn’t trying to comfort you.”

That almost-smile appeared again before disappearing.

Julian walked farther into the office and removed his jacket.

Marisol immediately became tense.

She remembered that feeling.

Years ago, whenever Julian entered her father’s office, the entire room seemed to change.

He had always had that effect on her.

“Why did you leave?”

The question came out before she could stop it.

For eight years, she had wondered about it.

Now he was standing right in front of her.

She wasn’t going to waste the chance.

Julian’s face became serious.

“Ask your father.”

“My father is dead.”

“Then I guess it will remain a mystery.”

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

“Some things are better left alone, Marisol.”

“That’s a convenient answer.”

“It’s the only answer I have.”

Halloway looked from one of them to the other.

The tension in the room was getting worse.

“Maybe we should focus on the agreement,” he said.

“You have thirty days to make your decision. If either of you refuses to marry, that person’s shares will go to the other.”

Julian looked at him.

“And if we both refuse?”

“Then on the thirty-first day, the shares will be placed into a trust and sold to outside buyers.”

Halloway paused.

“Neither of you will own any part of the company.”

Silence filled the room.

Marisol began doing the calculations in her head.

For three years, she had worked in the logistics department.

She had rebuilt broken systems.

She had fought for better contracts.

She had hired and trained her own team.

She had protected her workers when her father wanted to cut their budget.

She had built something that mattered to her.

If the company was sold to strangers, everything she had worked for could disappear.

She looked at Julian.

He was watching her closely.

The calm look in his eyes made her want to disagree with him simply because she hated the feeling that he already knew what she would choose.

“I’m not doing this because I want to,” she said.

“Neither am I.”

“I built something here.”

Her voice became firmer.

“I’m not going to sit back and watch it get broken apart because my father decided to play matchmaker after his death.”

Julian’s expression changed slightly.

“You built something here?”

“The logistics department.”

She lifted her chin.

“I’ve spent three years building it. It’s mine.”

“I didn’t know.”

His voice was quieter this time.

For the first time, Marisol saw something in his eyes.

Surprise.

Maybe even respect.

“There is a lot you don’t know,” she said.

“You’ve been gone for eight years.”

“I know.”

They stared at each other.

Three feet separated them.

But it felt like there were eight years between them.

Marisol felt something strange in her chest.

She didn’t want to call it attraction.

It wasn’t.

At least, she refused to believe it was.

It was simply an old feeling.

Something that had been buried for years but had never completely disappeared.

“Thirty days,” Halloway said carefully.

“You don’t have to give me an answer today.”

“I need some air.”

Marisol turned and walked out.

She didn’t wait for either man to say another word.

She made it all the way to the parking garage before she heard footsteps behind her.

Julian.

“Marisol.”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“I’m not here to talk about the will.”

She stopped.

Julian stood a few feet away from her, his hands deep in his pockets.

For the first time since he entered the office, he didn’t look like a man wearing armor.

He looked tired.

Almost unsure.

Human.

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about your father.”

Marisol turned around.

“You hated my father.”

“I didn’t hate him.”

Julian paused.

“I hated what happened. That’s different.”

Marisol stared at him.

“And you still won’t tell me what happened?”

“No.”

His answer was quiet but firm.

“Not yet.”

“Then keep your apology.”

She crossed her arms.

“I don’t need your sympathy if you’re still going to hide the truth from me.”

She expected him to argue.

He didn’t.

Instead, he nodded slowly.

It was almost as if her reaction had confirmed something he already believed about her.

She wasn’t going to make this easy.

Not for him.

Not for her father.

Not for anyone.

“Fair enough,” he said.

“I’ll see you in thirty days.”

He turned slightly.

“Or sooner, if you make your decision before then.”

“You say that like you already know what I’m going to do.”

Julian looked back at her.

“I know you.”

Those three words caught her off guard.

“I used to.”

His voice softened.

“You’re not going to let this company be destroyed after everything you’ve built.”

Marisol said nothing.

“You’re going to marry me, Marisol.”

He paused.

“And you’re going to hate every second of pretending you don’t still…”

He stopped.

Marisol’s eyes narrowed.

“Still what?”

Julian didn’t answer.

“Julian.”

He shook his head and turned away.

“Thirty days,” he called over his shoulder.

“Call me when you’ve made your decision.”

Then he walked away.

Marisol remained standing in the dark garage.

She stared at the empty space where he had been.

She was angry with him.

Angry that he had returned after eight years.

Angry that her father had left her this impossible choice.

Angry that Julian still refused to tell her the truth.

But most of all, she was angry with herself.

Because after all these years…

She wanted to know how he was going to finish that sentence.

You don’t still… what?