The Inheritance Scandal

Chapter 2

New York, the city that never sleeps and is always full of opportunities. She landed at 5 am; a chauffeur was waiting. Her assistant would be joining her later. As they drove past high-rise buildings, darkened alleys and busy sidewalks, she realised that nothing had changed; it was still the same scenery she was used to. The Hamilton mansion was also still the same. When you enter the gate, there’s a wide garden expanse on either side of the driveway, with sheds and chairs positioned at points in the garden for anyone to seat. She used to hide away in the garden a lot. The flowers were peaceful, and their amazing scents always had a way of putting her to sleep most of the time. After the garden came the introductory building, also on either side of the driveway. Here, visitors would wait to meet who they wanted to see. It also had bedrooms, just in case they needed to spend the night. The final building just up ahead and occupying a large space was the family building, which housed all the Hamilton family members when they hadn’t travelled somewhere. The chauffeur dropped her off in front of the tall doors, and immediately, the housekeepers came to get her suitcases. She looked up at the house, home sweet home, she was finally back. As she walked in, the house looked empty, but that was inaccurate; this was just the waiting area. Their house was built in the format of a stadium, if she could say that. There were three sections to get through and then the open-air portion -which could be covered too- in the center that was used for events and other social gatherings. The three sections each spanned around like concentric circles. Each section had 3 floors consisting of bedrooms and a variety of other rooms, a library, a gaming room for kids, a study, among others. If you asked her, there were just too many rooms, and it was unnecessary. The first section was the waiting area, the second was the extended family section, and the third, further in, was the main family section. All sections had a door directly facing each other, Once you came in through the main entrance, there was another door directly facing the main entrance that led to the next circle section, and so on. There were other little exit doors here and there, but these were the main doors. She knew what awaited further inside through more doors; she should go there and socialise, but first, she needed a moment. She took the stairs to the right, which connected the floors. It was a traditional house, so no elevators; all sections had their stairs to the right upon entrance through the door. She was going to use the little doors to connect to her room in the main family section. She had learned this route as a child to avoid all the curious and prying adults. If she were lucky, no one would spot her just yet.

Luck was on her side; she made it into her room quietly, and only the housekeepers saw her come in. Her room had been tidied up and adorned with flowers from the garden that gave off a warm scent. She smiled at that. Her mom must have ordered that it be done; that woman was just too soft to be a Hamilton. Her suitcases had been unpacked and neatly arranged into the wardrobe; she marvelled at how quickly that was, as efficient as ever. She headed straight for the bathroom. She needed to shower and change her clothes before she could consider meeting the rest of the family ahead of when the guests and well-wishers would start to troop in when the funeral service was set to begin at 11 am. It was just 8 am, so she had just enough time to freshen up.

Olivia received a call from Lisa shortly after she had changed into fresh clothes. It was 9:30 am. Lisa had arrived and had been directed to a room in the waiting area. They would meet up later. For now, she had to meet with her mom and siblings, and afterwards, some other members of the family. Olivia checked herself one last time in the mirror. She hoped she looked good enough for the funeral because this was what she would be wearing the whole day.

Janice Hamilton [Olivia’s mother]

Her sons were saying something to her right now, but it was all fading into the background as thoughts of her father filled her head. Her father had been very stubborn. For someone who could hire a fleet of medical staff for his own treatment alone, he was bad at taking care of his health; his heart had steadily become in a terrible state, but he would as soon as possible attend the next business meeting rather than go to the hospital. She had gone to serve him his herbal tea as she usually did, because he was always working late into the night, and she just took it upon herself to see to his health, since he chose not to have time to go to the hospital. He had fainted a lot of times before and was advised by the doctors to take a break from work to recover his health, but he never did. When she entered his study that night, she found him fast asleep with his head on the desk. “Dad, wake up, you should sleep in your bed, this must be very uncomfortable to sleep in.” She nudged him slightly, but he didn’t move or even make a sound. “Dad? I keep telling you to go to bed early, but you never listen. Dad!” she said more firmly this time, still no movements or sound, her dad was a light sleeper, any kind of noise would wake him. She began to fear the worst. Janice put her fingers under his nose to check for breathing. Then it dawned on her, he was gone. “No, no, no, no, no, Dad, please wake up!” She tapped his back repeatedly, tears streaming down her face. “You can’t be dead. Wake up now!” But she knew in her heart he was really gone for good this time. She collapsed on the floor and cried. Was it all worth it? She reached into her pocket for her phone. The first person on her mind was Olivia. It was 2 am, but she put a call through regardless. “Mom, Mom!” Someone lightly tapped her, rousing her from her thoughts. It was one of her sons, Julian. She had birthed 5 children: two girls and 3 boys. Although one of the girls who was the last born, Rosalia, was gone now, she didn’t even want to think about that, as it would add to her sorrow. She was left with four children: her first daughter, Olivia, and three sons: Julian, the second, Thomas, the third, and Christian, the fourth. They were in the mansion when their grandfather died and had been trying their best to make sure she wasn’t lonely. She had not left her room since she found her father dead; they had been taking turns staying with her. She was very grateful for her children. “Mom, Olivia is here!” Julian informed her, and she turned towards the door from her bed to look at her daughter. Olivia was as beautiful as ever, with wavy red hair, a small waist and wide hips, which were accentuated by her fitted black long-sleeved dress that stopped mid-thigh. Olivia looked just like their grandmother, her mom. The resemblance was always striking. Only Olivia had inherited the red hair among all her children. She stretched out her hands towards Olivia as the tears began to flow again. Olivia enveloped her in a warm hug. “Shhh, it’s okay, Mom, it was Grandpa's time to go. Shhh, it’s alright, everything will be alright”, Olivia cooed. She continued to sob. She had experienced loss a number of times, her mother, her husband, her daughter and now her father. Not once did it get easy. Loss is never easy, it’s not something you ever get used to.