The Inheritance Scandal

It was 2 am when her phone started to go off. She ignored it, throwing a pillow over her head instead. if she could just block out the noise, she would be back to her beauty sleep. Why was she getting a call at 2 am anyway? What was so important that it couldn’t wait? Her phone went silent, and she sighed in relief. Now, to just get back in.... it started to ring again. “Oh, come on” With her eyes shut, she reached for her phone; this better be extremely important, or else someone would pay. “Hello, Olivia here, whatever it is, speak fast”, she expected to hear something about work, maybe the profit margin falling and needing immediate solutions, or an employee had committed theft and needed to be arrested, a board member was selling their shares, any of these she was familiar with but what she wasn’t familiar with was her mother crying over the phone. She sat in bed and rubbed the sleep crusts from her eyes, her red hair tumbling over her shoulders against her fair skin. Did something happen? “Mom ?? "Mom, what’s wrong?” Her mom was barely audible with all the crying in between. “Okay Mom, slow down, i can hardly hear anything you’re saying, take a deep breath and tell me again.” she heard her mom breathe in and out before responding again, “It’s your grandfather, he’s dead” there was silence and then her mother continued crying, the world paused briefly and her vision blurred, Jonathan was dead?, the last time she saw him, he was still so full of life. “We’re holding the funeral on Wednesday. Tidy up over there and be available Wednesday morning, okay?” The phone line clicked off, she still held it against her ear while she stared into space, her emerald green eyes piercing. She had a funeral to attend. Her grandfather’s funeral. The next day, Tuesday, she shared the news first with Lisa, her assistant, and then with the company. She ordered no one to come to work the next day in honour of her grandfather. She was the CEO of a fashion and clothing line company. The company had its own special brand but also endorsed many other brands. Its head office was situated in Paris with branches spread across Europe and America, especially in New York, especially. She remembered how it all began. When she had turned eighteen, her grandfather -a huge, burly man with blonde hair and hazel eyes- cut off her lavish funding and forced her to survive on $1000 a month. She had held her head high and refused to break under the tyranny, but one day she all but lost it, stormed into his study that evening and demanded her birthright be restored. He gave her a wake-up call that evening, and she never forgot his words ‘Your birthright is only yours if you prove you can handle the weight and responsibility of it’. He made it clear that he would cut her off and leave nothing to her without even thinking about it, then he struck her deal, ‘Draw up a business plan for a business you think would be profitable that you can do, I will finance it but when you business eventually takes off, you will have to pay me back. If you submit the business plan on time, who knows, I might increase your monthly stipend to $2000’. She left his study that day in tears. She thought he hated her. They were wealthy, yet she had to live like a pauper, but it was through that experience that Lumiere was born, her fashion brand. There were so many ups and downs but it grew steadily over the years with her grandfather as the backbone all through it. She had him to thank for the achievement, because this establishment was solely hers. Yes, it was still under the Hamilton empire, but she owned all the rights to every Lumiere enterprise, he made sure of that. Jonathan wasn’t the best in the love and care department, but he cared in his own way. Her siblings probably had similar stories to tell because Jonathan made sure he set up something for every person, although only she was able to get exclusive rights to her business because she was the firstborn in her family and also the first grandchild. Her mom was Jonathan’s firstborn too, so it was double the pressure, but she can now say it was worth it. Well, enough moping for the day. She still had more meetings to attend before closing for the day and catching the last flight back to New York. That city held too many heavy memories for her. Although it was home, she always felt suffocated whenever she was there. The last time she was there, a funeral had also taken place, which was when she decided to make Paris her permanent residence. She was not ready to face some of the painful memories, and also not ready to face a certain person; she had buried him in the deepest recesses of her thoughts, never to surface. Jonathan's funeral meant he would be present, and she would have to face him regardless; she just was not ready for that yet. She had no choice, though, no choice at all. She knew she would have to go back and face the pain someday. She just hoped it would take longer. She got to the airport just in time to catch her flight. She couldn’t excuse herself out of this; she had been away in Paris for about ten years. She refused to go back and made it so everyone would come over to Paris for the holidays instead, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Strangely, when she announced this to the family, her grandfather agreed. She guessed her family didn’t mind the change of environment, especially with one person missing, and New York had so many memories for her. She settled in and drifted off to sleep immediately. She was going to need all the rest she could get.