Chapter 5 - The Shares
1428 Words
- GRANDPA! Mattew shouted, standing suddenly," You can’t! That’s more than the average partner. You’re making her into a key shareholder!
- I am not yet senile!
- Grandpa, think about it. Fiona will feel pressed if you do that. Intervened Samantha.
- Thank you so much Sam, but I think I can handle that. And you may call me Mary.
- Fi, we should talk about that calmly, don’t you think? She continued.
Seeing that she was clearly ignoring her words, she turned toward grandpa.
- Grandpa, I may be grateful to you for thinking about me, but I can’t accept.
- Child, it is already done whether you want it or not. I owned it to your nanny and to you, to right the wrong that was done to you.
Mary felt her heart fill with emotions. Granpa touched her left cheek.
- It was wrong for me to make you marry my grandson. My only excuse is that I wanted so much to have you as my family. I set you to be hurt. This is my fault and my shame. I need to make it right. It is as it should be, child. I can only ask for your forgiveness now.
Mary shook her head.
- No, you are forgiven. For whatever you think you did, grandpa, I never hated you, never thought it was your fault. She said while hugging him.
- I object to your decision. Mattew was still shouting.
- you are dismissed. Remy, please, could you show my grandson to the door?
- With pleasure Sire.
Mattew went out clamoring that this wasn’t the end.
Grandpa waited until Mattew and Samantha were out and turned toward his lawyer.
- White, I will let you handle the rest.
- All right. Miss Mary, if you can come tomorrow morning to the company to finalize everything, please.
- Do I need to sign something?
- Yes, and we need to show you what you really hold in detail.
- It didn’t seem to me like you were merely talking about some random 10%.
M. White smiled and got out. She was now alone with Grandpa.
- Grandpa. I really don’t need that, I want nothing to do with Mattew ever again.
- My child, he shouldn’t have made you sign a paper to give up on any alimony. He owned you at least that. I don’t know how that grandson could be of my blood. Anyway, everything is right now.
She sighted and stopped arguing.
- I brought a gift. I didn’t know if you needed anything. I hope this will make you happy.
She pulled out a velvet box and gave it to him. He opened it. Inside was a woman's necklace with a pendant with infinity’s symbol. He looked puzzled for a moment, then his eyes shined with tears.
- Is it nanny’s? He asked
- Yes. She simply said.
- I thought she had thrown it away, never saw her wearing it. Why do you have it?
- The last time I saw her she gave it to me. She told me to give it to the person it belongs to and tell him “Next time”. She said the person would understand.
Grandpa fell into his chair. Mary rushed to his side.
- Grandpa!
He put his hand on her cheek.
- How did you know she was talking about me? He whispered.
- Because of the look in her eyes. She always had it when she was talking about you and that day she had the same look.
He held his breath, slightly trembling.
- Thank you. He said, squeezing her hands. Thank you, it is a wonderful gift.
- I miss her
- Me too child. Me too.
She felt tears falling on their joints hands not knowing if it was from her or him. They just stood there in silence.
Mary was still shaken by the announcement and what happened after, she went home promising grandpa to stay in touch. She feared that Mattew was going to wait for her in front of her apartment, but he wasn’t there, luckily.
The next morning she was pondering on what to do. The restaurant was close on Mondays, but she usually went there to try new recipes with their chef. Or should she call the lawyer to schedule a meeting? She still thinks it unwise to accept those shares. It may show Grandpa's love for her, but it was going to write a big target on her forehead. And don’t even let her get started on Mattew's wrath.
- What should I do? She asked herself while rolling on her bed.
Her phone started ringing.
- Hello Remy!
She had given him her contact the day before.
- Hello beautiful, got some time today? You need to come to the main office to sign those documents.
- I am not sure if I want to do that.
- Scare?
- A little.
- I understand. Why don’t we do this? Let’s meet and talk over a coffee. I know a good place. How does that sound?
- Like you are going to make me lower my guard and sign.
He laughed
- So are you going to let fear make you back down?
- Nope. Send me the address.
JONES Enterprise’s main offices were located in a skyscraper in the downtown. Imposing and sophisticated. It had a wall street center vibe. Working there surely made you feel like Leonardo in that movie. Powerful, with the world at your feet, impressive. And cunning too. The address Remy had sent her was right next to the building, very cunning.
She stared at him seated in front of her in his working outfit, which was a suit, of course.
- You tricked me
- I surely didn’t
- We are in front of JONES Enterprise’s main office, where you wanted me.
- I wanted to talk to you while drinking a good coffee and the coffee here is wonderful.
She crossed her hands and started to pout.
Remy burst out laughing, which made her smile. She had really missed his cheerfulness.
- Mary, you need to know what Grandpa really gave you. It’s important. He said seriously.
Mary straightened up in her seat.
- Wasn’t it just shares?
- Yes and no. If he had given you one of our company shares it would have been just that, but this is the entire group's shares. You get the main company’s shares, all the branches, the subsidiaries and so on. We are talking about a fortune estimated at hundreds of thousands of billions, and you get 10% of that, plus dividends.
- what? She felt dizzy. What are you talking about? Wasn't it just one company's shares?
- Nope! It is everything.
- What does that mean?
- Mary, Grandpa made you into one of his heir.
She stared at him.
- How can I say no?
- You can’t. Grandpa had made all the arrangements, things are going to continue rolling smoothly and the money accumulating in your account whether you use it or not. And your children will of course inherited a fair percentage of ...
- Wait a minute, my children? They get something too? She almost shouted.
He nodded.
- This is unbelievable.
- You need an adviser, a lawyer, a private accountant and many other professionals to help you manage. You should recruit an assistant to be in liaison with them.
She stand abruptly.
- No, I need to tell Grandpa that I refuse. I can take a certain percentage of the share but not an entire inheritance.
She left the coffee shop and entered the building across the street.
- Hi! I need to talk to M. JONES senior. She told the receptionist.
Well, she didn’t really though they were just going to let her in, but didn’t want to call Grandpa if he was in some important meeting. No better walk through the door.
- You mean M. JONES the chairperson?
- Yes.
- Oh! Euh, well do you have an appointment?
She didn’t seem trained to handle a costumer who wanted to talk to people at the top. She went to tell her not to bother when someone grabbed her elbow and violently pulled her back. She lost her balance and went crashing down. Crap! That hurt. She raised her head ready to fight and, sure enough, Mattew and her vampire mate stood there watching her. Talk about a bad day!
- Writer
