At the Ink Garden.
The entire family was gathered there. They were all sitting in silence.
A plump man in his fifties, wearing a tuxedo with a briefcase in hand, was sitting on the reception room’s couch, exchanging whispered conversations with Trevor.
He was Mr. Garver, the family lawyer hired specifically by Old Master Richards.
Everyone in the room was anxious at the presence of Mr. Garver.
Old Master Richards’ will, that had been established more than two decades ago was finally about to be revealed. They were curious about the contents, especially when it would determine what assets each of them would inherit.
“Mr. Richards, time flies, doesn’t it? I can’t believe it has already been more than twenty years.” Mr. Garver said with a sigh, “I was shocked to receive the phone call from Aunt Ella when I was abroad. I couldn’t believe that Vivian was seriously ill.”
Trevor looked haggard. Wrinkles covered the corner of his forehead, and silver hair could be seen in his sideburns. He no longer looked as noble as before. He nodded in agreement and said, “That’s true. Time really flies. Now that I think of it, I still very much prefer it when the Old Master was still here. I didn’t have to take care of so many things. Life was easier back then.”
Trevor smiled wryly.
Ever since Old Master Richards had passed away, the Sky Sword Group had taken advantage of it and tried to pull the Richards Group down. Trevor had had no choice but to work through countless sleepless nights alongside Marissa, and with all of their efforts combined, they’d finally defeated the Sky Sword Group and stabilize the Richards Group’s status in the field.
Trevor finally understood how exhausting it was to lead the group.
“It wasn’t easy to build and maintain the Richards Group’s legacy for a century. Each head of the family contributed a lot to the Richards Group to reach where it is today.” Mr. Garver said, “It’s about time we reveal the Old Master’s will. I can finally fulfill my duty.”
Trevor nodded.
They were waiting for Hansen’s and Jenna’s arrival. The reading of the will was a major event that required the current head of the family to be present.
Hence, Trevor and Mr. Garver started making small talk.
Aunt Ella walked in and said, “Mr. Richards, I had received a call from Mr. Pringle that he’s stuck in traffic, and will take longer to arrive.”
Trevor nodded.
Aunt Ella left.
“Mr. Garver, may I know if the Old Master also gave a copy of the will to Vivian back then?” Trevor asked as he thought of something.
At this point, there was nothing for Mr. Garver to hide anymore. He nodded in reply and said, “Mr. Trevor, you’re right. The Old Master did leave a copy of the will behind for Vivian. She was authorized to make amendments to the will wherever she found appropriate under the current circumstances. This was because the Old Master couldn’t predict the future, and he knew things would change with time.”
Trevor’s guess was right.
Part of Old Master Richards’ will had been authorized by Vivian.
The Richards family lawyers normally worked directly with their clients, as too many were involved in the family’s inheritance, and Old Master Richards had demanded his children and grandchildren to have families on their own before they were deemed eligible for the inheritance. There had been many obstacles to Norton’s marriage, which was part of the reason why the reading of the will had to be postponed. Now that Vivian was in a critical stage, they couldn’t wait any longer to proceed with the reading. Mr. Garver was aware of this.
Trevor wasn’t anxious at all about the contents of the will. He knew that the assets that could be allocated by Old Master Richards in his will would be of fixed assets like Richards Manor. As for the Richards Group, although Trevor had taken over it directly from Old Master Richards himself, it was also Trevor’s family who had managed and kept the business in operation. There wasn’t any possibility of allocating the Richards Group to anyone else. Claude had also taken over another company from Old Master Richards back then, but as opposed to Trevor, Claude had done nothing spectacular..
Trevor’s concern wasn’t about the contents of the will, but instead, he was troubled about leading the Richards Group through this crisis.
Now that Sergio had used this to submit their case, the verdict would come down soon.
At that moment, footsteps could be heard from the outside.
Hansen had already rushed over with Jenna.
As soon as they stepped into the living room, Jenna could feel that there was something off with the atmosphere, but she was more concerned with Vivian’s situation.
The atmosphere of the living room was solemn, yet there was not a trace of sadness in the air. Jenna couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
“Hansen, Jenna, Mr. Graver is here today about Old Master Richards’ will. You two are now in charge of the family. So, the reading can only proceed with both your presence.” Trevor immediately walked over and said to them as soon as he saw Hansen arriving with Jenna in hand.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Richards,” Mr. Garver stood up in a hurry and greeted Hansen and Jenna respectfully.
“Hello, Mr. Garver.” Hansen nodded politely in return. He then walked over to them while holding Jenna’s hand.
At this point, Jenna finally got a grasp of the current situation. Vivian wasn’t dying. Trevor called them over purely for the reading of the will. Jenna could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Marissa was sitting next to Trevor. Once she spotted Jenna, she immediately pulled her over and made some small talk with her.
Shortly after, Mr. Pringle finally arrived.
Once everyone was present, Trevor made the opening speech, and was followed by Mr. Garver.
“Hello to all the board members, madams, young masters, and misses. More than twenty years ago, Old Master Richards entrusted me to establish his will. I’m here today to proceed with the reading of his will. Old Master Richards was always a fair man, and a man with principles. He took into consideration each family’s background and circumstances, before coming up with the contents of his will. Everyone present here today was a family member to Old Master Richards. I hope that we will all respect the deceased, as well as the respect we had for him, while I proceed with the reading of the will. Your lawyers will get in touch with you for the relevant procedures after this. You may come to me if you have any further concerns. I sincerely hope that everyone here can control the urge to let out a second opinion or of your emotions, as Old Master Richards was someone we all looked up to. We have to believe in his impartiality.”
Everyone was silent.
Mr. Garver began to read out the will.
Although Mr. Garver was old, he had a loud voice, and everyone present could hear him clearly.
Just as Trevor and Hansen had expected, the assets were distributed accordingly to everyone’s actual circumstances. The two daughters of the Richards family were allocated to a different ratio of the assets. No one made a fuss about this.
Mr. Garver was in fact retired. The only task he had left was reading this will. He could finally fulfill his last task and retire in peace after this.
Seeing that everyone was listening in silence and without any second opinion, Mr. Pringle stood up.
“Mr. Trevor, Mr. Richards, there’s something I’d like to discuss with everyone first.”
Mr. Pringle wasn’t reading a will like Mr. Garver did. His sentence was able to capture everyone’s attention.
“I got a phone call from Vivian earlier. She mentioned there are some amendments to the will and wanted me to rush over. I was in court for another case at that time. I still rushed over during the small break in between. However, she was already unconscious when I rushed over to the Ink Garden. She couldn’t even recognize me. Therefore, I am not certain what amendments she wanted to make to the will. Vivian handed me a copy of the will she finalized a couple of months ago, and she had another copy with her. You all should know that she was authorized to amend the will and she has the rights to do so. Therefore, the will with me now is incomplete. We have to find the copy that is with her before we can complete the will,” Mr. Pringle explained.
Back then, Vivian did have this intention when she kept a copy with her. Mr. Pringle assumed that Vivian might want to amend the will at any time. He was her lawyer and he could only listen to his client.
This statement stirred up a series of discussions among the family members.
“Mr. Pringle, are you saying that we need to find Vivian’s copy before we can proceed with the reading?” Hansen asked. He was reminded of what Aunt Ella mentioned before, and he was puzzled about this.
“Yes, Mr. Richards.” Mr. Pringle nodded.
He was a lawyer. He had to be fair and objective.
The will in his hands now was the same will Vivian called him to make amendments to. He had to respect Vivian’s opinion, especially when she was still alive.
“But Vivian is unconscious now, and she couldn’t even recognize us. How could she revise the will?” Marissa asked with doubts.
“Exactly, she’s already in this state. We can’t get anything from her.” Winifred echoed.
“Trevor, why don’t we do it this way? We just have to find Vivian’s copy and align it with Mr. Pringle’s copy to finalize the will. Then, we can proceed with the reading already. Mom is unconscious now. She can no longer make any further revisions. We are a family. We don’t need to be bothered by such trivial details especially when Mom had already revised her copy when she was conscious. We could already tell some of her contents even.” Claude immediately suggested to Trevor as he noticed the discussion going on among other members.
Trevor pondered for a while and said, “It seems like the best solution for the time being. Let’s search for her copy now and get things done with. Let’s not be calculative with each other. We are a family after all.”
Everyone agreed with Trevor.