After Marrying A Terminally Ill Billionaire Corporate Executive To Fulfill His Final Wish, A Grieving Director Uncovers Her Close Friend's $45 Million Betrayal Through Recovered Texts, Forcing A Qu...
The text messages burned a hole in my mind. Julian had been a pawn, manipulated and blackmailed. And I, the grieving wife, had been the unwitting beneficiary of his forced sacrifice. The rage simmered beneath my skin.
I sat in my office, the recovered texts open on my laptop, when my assistant buzzed through.
“Ms. Lin, your Aunt Beatrice and Cousin Derek are here. They say they have an appointment with you.”
My heart sank. Aunt Beatrice and Derek. I hadn’t spoken to them in years, not since the bitter family dispute over my grandmother’s house that ended in a dramatic estrangement. They were known for their opportunism, always sniffing out a chance for a handout.
“Send them in,” I said, steeling myself. This felt too coincidental to be random.
Aunt Beatrice swept into my office, her floral dress rustling, her eyes immediately assessing the decor. Cousin Derek trailed behind her, fidgeting with his tie, his gaze darting nervously around the room.
“Maya, darling!” Aunt Beatrice exclaimed, her voice syrupy sweet. She hadn’t called me ‘darling’ in over a decade. “It’s been far too long.”
She made a move to hug me, but I stepped back, holding up a hand. “Aunt Beatrice. Derek. What brings you to Vantage?”
Her smile faltered slightly. “Well, dear, we heard about your… recent difficulties. And about Julian. Such a tragedy.”
“A tragedy indeed,” I murmured, my eyes narrowing.
“And of course, about his vast fortune,” Derek piped up, then winced as Aunt Beatrice shot him a glare.
Aunt Beatrice quickly recovered. “Yes, well, it’s really about you, Maya. We’re concerned. Deeply concerned.” She leaned forward, her voice dropping conspiratorially. “Your dear friend Chloe reached out to us. She’s worried about you, darling.”
There it was. The puppeteer pulling the strings.
“Worried about what, exactly?” I asked, my voice dangerously calm.
“Your state of mind,” Aunt Beatrice said, pressing a hand to her chest dramatically. “Grief can do terrible things to a person, Maya. It can make them… vulnerable. Susceptible to strange ideas. To rash decisions regarding large estates.”
Derek nodded vigorously. “Yeah, Chloe said you’re really out of it. Like, totally not yourself. And Julian, he was, you know, really old. And sick. Did you really think straight when he asked you to marry him?”
The audacity took my breath away. They were parroting Chloe’s line, trying to paint me as emotionally unstable, and worse, as someone who exploited a dying man.
“So, Chloe reached out to you,” I repeated, letting the words hang in the air. “And what exactly did she suggest?”
Aunt Beatrice patted her perfectly coiffed hair. “She simply suggested that as your closest living relatives, we have a duty to ensure you’re protected. And that Julian’s estate, well, it should be handled properly. Perhaps through a trust, managed by people who have your best interests at heart. People like us.”
Derek cleared his throat. “And maybe, you know, a small finder’s fee for our trouble. For protecting you.”
My jaw clenched. They weren’t just here to pressure me. They were here to make demands, acting as Chloe’s proxies.
“You’re accusing me of taking advantage of Julian?” I asked, my voice rising slightly.
“No, no, darling,” Aunt Beatrice quickly corrected, though her eyes held a greedy glint. “Just… concerned you might not be in the right frame of mind to manage such significant assets. For the good of the family, and for Julian’s true intentions.”
“Julian’s true intentions are in his letter, and in these,” I said, tapping the laptop screen. “And they paint a very different picture of who is truly trying to take advantage.”
Aunt Beatrice’s face tightened. “This isn’t productive, Maya. We’ve arranged a meeting with the firm’s HR committee tomorrow. Just to air out these… concerns. Chloe thinks it’s best for everyone.”
The corporate machine was moving, orchestrated by Chloe, using my own estranged family against me. They were trying to isolate me, to delegitimize my grief and my claim, all to seize control of Julian’s shares. But now, I had ammunition.
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