Chapter 3 - The Will Nobody Expected
I didn’t confront Kyle that night.
Every instinct told me to run downstairs and demand answers.
Penelope stopped me.
“Call security. Let the cameras record everything.”
So I did.
The moment the exterior lights activated, Kyle froze.
He looked directly toward one of Dad’s security cameras.
Then he left.
He never tried the door again.
At ten the next morning, he arrived for the will reading wearing a navy suit and the expression of a man who had slept even less than I had.
He didn’t look at me.
Calvin and Tabitha arrived together.
Calvin had changed since our marriage.
More gray at his temples.
More expensive tailoring.
Same smile.
The smile that once made me believe he could never lie to me.
Tabitha wore cream.
Apparently burgundy was reserved for threatening gardeners.
“Paige,” Calvin said.
“Calvin.”
“I’m sorry about Everett.”
“You attended the funeral.”
“I know. I just…”
He stopped.
There was nothing left between us that could support a meaningful sentence.
Penelope called everyone into Dad’s library.
Kyle sat across from me.
Calvin and Tabitha sat together.
A second attorney, Martin Hale, sat beside them.
That surprised me.
Penelope noticed.
“Mr. Hale,” she said.
“Ms. Grant.”
“You’re representing?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Reeves.”
Before the will had even been read.
Interesting.
Penelope opened the document.
“This is the Last Will and Testament of Everett James Morgan, executed eleven months ago, with a codicil executed four months ago.”
Martin immediately interrupted.
“We reserve the right to question the validity of the codicil.”
Tabitha glanced at Calvin.
Kyle stared at the floor.
Penelope didn’t blink.
“You may reserve whatever rights you wish.”
She continued.
Dad left several charitable gifts.
Two million dollars to the cancer center that treated him.
Five hundred thousand to scholarships.
Money to longtime employees.
Then came Kyle.
“To my son, Kyle Everett Morgan, I leave the sum of one million dollars, subject to the conditions contained in the Morgan Family Trust.”
Kyle’s face went pale.
“One million?” he whispered.
Tabitha looked at Calvin.
Something was wrong.
They had expected more.
Penelope continued.
“To Calvin Reeves, who was once my son-in-law, I leave my gratitude for teaching my daughter a lesson I failed to teach her myself.”
Calvin’s expression changed.
Penelope read the next line.
“That love without loyalty is merely an expensive illusion.”
Silence.
I almost forgot to breathe.
“To Calvin Reeves, I therefore leave the sum of one dollar.”
Tabitha shot upright.
“What?”
Calvin grabbed her wrist.
“Sit down.”
“No. He told us—”
Calvin squeezed harder.
Tabitha stopped.
Penelope looked at them.
“May I continue?”
Tabitha sat.
My pulse thundered.
Then Penelope read my name.
“To my daughter, Paige Eleanor Morgan, I leave my residence and surrounding property, including all structures, gardens, furnishings, and associated land.”
Tabitha stared at me.
Her face drained of color.
The house was mine.
But Penelope wasn’t finished.
“I further leave Paige controlling interest in the Morgan Family Holdings Trust, subject to provisions disclosed separately.”
Calvin leaned toward his attorney.
Martin whispered something.
Then Calvin stood.
“We contest.”
Penelope calmly removed her glasses.
“On what grounds?”
“Everett lacked capacity when that codicil was signed.”
There it was.
Exactly as Dad predicted.
Martin took over.
“We have reason to believe Mr. Morgan’s medication and deteriorating health impaired his judgment.”
Penelope folded her hands.
“Evidence?”
Kyle finally looked up.
“I can testify.”
The words hurt more than I expected.
I looked at my brother.
“Kyle?”
His eyes were wet.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Dad was confused.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“You weren’t there every minute.”
“Neither were you.”
“I saw things.”
“What things?”
Martin interrupted.
“This isn’t the appropriate forum.”
Penelope smiled slightly.
“Actually, I think this is an excellent forum.”
She reached into her briefcase.
“Mr. Morgan anticipated a capacity challenge.”
Calvin stopped moving.
Penelope placed a medical report on the table.
“Three days before executing the codicil, Everett underwent an independent capacity evaluation conducted by two physicians and a forensic psychiatrist.”
Martin’s expression changed.
“All three found him fully competent.”
Calvin looked at Kyle.
Kyle looked horrified.
Penelope continued.
“The signing was recorded on video. Two independent witnesses were present. Neither was employed by Mr. Morgan or related to him.”
Tabitha turned toward Calvin.
“You said there wasn’t—”
“Quiet.”
“No. You said—”
“Tabitha.”
Their confidence was cracking.
But Penelope still wasn’t finished.
“Everett also requested that one additional recording be played if anyone alleged incapacity.”
She looked at me.
I knew immediately.
The flash drive.
Penelope inserted it into the television.
Dad appeared on screen.
For one impossible second, I forgot he was dead.
He sat behind his desk.
Thinner.
Paler.
But unmistakably Dad.
He looked into the camera.
“My name is Everett James Morgan. Today is May fourteenth. I know exactly where I am and exactly why I am recording this.”
Calvin’s face went white.
Dad continued.
“If Calvin Reeves is watching this, then Calvin has done precisely what I expected.”
Tabitha slowly turned toward her husband.
Dad leaned closer to the camera.
“Calvin, you always underestimated my daughter.”
Nobody moved.
“But your greater mistake was assuming I underestimated you.”
Calvin stood.
“We’re done.”
Penelope said, “Sit down.”
“This is theater.”
“No,” Penelope replied. “This is evidence.”
Dad continued speaking.
“Over the past year, Calvin has repeatedly asked me about my estate. I allowed those conversations because I wanted to know how far he was willing to go.”
Then the video changed.
Audio began playing.
Calvin’s voice.
My ex-husband.
“You could change it now, Everett. Paige doesn’t understand the property. Kyle does.”
Dad’s voice answered.
“And what would you get?”
A pause.
Then Calvin laughed.
“Maybe Kyle sells eventually.”
“And you buy?”
“Business is business.”
The recording ended.
Tabitha stared at Calvin.
“You told me Everett wanted us to have the house.”
Calvin didn’t answer.
“You told me he promised you.”
“Not now.”
She stood.
“You lied to me?”
I should have enjoyed watching their alliance collapse.
I didn’t.
Because my brother was sitting ten feet away looking like someone had emptied him from the inside.
Penelope turned toward him.
“Kyle, would you still like to testify that your father lacked capacity?”
Kyle’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Martin gathered his papers.
“We’ll review the documentation.”
“Please do.”
Then Penelope added:
“And while you’re reviewing it, perhaps review Grant Meridian Consulting.”
Kyle flinched.
Calvin’s face changed completely.
That was the first moment I saw fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
Martin looked confused.
“What is Grant Meridian?”
Calvin stood.
“We’re leaving.”
Tabitha followed him, but she no longer looked victorious.
At the door she turned toward me.
Yesterday she had ordered me to pack.
Today she couldn’t meet my eyes.
When they were gone, I turned to Kyle.
“Tell me.”
He covered his face.
“I can’t.”
“You came to Dad’s house last night.”
He looked up sharply.
“I saw you.”
His shoulders collapsed.
“I needed the folder.”
“Why?”
“Because Calvin told me Dad had documents that could ruin me.”
“What did you do?”
Kyle began crying.
My brother was forty-three years old.
I hadn’t seen him cry since our mother died.
“I borrowed money,” he whispered.
“From Calvin?”
“I thought it was from an investment company.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“That isn’t all, is it?”
He shook his head.
“I signed something.”
“What?”
“A statement about Dad.”
My stomach dropped.
“What statement?”
“That he was confused. That he couldn’t recognize people. That he didn’t understand financial decisions.”
“Was any of it true?”
Kyle looked at me.
“No.”
The word seemed to destroy him.
“No.”
Penelope closed her eyes.
I stood.
“You were going to declare our dying father incompetent for money?”
“I was desperate.”
“So you sold him?”
“No!”
“Then what do you call it?”
Kyle reached toward me.
I stepped back.
And that hurt him more than anything I could have said.
Then Penelope spoke.
“There’s something else.”
She removed another document from Dad’s folder.
“Kyle, your father knew about the statement.”
Kyle stared at her.
“He knew?”
“Yes.”
“And he left you one million dollars anyway.”
Kyle started crying harder.
“Why?”
Penelope handed him a sealed letter.
“Perhaps he wanted you to answer that yourself.”
But before Kyle could open it, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Ms. Morgan?”
“Yes.”
“This is Detective Aaron Mercer.”
My stomach tightened.
“What is this about?”
“We’re investigating financial activity connected to Grant Meridian Consulting.”
I looked at Penelope.
The detective continued.
“And your father contacted our office shortly before his death.”
My knees nearly gave way.
“What did he tell you?”
There was a pause.
“Enough that I think you and your attorney should come speak with me.”
I looked toward Dad’s frozen image on the television.
Even after death, he wasn’t finished.
May you like
Not even close.
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