The morning of the will reading was crisp and brilliantly clear. I found myself in Dad’s study once again, watching as Chloe methodically arranged her documents on the vast oak desk while a team of technicians set up lights and cameras around the room.
“Jessica’s camera crew is here,” Ethan announced, slipping quietly through the door. “You should see her in the grand hall. She’s literally practicing her gracious acceptance speech.”
“Is everything in place?” I asked Chloe.
She patted her briefcase. “Locked and loaded. The codicil is sealed in this envelope, right alongside copies of every piece of evidence. The moment they accept the initial terms…”
A rising commotion in the hallway cut her off. Jessica’s voice, high and shrill with excitement, carried through the heavy wooden door. “And this is where we’ll hang the new crystal chandelier. That old thing is just so dreadfully dated.”
“Places, everyone,” Chloe muttered, smoothing the front of her suit jacket. “Let the games begin.”
Jessica swept into the room first, dressed in a severe black dress that likely cost more than my first car. Mark followed in her wake, his expression a mixture of greed and unease in a suit that looked a size too tight. The camera crew trailed them, their movements efficient as they checked lighting and sound levels.
“Madeline.” Mark offered a stiff, formal nod. It was the first time he had addressed me directly since our divorce was finalized.
“Let’s begin,” Chloe announced, her voice commanding the room as she took her place behind our father’s desk. “As the attorney for Miles Harrison, I am here to read his last will and testament, along with any subsequent documents he prepared prior to his passing.”
Jessica practically vibrated with anticipation in her chair. “We are more than ready.”
The first part of the reading unfolded exactly as Chloe had predicted. The estate, which included the house, the surrounding property, and all shares in Harrison Industries, was to be divided: sixty percent to me, and forty percent to be shared equally between Mark and Jessica.
“I knew it!” Jessica squealed, clutching Mark’s arm in a theatrical display of joy. “Miles loved us! He wouldn’t have cut us out!”
“However,” Chloe continued, her voice slicing through Jessica’s celebratory outburst like a surgeon’s scalpel, “there is a codicil. An amendment added to this will just three days before Miles passed away.”
Jessica’s triumphant smile faltered. “A what?”
“A modification,” Mark explained, a nervous tremor now evident in his voice. “What kind of modification?”
Chloe broke the wax seal on the final envelope with a dramatic flourish. “The acceptance of any inheritance granted under the terms of this will is contingent upon the immediate launch of a full investigation into certain financial irregularities and potential criminal activities discovered in the months preceding Miles’s death.”
A profound silence descended upon the room. Even the whirring of the cameras seemed to fall quiet.
“What irregularities?” Jessica’s voice was now sharp with suspicion.
“Perhaps these will offer some clarification,” Chloe said, sliding the damning photographs across the polished surface of the desk. “Or this USB drive, which contains video footage of an attempted bribery of a medical professional. Or perhaps these bank statements, which detail a systematic pattern of embezzlement from Harrison Industries.”
Mark’s face lost all its color as he snatched one of the photos from the desk. “Where did you get these?”
“Dad had quite a collection,” Ethan spoke up calmly from his position near the window. “He also had recordings. Of both of you, planning to contest this very will by providing false testimony regarding his mental state.”
Jessica shot to her feet so abruptly that her chair clattered to the floor behind her. “Turn those cameras off! Turn them off right now!”
“Oh, no,” I said, rising to finally face her. “The cameras stay on. You wanted to document this historic moment, didn’t you?”
“You can’t do this,” she hissed, her eyes wild with panic. “Mark, tell them they can’t do this!”
But Mark was transfixed, staring at a photograph that showed him entering the headquarters of a rival corporation while carrying a briefcase full of confidential company files.
“The terms of the codicil are legally ironclad,” Chloe stated, her tone as professional and unyielding as granite. “Any attempt to claim the inheritance as outlined in the initial reading automatically triggers the release of all of this compiled evidence to the District Attorney’s office and other relevant authorities. The choice, of course, is yours.”
“Choice?” Jessica let out a hysterical, unhinged laugh. “What choice? You’ve set a trap for us!”
“No,” I corrected her, my voice clear and steady. “You set it for yourselves. Every lie, every scheme, every single greedy, manipulative act has led you directly to this moment.”
“This is your fault!” she shrieked, whirling to point a trembling finger at my brother. “You were supposed to be on our side!”
Ethan simply shrugged. “I was. Just not yours.”
“Mark,” she pleaded, her voice cracking. “Do something!”
But Mark was already on his feet, straightening his tie with shaking hands. “It’s over, Jessica. We lost.”
“The hell it is! I will not let that bitch win!”
“‘That bitch,’ as you call her, is my daughter.”
My father’s voice, strong and resolute, filled the room. Everyone froze as Chloe pressed a key on her laptop. On the monitor of the lead cameraman, my father’s face appeared—thinner, yes, but with an unwavering fire in his eyes, recorded just before his death.
“And if you are all watching this right now,” his video image continued, “it means you have revealed your true character, precisely as I predicted you would. Greed is a poor strategist, but consequences… consequences are a magnificent teacher.”
Tears of rage and humiliation streamed down Jessica’s face, leaving black trails of mascara in their wake as she stumbled backward toward the door. “This isn’t over!”
“Actually,” Chloe said, her voice cool and final, “it is. The police are waiting for you in the foyer. They have a few questions regarding the evidence of felony embezzlement.”
As Jessica and a defeated Mark were led away, the cameras still rolling, I could feel my father’s presence in every corner of the room he had built. He had orchestrated every move, not just to preserve his legacy, but to deliver one final, indelible lesson about justice.
“Well,” Ethan said into the stunned silence that followed. “I guess she got her historic moment on camera after all.”
