The rain had stopped by the time Seraphina returned home.
She sat in the back seat of the car, staring through the window without really seeing anything.
The world outside moved in a blur of streetlights and passing cars, but her mind remained in the hospital room where she had last held Alexander’s hand.
He was gone.
The man who had raised her, protected her, and called her his granddaughter was gone without giving her the answers she had been waiting for.
Lucien drove in silence.
He had noticed the medication bottle at the hospital, but he hadn’t told Seraphina what he suspected.
Not yet.
She was already carrying enough pain.
When they arrived at the house, Seraphina stepped out slowly.
“I don’t want to go inside,” she whispered.
Lucien looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because he’ll be there.”
She swallowed.
“His things. His chair. His books. Everything will still be there, but he won’t.”
Lucien didn’t know what to say.
For once, the Devil couldn’t bargain with death.
Seraphina walked inside anyway.
Three days later, the Vale family gathered at a private law firm in the heart of the city.
Alexander’s funeral had taken place that morning.
Seraphina still wore black.
She sat quietly at one end of the long conference table, her hands clasped together.
Lucien stood outside the room, refusing to sit in on the meeting unless she needed him.
Across from Seraphina sat three people she had only seen a handful of times throughout her life.
The first was a tall man with silver beginning to appear in his dark hair.
Sebastian Vale.
Alexander’s eldest son.
Beside him sat his younger sister, Victoria Vale, elegant and perfectly composed despite the circumstances.
At the other end sat Nathaniel Vale, the youngest of the three.
Unlike his siblings, Nathaniel kept glancing toward Seraphina.
She could tell he was uncomfortable.
The lawyer entered carrying a thick black folder.
Everyone became silent.
The lawyer placed it carefully on the table.
“My name is Jonathan Reed. I served as your father’s personal attorney for more than twenty years.”
He looked around the room.
“Mr. Alexander Vale left a final will and testament. It was properly signed, witnessed, and placed under my custody.”
Sebastian leaned back.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Victoria glanced at him.
“Sebastian.”
“What?” he replied.
“We’re all grieving.”
His eyes moved toward Seraphina.
“But we also have a company to deal with.”
Seraphina lowered her gaze.
The lawyer opened the folder.
“I will read the document exactly as Mr. Vale instructed.”
He began.
“To my eldest child, Sebastian Vale, I leave ten percent of my ownership shares in Alexandria Corporation.”
Ten percent.
It was substantial.
The lawyer continued.
“To my second child, Victoria Vale, I leave ten percent of my ownership shares in Alexandria Corporation.”
Victoria remained silent.
“And to my youngest child, Nathaniel Vale, I leave ten percent of my ownership shares.”
Nathaniel nodded slowly.
Then the lawyer stopped.
Seraphina looked up.
Something about the silence made her nervous.
Jonathan Reed turned the page.
“The remaining eighty percent…”
Sebastian suddenly leaned forward.
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
Nathaniel looked directly at Seraphina.
“…I leave to Seraphina Vale.”
Silence.
Seraphina stared at the lawyer.
“Me?”
The lawyer nodded.
“Yes.”
Sebastian’s chair scraped against the floor.
“Eighty percent?”
His voice was no longer calm.
“You heard correctly,” the lawyer replied.
Sebastian looked at Victoria.
“Father left her eighty percent of Alexandria?”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“Apparently.”
Seraphina couldn’t even process it.
She had never cared about Alexander’s money.
She had never asked him for anything.
“I don’t want it,” she whispered.
The lawyer looked at her.
“Whether you want it or not, Miss Vale, it is yours.”
He turned another page.
“However, there is a condition.”
Seraphina’s stomach tightened.
“What condition?”
Jonathan Reed looked directly at her.
“Your grandfather specifically instructed that your eighty percent ownership shall remain under the control of the estate trustee until you enter into a legally recognized marriage.”
Seraphina blinked.
“What?”
Sebastian stared at the lawyer.
“You mean she has to get married?”
“Yes.”
Victoria slowly smiled.
For the first time since entering the room, she looked almost amused.
“That’s quite a condition.”
Seraphina shook her head.
“This can’t be serious.” This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
“It is legally binding,” the lawyer said.
Sebastian leaned back in his chair.
“So the eighty percent belongs to her, but she can’t control it until she gets married.”
“Correct.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“Why would Father do that?”
The lawyer closed the folder slightly.
“I don’t know.”
Seraphina stared at the will.
Her grandfather had spent years protecting her.
But now, even from beyond the grave, he had placed a condition on her future.
She felt tears gathering in her eyes.
“Why would he do this to me?”
No one answered.
Then the lawyer reached for another document.
“There is one more thing.”
Everyone looked at him.
Jonathan Reed placed a smaller envelope on the table.
“This was personally delivered to me by Mr. Vale six months ago.”
He pushed it toward Seraphina.
“It contains a message specifically for you.”
Seraphina stared at the envelope.
Her name was written across it in Alexander’s handwriting.
Her hands began to tremble.
She reached for it.
But before she could open it, the lawyer spoke again.
“Mr. Vale gave me strict instructions.”
Seraphina looked up.
“What instructions?”
The lawyer’s expression became unusually serious.
“He told me that you must not open this letter until after the will has been read.”
Seraphina’s heart pounded.
She looked down at the envelope.
Then she noticed something.
There was another line written beneath her name.
Only four words.
Ask about your parents.
Seraphina stopped breathing.
Outside the conference room, Lucien suddenly opened his eyes.
Something had changed.
Something he couldn’t explain.
And inside the room, Seraphina slowly whispered:
“Parents?”
She looked at the lawyer.
“My parents are dead.”
Jonathan Reed’s face went pale.
“Yes.”
He hesitated.
“But that isn’t what your grandfather wanted you to believe.”