Chapter 4
During dinner, everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Once they finished eating, Cynthia determined not to give those people another chance to manipulate her, promptly got up to leave.
As she was about to walk out the door, Mason, sitting on the couch, shouted angrily, “If you walk out that door today, don’t you bother coming
back!”
He couldn’t believe Cynthia, who had been obedient for the past two months, was now so defiant. His rage made his chest heave with every breath. But it wasn’t a big deal to him–how much of a stir could one small–town girl cause, really? He figured that once he cut off her allowance, she wouldn’t last long on her pride. She’d come crawling back ready to do his bidding and secure funds for him,
Roseanne patted Mason’s back nonstop. Out of the comer of her eye, she watched Cynthia disappear through the doorway, a vicious glint flashing in her gaze
www.
In fact, the idea of Cynthia bartering her company for funding with her body had been Roseanne’s wicked scheme. Roseanne had mentioned it casually in front of Mason, never expecting him to take it to heart, but her plan worked perfectly, Cynthia could only blame her own striking resemblance to her late mother, so radiant that even unadorned, she outshone those with made–up.
Besides, Jeffrey’s parents despised Roseanne since she was the daughter of a mistress. Even though Cynthia had come from the countryside, they still preferred her over Roseanne,
Although Roseanne and Jeffrey had feelings for each other, the latter’s elders still didn’t agree to their wedding. With a hint from her mother, Roseanne had begun to entertain the idea of ruining Cynthia first.
‘If only last night Cynthia hadn’t been so damn lucky, her embarrassing video would be blowing up all over the net by now. And with that, I would become the only presentable daughter of the Larson family, and the Sullivan family would stop stalling the marriage, thought Roseanne.
Cynthia didn’t take Mason’s words to heart. These past two months, she’d only been amicable to maintain some semblance of family affection before figuring out their true nature. But those people were taking her for a weakling, getting too comfortable walking all over her.
She went to a coffee shop and found a seat by the window. Soon after, a man in a suit with a briefcase approached her table. “Mr. Gibson,” Cynthia greeted the man as she stood.
The man, Bernard Gibson, was an attorney in his forties, whom, as her grandfather mentioned, Cynthia could ask help for when it came to the shares.
The purpose of their meeting had been made clear over the phone, so Bernard presented a document directly as they sat down. “This is your thother’s will”
Cynthia reviewed it while Bernard explained, “Your mother’s will states that you must be twenty years old and married before you can inherit 70% of Larson Group’s stocks.
Cynthia looked up, perplexed. “Why does it stipulate that I have to be married?”
Bernard frowned, also confused. “Your mother just said it was in case…”
Cynthia bowed her head again, scrutinizing the will thoroughly.
Half an hour later, Bernard excused himself and left.
Alone, Cynthia remained seated by the window, staring absently at the sign of Sullivan Group across the street gleaming in the sunlight, thinking. Why did Mom add such conditions to the will? She was only thirty years old when she died–no one makes a will at that young age without a
The more Cynthia thought about it, the more she realized there was something more to the story that needed uncovering.
But the priority was to reclaim the stocks, Though she had known the content of the will, the conditions seemed hard to deal with. The age wasn’t a problem; she would turn twenty next month. The real issue was getting married.