The smell of burnt logs filled the air as flames danced and crackled. The wondrous shapes of smoke that rose from the fire and wafted in the sky as the hearth burned. Mangos that were left out to dry filled the house with a gentle, sweet scent of the fruit. A warm breeze that could make a person wonder if this was what home felt like. These were some of the little things that happened daily at Grandma's house, until it didn't.
Grandma.
It felt like it was just yesterday when I said goodbye to her forever. I loved her, and I love her still.
Your grandmother hasn't been feeling well for some time now. And no, there was no disease or underlying condition; these things just happen. You have to understand, Ms. Wolfe, she was already 95 years old at the time of her death. I'm sorry for your loss, truly.
No disease, no underlying condition. These things just happen. It's hard to wrap it around my head. But the doctor was right, she was 95 years old. It would've happened sooner or later.
Still, it would've been nice to see her just a little longer. I thought of this sentence constantly during the funeral. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.
Bzzz-bzzz.
I looked at my phone and saw a text from my mother.
Mom: Where are you?
Me: At Grandma's house.
Mom: We're at the mansion getting ready for the testament. Coming?
I frowned at her text. That would mean she will be there too, with the rest of the family. The last thing I wanted was more drama. However, knowing the testament was, in a way, Grandma's final wish, I felt I had to go — it just didn't feel right to ignore it.
Reaching in ten.
After hitting the 'send' button, I gathered my things and breathed in the last warmth this house could provide. The crackling fire, the sweet smell of mangos, the warm breeze... all that was gone. "I'm gonna miss this place," I mumbled to myself. Taking one good look around the house, I held back tears and left the house that I had cherished in my entire childhood.
Upon arriving at the mansion, I saw my dad's and my brother's cars parked outside the gate. Shouldn't they park the car inside? There should be plenty of space to fit three cars in the car porch. All my questions faded away as I saw a red SUV, a Mercedes and a Bentley parked right at the car porch. Great. Guess that snake beat Dad to it. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
"Ms. Wolfe, I am glad that you've arrived safely. I trust that your journey here was comfortable?" Alan Goode, or Grandpa Alan, as I liked to call him, greeted me at the door. Alan served as my grandparents' caretaker after Grandpa's Alzheimer's worsened. He was the kind of person who had a big heart, and I'm guessing, tons of patience towards Grandpa when things got difficult. My family liked him very much and treated him as a friend. Can't say the same for the snake's family.
"I drove here, Grandpa Alan. When one is the driver, I doubt that there will be any comfort."
"That's true. But some do take pleasure in being in the driver."
"Some people do, I'm definitely not one of them." Alan chuckled. When he smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes deepened. It was a constant reminder to me that one day, he will have to leave too. I gave a small smile to Alan and headed to the living room, where the yelling slowly became more audible as I approached.
"I demand a real lawyer verify the testament! I am not trusting this lowly, unqualified lawyer from god knows where to handle Mom's testament!" The woman screeching was my youngest aunt, Dad's youngest sister, Aunt Evelyn. No one liked her.
As far as I'm concerned, she was a lying, deceitful, irresponsible bitch who didn't care for her parents and was only in it for the inheritance. She was also one of the reasons Grandpa's condition worsened. Mom considered her an outsider and a two-faced bitch, Dad did too, but it was hard to acknowledge his only surviving sister as such. Seeing how things were going now, I doubt he will still have a soft spot for her.
For the record," Mr. Chase, the lawyer, said calmly, "I am fully certified, and I have no affiliations with anyone in this room."
"Except you're friends with my brother!" My aunt shrieked. "How do we know you didn't pressure Ma to change her will before she passed?" 'Ma' was what Dad and his sisters called Grandma, and they called Grandpa, 'Pa'. "For all I know, you could've manipulated Ma in changing her will before she died!"
Silence.
It was the kind of pure silence that can make you hear a needle drop.
I stole a glance at my father. He remained expressionless and just stared straight at my aunt.
This was exactly the kind of response one could expect from my father when he stood amid conflict. He wasn't thinking about what to say; he wasn't thinking about how to rebuke the allegations. He was trying to quell his anger. People don't see it, but Dad was on the verge of exploding, and I was anticipating the moment he did.
Finally, Dad spoke quietly, "Evelyn Wolfe, Mr. Chase and I have never met during the time Pa and Ma were writing their will. The last time I met with Mr. Chase was after Pa passed away, and it was to transfer the inheritance to Ma's name. Do not forget, the ones who schemed behind my back by asking Ma to change her will were you and Catherine."
Hearing my father mention her misdeed struck a chord within my aunt. Her eyes widened. She hadn't expected him to say it out loud. Her kids, Clara and Travis, looked just as stunned. Clearly, they'd been kept in the dark.
"Excuse me, Mr. Wolfe. If everyone could be seated, we would like to begin." A man wearing a suit and black framed Korean-style glasses motioned us to sit. He seemed like a quiet man who liked to keep to himself, but his eyes told me that he was a dangerous man. It was as if he could bring me to court and prosecute me to serve jail time within five minutes. "Let's begin the reading of Madam Grace Tirrell's last will."
*
Mr. Chase went on with the formalities and listed the assets Grandma left us. The assets included a piece of land in Sabah that was worth RM150,000, the old house also in Sabah, worth RM600,000, the current mansion everyone was at right now, and "...an apartment located at Minho Condominiums in Seoul, South Korea, along with a florist, both worth 600 million won and 70 million won respectively." The moment the assets in South Korea were mentioned, it piqued everyone's interest.
How on earth could there be assets in Seoul? Not to mention, 670 million won worth. That's like 2 million in Malaysian currency!
I couldn't help it, but jaw, meet floor.
My brother, cousins, and both my uncles, Uncle Philip, who is Aunt Evelyn's husband, and Uncle James, who is my late Aunt Catherine's husband, were gaping at the lawyer; everyone was in disbelief—everyone, except Aunt Evelyn and my parents. Staring at them, it felt like they already knew about this.
"Now, I will begin the distribution of the inheritance based on the statement and instructions from the late Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe. The following letter is from Mr. Andrew, addressed to the entire family:
To my dearest children and grandchildren, by the time Joseph (a.k.a Mr. Chase) presents this letter, I will be long gone. Do not be sad or mournful of my passing, for I am with the Lord, as well as your mother, or grandmother, for the grandchildren.
As I prepared my will with your mother, it was a difficult decision to make. I know that there was a conflict between Daniel and Evelyn, and I also know that Catherine was sick. The three of you never tell me and Ma anything, but we know. It must've been hard on all of you, having gone through that. That is why I have decided to distribute my inheritance as fairly as I can to avoid any further conflict. I trust that Joseph has obtained your signatures for the agreement that no one is allowed to covet another's inheritance after the will has been announced. If no, do ask for the agreement; if yes, please proceed with the next step. Please understand that whatever decision has been made shall be final. And remember, Ma and I love all of you very much.
The land that I purchased for your mother during our tenth anniversary is worth RM150,000. It will be given to Catherine's family and all the generations of her bloodline. The old house will be distributed to all three of my children, each receiving RM200,000 from the sales. The mansion will not be sold; instead, it will remain the Wolfe mansion for anyone under the Wolfe family register. The condominium in Korea will be left to Daniel and his family, whereas the florist will be given to Talia and Damian to manage.
To Evelyn, I leave Ma's jewellery to be cherished as a family heirloom by you, your daughter, her daughter, and the generations to come. The jewellery by itself is worth RM120,000 in total. Initially, I planned to split the land between you and Catherine; however, your call that day made me change my decision. You may be a pastor, but you are our daughter first. Therefore, despite your wish to receive little from the inheritance, we are entrusting Ma's jewellery to you.
My brother snickered upon hearing the statement; even I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. "She must think that Grandpa would give her more of the inheritance if she played the pity card." My brother whispered. I grinned at him and said, "Guess Grandpa caught onto her."
Grandpa may have had Alzheimer's later in his life, but he was far from senile. Nothing, nothing, could get past him without him knowing about it. At the corner of my eye, I could see that Uncle Philip was furious with Aunt Evelyn. Leave it to his holier-than-thou wife to screw things up.
Mr. Chase continued the rest of the will, which said that Grandpa and Grandma loved us very much, and the decisions have been made after careful consideration.
Finally, he closed the will, "I am eternally grateful to have such loving children and grandchildren who showered me and Ma with love and happiness. Till we meet again in God's heavenly realm. Lots of luv, Pa and Ma."
Mr. Chase cleared his throat and asked if we had any questions.
No one spoke, not even my father.
I guess everyone was trying to process the contents of the will.
As I was thinking back about what was said, it suddenly hit me. "Mr. Chase," I began, "if the condominium was left to my family and the florist to me and my brother, doesn't it mean that we have to move to Korea?" Mr. Chase stared at me for a moment and turned to my father, "The decision is yours, Mr. Wolfe. After all, the property was left for you to manage."
In those few moments as my brother and I waited for his response, Dad seemed...tired. Something was bothering him, and I could sense it. But he didn't say anything except, "I will discuss this with Melissa and decide on it."
Aunt Evelyn, on the other hand, was so devastated she couldn't even squeeze a word out of her mouth. The will had left her speechless; she had miscalculated Grandpa's decision. Instead, it was Uncle Philip who spoke on her behalf.
"I understand that Father-in-law made a unanimous decision with Mother-in-law to leave Evy out of most of the will due to her... principled stance. However, how do we know that the will hasn't been changed previously? It could have been altered before this current version was written."
Mom scoffed at him, "Not everyone is as manipulative as your wife, Philip. Besides, the only people who flew to Sabah to meet with Pa were you, Evelyn and Catherine."
"Are you accusing us of manipulating our Father-in-law and Mother-in-law to change the will?"
"Maybe I am, what are you gonna do about it?"
Just as Uncle Philip rose to his feet, my father slammed his palm onto the table.
"Sit down, Philip. Don't you even think about taking it out on my wife when yours screwed up."
Uncle Philip instantly backed down. Who wouldn't? Dad had a way of making people fear him without needing to lift a finger.
"Uncle Daniel, surely you will share some of the property in Korea with us?" Clara, my stuck-up cousin who cares about nothing except money, fame, and playing dressup, asked Dad with pleading eyes. God, even her voice made me wanna throw up.
"Didn't you hear the will? No one is allowed to covet the other's inheritance. Your parents signed the agreement along with my father and Uncle James. What's done is done." Damian stared icily at Clara. But I could see Clara wasn't having it. She wanted more.
"Fine. But it didn't say that I'm not allowed to work at the florist or visit my dear cousins in Korea, no? In that case, I—"
"Clara! Shut your mouth!" Uncle Philip snapped at her. Clara was taken aback at how her father cut her short. This had never happened before until now. "But Dad..." Her brother, Travis, stopped her before she could continue and muttered, "Wait till we get home." Clara pouted and crossed her arms.
I agreed with her brother; she was still a naive girl who didn't have a clue about what was going on among the families. Honestly, it would be better for her to just shut it.
"If there are no more questions, this concludes the reading." Mr. Chase adjusted his glasses, nudging them higher up the bridge of his nose. As he did, I stole a glance at the lawyer.
Wait a minute, his eyes...they're green.
Pretty sure they were black before that...
"Talia, hellooo?" I flinched as my brother nudged me. "You alright?"
"Yeah, just thought I saw something weird." Damian frowned and looked in the direction I was staring intently. "I don't see anything. Must be the lights or something. C'mon, Dad wants us to head home now." I nodded and looked back at the lawyer, who was shaking hands with my father. I stared again.
Black eyes. But I'd seen green. I know I had. At the end of the day, I shrugged and thought that it must be the lights playing tricks with me.