Will
Third Person
“This is unfair, Dad..” Said Mavie, crying. “How did she end up marrying Alex McGregor? How did they meet?”
“I’m sure she seduced him; what else?” Daisy added. “We need to do something about this, Lorenzo. I am not going to let you leave with nothing!”
“Do you think I want this? Of course, I am not going to leave the company empty-handed!” Lorenzo shouted.
It was the following day after the event, and they were in their living room. Until they woke up, they still couldn’t believe that Serene had married the wealthiest man in the country. “We need to think about how we are able to get back to Serene or take her out of the company. It won’t be easy since McGregor is beside her”, Lorenzo said. The mother and daughter nodded in agreement.
“Dear, how about you and Ryan?” Daisy asked Mavie.
“What do you expect? After what Serene showed him, do you still think that boy will accept her?” Lorenzo snarled at his wife. “Such a disgrace!”
“You know why she did that!” Daisy talked back. “It was for you! So you could keep your position!”
“If that’s the case, she should have done it secretly! She should have not let anyone find out about it!” Lorenzo shouted angrily. “And worse, she let that bastard catch her!”All rights © NôvelDrama.Org.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I just want to help you. I saw how hard you worked for Serendipity, and I didn’t want it to go to waste.” Mavie said in a low voice, trying to appear pitiful and remorseful. She knew that her father would side with her no matter what, and what she did for him was also for her sake. She couldn’t afford to live on the street, just like when she was a kid, and she and Daisy were leeching off to her father.
“I think Marissa knew about you all along, that bitch!” Lorenzo exclaimed. “With her last will, not letting me marry anyone until her daughter was married, it only made sense.”
“What do you mean?” Daisy asked, “Are you saying that she knew everything about us? About Mavie all this time?”
“That bitch doesn’t love me. She used me so that her daughter wouldn’t turn out to be a bastard.”
“What are we going to do, Dad? Mom?” Mavie asked. Her face was filled with worry, anger, and, at the same time, envy. She was envious that Serene, whom she requested her father to throw out years ago from her own house, was now living in luxury and had taken the company she was hoping to inherit.
“I’m thinking.” Her father replied, “I sent her to her grandparents in Portico so she won’t be able to achieve anything. I don’t understand why she was full of confidence when she was supposed to be timid and weak.”
“Me too. What did her grandparents do to her that she managed to gain that air of sophistication and class? I was expecting her to be a country bumpkin when I agreed to let her stay here after you called her.” Daisy added. “Do you know what her grandparents do?”
“No. All I know is that they were old. Marissa used to tell me that they lived by themselves, and that’s why she made sure to make time to visit them often.”
“Why are we even thinking about them? I don’t care what they do; I just want that bastard to pay for what she did to us!” Mavie exclaimed in frustration. She didn’t like hearing her parents talking about people other than Serene and their plan to take her out of the picture.
“Don’t worry, I am going to do anything to make that bastard pay for what she did to our family,” Lorenzo said before taking his phone out of his pocket and dialing a number.
“Whose this?” answered the man on the other line.
“Dad, it’s me, Lorenzo.”
“I don’t know any Lorenzo.” his father said.
“Dad, what are you talking about? Didn’t you call me five months ago telling me to return?”
“Oh, it’s the son I thought had changed. The son I thought had learned his lesson and had gone wise based on experience.”
“What do you mean?” he asked with wide eyes, even though he knew what he would say next.
“I don’t have a son who disgraces my family. I thought you’d learned when you married Marissa. Still, you never stop seeing that woman!” his father said before he ended the call, making Lorenzo throw his phone.
“What was that about?” Daisy asked, shocked. She had never seen him do something like that, so she got worried, even though she had no idea what his father had told him.
“That old man! He disowned me once again!” Lorenzo replied angrily.
“What? Why would they do that?” Mavie asked,
“Because of your mother, what else!”
“What do I have to do with him disowning you again?”
“It’s because he doesn’t like you, and he didn’t want me to be with you, that’s why!” he answered, yelling.
“Until now, your father didn’t like our relationship? I thought it had changed after he learned we were doing okay with Serendipity?” Daisy asked. Her face was stoic, but Lorenzo could feel the pain and hurt she felt from being neglected by his father.
“Then Grandpa will never meet me as well.” Mavie added, “He disowned you, his son. How much more me?”
“Stop thinking about him. We’ve lived without him and my family all these years and don’t need them.”
“But you just called him; it only means that you want to ask him for help,” Daisy replied, and he nodded. He knew he wouldn’t be able to deny it.
“But still, we will be able to pull this through. Look, we only lose our company. We still have this mansion and other properties that Serene has no idea about.”
Before Mavie could say a thing, one of their maids came in and said, “Ma’am, Sir, someone wants to see you.”
“Who?” Daisy asked, annoyed.
“Me,” Patt said as he showed up with Marissa’s lawyer.
“What is this all about?” Lorenzo asked angrily when he saw the old man.
“Since Serene is already here, I decided to read Marissa’s last will before you and her representative.” Atty. Lu replied. “Please ask your woman and daughter to leave; they cannot attend this conversation.”
“What do you mean by that?” Mavie asked, confused.
“It means that you are irrelevant in this matter. You don’t need to hear the will because you’re an outsider.” Patt replied.
“How dare you! Then why are you here?” Daisy talked back.
“I am Serene’s best friend, left-hand man, assistant, bodyguard, brother, and her representative to hear the will,” Patt replied arrogantly. He was smirking, and he knew how pissed Lorenzo was judging by the look on his face.
“If you may, please, Mr. Dylan. I’m old, and I want to get over this already.” Atty. Lu said respectfully, although he knew what kind of man Lorenzo was and what he had done to Serene and Marissa.
“Let’s go to my study.” Lorenzo said, “You two stay here and wait.” He added this, looking at Daisy and Mavie, who were both anxious. For a long time, after finding out that Marissa had a will, they had been deeply thinking about how they could take all her assets away from Serene.
Lorenzo did everything he could to get ahold of that piece of paper, and he felt lucky that he found out about Marissa’s condition regarding Serene’s marriage and his remarriage. “Take your seats”, Old Dylan said.
They all took their seats and Atty. Lu started reading the will. Each time, Lorenzo’s eyes widened in shock, and when he thought the old attorney was finished, he shouted.
“That can’t be! How come she didn’t leave anything for me? I married her so her child won’t be a bastard, and this is all I got?” Then the door burst open, and Daisy and Mavie came in, eavesdropping from the beginning. Patt shook his head as he sighed.
“How dare that bitch to leave nothing for Lorenzo! He saved her and her daughter from humiliation!” Daisy shouted.
“Don’t ever call Aunt Rissa that way. She’s nothing like a mistress and a gold digger like you!” Patt said angrily, glaring at Daisy and Mavie, who now felt unexplainable fear. Patt didn’t like anyone to disrespect their former leader. Even if she’s gone, he will still do anything for her, even at the cost of his life.
“Mr. Dylan, as per the will, you are not allowed to stay in the mansions. All that you acquire after you manage Serendipity will also be taken from you, other than the amount of your monthly compensation stated in the company records. Everything will cease if all your assets exceed the value of your total compensation through these years. I hope it’s clear to you.”
“We are married; don’t I have a right to her property?” Lorenzo asked.
“If you already forget, I want to remind you that you’ve signed a prenuptial agreement.” Atty. Lu replied,
“Do you have a copy of that?” Lorenzo asked arrogantly because he already asked someone to destroy it when Marissa was still alive and the company flourished. He thought Marissa would never have time to consider it since she was already busy with her business.
“Of course.” The attorney replied, making Lorenzo’s eyes widen. Then, the old man looked at Daisy and Mavie before he invited them to take their seats. “Since you’re already here, you can stay,” he added, “I am going to continue reading the will.”
“It’s not finished yet, finish?” Lorenzo asks, but the attorney just looks at him and reads.
“If Lorenzo Dylan takes care of Serene, sends her to a good school, and loves her like his own, he will have all my properties. But suppose he brings any woman or child into my home after I am gone. In that case, everything that he had a right will be forfeited, and everything will go through my daughter by Section 3 of this will.”
“That bitch knew!”
“Of course!” Patt replied, looking at Daisy. “And we always have our eyes on you,” he added, looking at Lorenzo, who was furious but couldn’t say anything. Attorney Lu continued the reading until he said everything they needed to know.
“I want all of you to vacate the mansion today,” Patt said before he turned his back and left with the lawyer.
“Dad, where are we going to lie now?” Mavie asked, crying.
“Did they think they outwit me?” Lorenzo said, smirking, making the mother and daughter look at him confusedly.