AngelEyes1994
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2015
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"The Reading of the Will"
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Angel Vance stood outside the Tipton Mansion trying to get up the nerve to enter it. Her grandfather, Joseph Tipton, had died 11 days earlier, and today his lawyer was here to read the will.
It wasn't the contents of the Will that concerned Angel, of course; Grampa Joe had told her repeatedly during his final years that she would continue to live in comfort and security after his passing. Angel had come to live with Joseph Tipton at the young age of 13 years and 13 days, after the tragic auto accident deaths of her parents. Over the next 6 years, the Tipton Mansion had come to be a home to Angel like she'd never imagined possible, and Grampa Joe had come to love his youngest of grandchildren in a way that he never had with any of his other relatives.
Regarding Angel's continuing comfort and security, Joseph Tipton was most definitely able to assure these to Angel. He had been a billionaire three times over upon his death, a self made man whose hard work and grand visions had turned a $55,000 bank loan into an international real estate empire in less than two decades.
Over those decades, Joseph Tipton and the high school sweetheart he'd married had begun and cared for a large family: 8 children were born to Joseph and Marilyn Tipton, and from those 8 children -- Angel's mother had been the last -- had come 38 grandchildren and, with a new birth just three days ago, 24 great-grandchildren.
This was the concern that was causing Angel to tremble deep down inside. Today was to be the first time that she would be face to face with all 7 of Joseph Tipton's living children and their current spouses; thankfully, all of the great-grandchildren and any grandchildren under 18 years of age had been specifically nixed from the Will reading by Joseph's lawyer.
Joseph Tipton's descendants were, of course, Angel Vance's relatives, too. But she barely knew them. Each of Joseph's children had gone out into the world to find their own fame and fortune; they took with them their high school diplomas or their university degrees and, of course, a financial boost from their already-a-billionaire father, and they'd barely come back to visit.
The only time that they regularly came back to the Tipton Mansion was for the Thanksgiving weekend get-together or for a loan from the Old Man, something he'd done freely in the beginning and yet did far less often and to a much smaller degree as the years passed.
As she stood outside her and Grampa Joe's home, Angel realized that she'd never at a time ever in her life been in a room with more than two of them -- usually a married couple desperate for financial relief -- except during that 5 day annual holiday event at the mansion.
Drawing a deep breath, holding it, then letting it rush out, Angel headed up the steps, into the house, and down the hall to the library. She stopped in the door at the sight of all the family assembled, some sitting, some standing, and some milling about anxiously. Most of them looked Angel's way at some point; few of them returned the smile she shared with them.
Finding one empty dining table style chair sitting empty in a back corner, Angel sat and waited for the event to begin. Martin Brill entered and cut through the crowd to sit at Joseph Tipton's desk; he had been Grampa Joe's attorney for more than 30 years.
"Shall we begin?" he asked, opening a leather folder before him. "We are gathered here for the reading of the last will and testament of Joseph Tipton, and as this will take some time, I suggest we get right to it."
Martin began with the disbursement of large sums of money to a long list of charitable organizations, universities, trade schools, and non-profits that were mostly social welfare related. Reading directly from the will, Martin spoke Joseph's words, "'I built my wealth on the backs of many people who will never know and enjoy the good life I myself lived, so I now do my best to give back to them by supporting those agencies and peoples who know them the best.'"
"Just ... just how much money is he giving away?" one of his children asked with dismay.
Martin didn't hesitate to give a precise answer: "One point three-five billion dollars, to be disbursed from a trust fund overseen by my law firm over the next twelve years."
There was a collective gasp through the library, followed by a rolling rumble of questions, comments, and criticisms; they were all essentially variations of What the hell is he doing giving our money away to poor people he didn't even know.
Angel simply sat in the back, silent and still, trying to make herself look as small as could be. She'd had a hand in Joseph's decision of who got how much of that money; they used to sit together in the renovated attic on stormy nights, eating cookies and drinking hot cocoa while they watched the lightning and listened to the thunder and talked about the good his money could do for this group or that agency. Angel was herself responsible for most of the benefactors Martin had just named, not that she or the lawyer were going to tell the others that.
"Moving on now to family," Martin said loudly, trying to cut off the moaning and groaning. The room went silent quickly with the sudden understanding by the individuals assembled that they were each about to find out just how much of the remaining dollars they were about to inherit. Martin flipped a page and began, "To secure the futures of my great-grandchildren and grandchildren, I have established a trust fund for each in the amount of $100,000 to be used for tuition, fees, books, and other costs related directly or indirectly to a worthwhile education at the university or trade school of their choosing."
There was another roll of murmurs as the parents of those children realized that they were no longer going to have to worry about or be responsible for the outrageous costs of college for their children. Some of the parents were likely already considering tapping into those college funds for their own benefits, but that ended quickly as Martin explained that the trusts' moneys would be disbursed directly by his firm and would be otherwise untouchable by the family.
Angel couldn't help but smile from her little corner in the back of the room. She was one of those grandchildren, of course, which meant that she would have enough money to finish her university education and, possibly, do some traveling afterward before figuring out what she was going to do for employment for the rest of her life.
"To my children..." Martin continued, once again causing the room to go silent in anticipation.
The lawyer hesitated a moment, drawing and exhaling a calming breath; he was anticipating an uproar like they hadn't yet seen with what he had to say next. He began reading a letter written by Joseph to his children in which he told them that he had always loved them and wished them the best in life, but that he'd been disappointed in them for seeing him as little more than a penny bank for their thrills and frills or for bailing them out of their poor choices with regards to business ventures about which he had personally warned them but about which they'd ignored his sage advice.
The mood was getting ugly, and the lawyer had to thrice stop talking and glare out at the family in an effort to silence them.
"To each of my living children," Martin continued reading, "I leave..."
Martin began listing off some of his possessions, items that had had a particular meaning to each of his offspring and/or their spouses or children. None of the items listed had any great monetary value; there were a few paintings or statues or other works of art, but few of them had resale value of more than a number in the lowest of 5 figure ranges.
"What about the money?" one of the impatient relatives finally blurted out. "You can list off all the art and shit we'll toss into our cars' trunks for the rides home later. Tell us about the money! Who gets the money?"
Martin ignored the anxious adult child and kept reading until he reached the bottom and turned the page. Again, he hesitated, taking in and releasing a deep breath. "In regards to the Tipton Estate's property and all the assets contained within that have not yet been bequeathed ... the company's assets both in the US and abroad ... and Joseph's personal portfolio of stocks, bonds, and cash..."
All around the room, the family members were reacting in their own anxious and excited and nervous ways. Meanwhile in the back of the room, Angel simply sat there in silence, pondering; would her own inheritance -- after the expense of university, of course -- be enough to finance a month long trip to France or would she have to settle on a weekend in Quebec for a chance to use the French she'd been learning since 9th grade?
Martin continued, "...estimated to be worth $2.21 billion dollars, US..."
He looked up, scanning the faces of his client's greedy little sons and daughters. Then, leaning just enough to be able to catch the eyes of the teenager sitting in the extreme back of the room, Martin finished, "...is to be left to my granddaughter, Angel Elizabeth Vance."
As if operating of one mind, each and every head in the room spun slowly to look directly at the 19 year old sitting in the corner. Angel was just as surprised as the others were: her eyes were wide, her mouth had fallen open, and the blood had rushed from her already fair skinned face to leave her looking white as a ghost.
"We're done here," Martin said, closing the leather folder and standing.
But the room wasn't done with him as the men and women there exploded in dismay, disbelief, and outright rage at what they'd heard. Most of it was directed at the lawyer, while to a lesser degree a bit of it was aimed at the teen now cringing in the corner.
Angel couldn't take the fury of her family members and suddenly leaped up to flee. She ran down the hall, out of the house, and across the manicured lawn and through the sculpted gardens to the stables. She hid in a corner of her horse's stall, trembling down deep inside, and tried to figure out what this all meant.
Grampa Joe had left it all to her.
Joseph Tipton, billionaire real estate mogul, had given his entire fortune to her.
Angel ... was a billionaire!
