Chapter 2 A Price For Everything

Sloane

I take a seat in the dining hall. It’s a family matter, so everyone that’s present at the funeral related to grandmother gathers around taking a seat. The lawyer walks in holding a white envelope and stands at the head of the opposite end of the table.

“Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming. I will now proceed to read the will of the beloved Late Evelyn Hartford.” He proceeds to read. There’s mention of assets to be donated to charity and some specific individuals, and guardianship for some of the little orphan kids that grandma used to help look after. He gets to the distribution of inheritance.

“And the Hartford Hotel empire with all the assets and belongings should go to my granddaughter, Sloane Hartford”.

I wasn’t totally expecting it, but I also wasn’t surprised. I instinctively look around the faces of people listening. Some are smiling, some are neutral, and then my eyes catch Melissa.

“Really?”, she scoffs.

“Let him finish”, Claire says, giving Melissa a cold stare.

The lawyer continues, “However, my daughter is only qualified for receiving the inheritance when she has been lawfully wedded within the six months from when this will is being read, to none other than Cade Whitmore.”

My eyes widen. My heart races. I feel my feet tremble under the table. There’s a little murmur in the air amongst the relatives that are present. But the lawyer doesn’t look up, even though he knows he just dropped a bomb that just blew up right in the center of the room.

“In the event that my granddaughter refuses these conditions, after six months the hotel business and its assets would automatically belong to my next granddaughter, Melissa Hartford”

I catch Melissa’s evil grin out of the corner of my eye. She isn't even trying to hide how happy she is. She leans back in her chair, looking at her fingernails as if she’s already picking out new curtains for the hotel. To her, this isn't about Grandma’s legacy or the family name; it’s just a prize she’s been waiting to steal. She looks like she’s already celebrating my failure, knowing how much I used to hate the very mention of Cade’s name.

I feel a wave of pure disgust wash over me as I look at her. Melissa has always been selfish, but seeing her sit there and gawk at my struggle makes my stomach turn. She knows that marrying Cade is the last thing I ever wanted to do. She’s probably counting down the seconds until those six months are up so she can tear everything apart and sell it for a profit.

But then, the weight of the lawyer's words really sinks in. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one side, there is Cade. The man who broke my heart in the most cowardly way possible. Marrying him feels like stepping back into a fire that already burned me once. On the other side, there is my grandmother, and her whole legacy. If I say no, everything Grandma worked for goes to Melissa.

My head is spinning. It’s the most difficult choice I’ve ever had to make. Do I protect my heart and let my family's history die? Or do I tie myself to my worst enemy to save the only thing I have left? I look at Melissa one more time, seeing that nasty smile.

“Signed Evelyn Hartford”, the lawyer finally says as he folds the will and places it back in the envelope.

The murmur rises as the dining hall now slowly clears out. Each relative leaving at a time. I just sit there, still processing the heavy weight of inheritance, responsibility and pain that has been put on me all at once.

Why would Grandma do this? Did she think I couldn't run it alone? Or did she think she would be "fixing" my life? I thought she understood me, understood what I went through after I left him. Cade wanted to please his father so he left me because according to him “I’m not someone wasn't enough for his future, and he needed someone that was more suited for his ambitions”,

“Arrggh!”, I groan, just remembering the words when Cade said them to me years ago. “Stupid future! Stupid ambitions!”, I mutter to myself. “Six months?” My voice sounded like it belonged to someone else, someone far away. “She’s joking. This must be a posthumous prank.”

I spot the lawyer, as he’s putting his copy of the will in his bag as he’s about to walk out of the dining hall. I rush up to meet him.

“Did my grandma really mean that?”, I shoot him with the question that he gets startled.

“It’s what’s written, Miss Hartford”, the lawyer replied, finally sliding his glasses down his nose.

“And there’s no way to possibly work around her final clause”, I ask, stuttering.

“It’s a legally binding condition. I’m afraid there’s nothing that can be done. But remember, your grandmother gave you an option to either accept or pass it down to the your cousin, Melissa”

“Yes, I remember, thank you”, I tell him.

“Give it some more thought, Miss Hartford. I trust whatever you decide will be the right decision”, he says as he finally walks out the dining hall.

I take a deep sigh and make my way out of the dining hall behind him.

“There’s no way you’re giving yourself back to that coward.”, Melissa laughs. I find her resting on one of the bookshelves in the living room, obviously listening in on my conversation with the lawyer.

“What is your problem, Melissa?”

“Oh oh oh! Right now, I’m not the one with the problem. Last I checked, I’m not the one that has to go crawling back to the same ex who kicked me out because my grandmother said I have to.”

I clench my fist so tightly I can feel my fingernails. I use the last of what’s left in me to keep myself from going physical and making a scene right here in my grandma’s house.

“You might as well just forfeit everything, and believe that grandma made a mistake picking you to get her whole empire.”

I don’t even give her a response. I just walk past her and out onto the front porch. I see Cade at the tree I was standing under. Now I’m instantly disgusted at the sight of him. Maybe have mustered the courage to come back, thinking for whatever reason that I would listen to him. It’s sad to think that I was just starting to heal when he walked away. Then weeks later, grandma died. And now to save my grandmother’s soul, I would have to sell my own to the one person who had already proven he knew exactly how to break it.