Dorothy’s face flushed a deep crimson. “That’s ridiculous! He was my son! Everything he built, he built because of this family! You can’t just throw us out, and you certainly can’t take his company away from us!”
Advertisements
Discover more
Coffee
Kitchen & Dining
coffee
Melanie opened a second folder, pulling out a set of heavily notarized agreements. “Ah, yes. The company. That brings us to what Simon signed six days ago…”
(The truth about Simon’s business is about to come to light—continue reading Part 3 in the comments below!)
Advertisements
Part 3: The Secret Business Empire
Dorothy crossed her arms, trying to regain her footing. “Simon owned Vance Logistics. We helped him seed that business twenty years ago! We hold equity!”
“You thought you held equity,” I said softly, finally speaking up as I walked over to the entry table. I picked up the small silver urn, holding it gently against my chest, feeling the cool metal warm against my skin. “Simon knew you’d say that. That’s why he spent the last year of his life fixing the mistakes of his youth.”
Melanie slid a blue-bound contract across the table toward Knox. “Twenty years ago, Dorothy, you loaned Simon $10,000 to start his firm. In exchange, you forced him to sign an informal agreement granting your family 40% of the profits. For two decades, you bled his operations dry, treating his hard work like a family ATM while treating him like an outcast.”
Advertisements
Discover more
door
Kitchen & Dining
Fonts
Knox flipped through the pages, his hands beginning to visibly shake. “We had a contract!”
“A contract that Simon legally bought out six months ago when he paid off your secondary mortgages,” Melanie corrected. “And six days ago, in room 412 of Memorial Hospital, Simon executed a complete restructuring. He didn’t just leave a will, Dorothy. He established a private family foundation.”
Kaylin gasped. “A foundation?”
“Every asset, every share of Vance Logistics, every bank account, and every piece of intellectual property Simon possessed was transferred into the Vera Vance Legacy Trust,” Melanie explained, her tone completely even. “Simon left zero assets in his personal name. Which means there is no probate, no court battle for you to wage, and no estate for you to pillage.”
“He wouldn’t do that to us!” Dorothy shouted, her eyes wide with shock and betrayal. “I’m his mother! He loved me!”
Advertisements
“He knew you, Dorothy,” I said, looking her dead in the eye. “He knew that before his body was even cold, you’d be in our home with trash bags and suitcases. He spent his final week making sure that the people who spent his life leeching off him wouldn’t get a single penny of his legacy.”
The deputy stepped forward, tapping his belt. “Alright folks, you heard the attorney. Hand over the keys and start emptying those suitcases.”
