Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Something like that. Why are you telling me all this in person? Couldn’t it have been done on the phone?”
“I’m warning you because I suspect ill intentions from both your aunt and Rupert Grandstein,” Gramps said. “There’s only so much I can do when it comes to the business. I believe Rupert is trying to tie their family to ours in the hope we’ll invest again, and your aunt will do the same. She’s been on the warpath ever since I rewrote my will.”
I paused. “You rewrote your will?”
“Mm.” He sipped. “I changed it so those useless louts she calls her children won’t get a penny off me until they turn forty-five. She almost threw a chair through the window when I told her.”
Was that even legally possible? “Did you apply the same condition to my inheritance?”
“No.”
“That’s why she almost threw a chair through the window, Gramps.”
“No, she almost threw a chair through the window because she has anger issues.”
“She thinks you favour me.”
He grinned. “I do favour you.”
“You can’t say that out loud.”
“Why not? If she wanted me to favour her children, she should have taught them not to be such lazy little bastards,” he retorted hotly. “Besides, you’re their heir to both my business and my title. The title by birth, but the business because you’ve worked for it. They haven’t. Why should they reap any of the rewards of your hard work until they’ve done something with their own lives?”
He made an excellent point—not that I would ever tell him I was agreeing.
“How did you find out what Aunt Caroline is doing?” I asked.
“She told me.” He rubbed his nose. “Then had the audacity to ask for my blessing if they decide to get married.”
I was a little afraid to ask this, but… “What did you tell her?”
“I told her to piss off.”
Yup. That was why I afraid to ask. “Gramps…”
“What? Of all the men in this country, she chooses that one to set my granddaughter up with? I knew my daughter was a sneaky thing, but I didn’t think she was this sneaky. She knows how I feel about those bloody Grandsteins.”
“All right, calm down, or you’ll make yourself ill again,” I told him. “You know there’s not much you can do if Fran wants to marry him.”
“Do you mean I can’t disinherit her?”
“Yes, you cannot disinherit her just because she’ll be marrying a man you don’t like.”
“That seems unfair.”
I rubbed my hand over my forehead. “Well, I suppose you can. It’s your money. You can do whatever you please with it.”
“Then I will leave Fran’s share to Chloe.”
“You just want to watch the world burn, don’t you?” I shook my head. “I can picture you now in the afterlife with a glass of whiskey, laughing as you watch the chaos you’ve left behind because you screwed with your will at the last minute to do something like that.”
He shrugged. “I like Chloe more than Fran.”
“That’s a terrible way to talk about your granddaughter.”
“Then you should hurry up and make Chloe fall for you so I can finally talk nicely about a granddaughter of mine.”
“I’m starting to feel as though you’ll disinherit me if I don’t marry Chloe.”
“Now, there’s an idea,” Gramps said brightly. “Do you think she’ll feel sorry for you and marry you out of guilt?”
I stared at him. “I would rather be disinherited than be married out of pity.”
“Mmph. Luckily for you, none of your cousins are remotely competent enough to run this estate or my company, or I might have considered it.”
I had no doubt that what he was saying was true. It really was a blessing I was the only one born with a desire to work for the family company.
Actually, that was unfair. My cousin, Piers, had once had a desire to work for Black Ink Corporation, but that was where it’d stopped for him. Gramps had made it clear that he’d split the business between us if necessary, but Piers’ problem was much the same as Francesca’s.
Aunt Caroline had spoilt them both as well as their youngest brother, Louis, to the point I wasn’t sure any of my three cousins had any idea what work actually was.
I hadn’t got my place in the company by nepotism, but once upon a time, those three sure had.
“Anyway, just be careful. With our recent issues with them, I expect Rupert to reach out sooner rather than later. Withdrawing our investments from some of their subsidiaries has hit them hard, and now that Anthony and Fran are supposedly seeing one another, he’ll probably look to reconcile.” Gramps stared into his glass, then raised it to his lips and peered over at me. “He’ll reach out to you first because he’s a coward. When he does, tell him it’s nothing to do with you and call me.”