Chapter 3: The Will Clause

CASSIAN MORETTI

The polished obsidian wall reflected the gleam of chrome inside the boardroom, the long mahogany table stretched endlessly, and at its head, I sat with a seething barely concealed.

Across from me sat eleven men, all grey-haired, stiffed jaws, they are retired judges, senior lawyers, and corporate watchdogs who had once bowed to my father.

Now, they are my biggest obstacles, they strongly guard my father’s 30 trillion dollars worth of fortune that is legitimately mine as the heir of the Moretti family.

Because I don’t have a family anymore! I’m being denied.

And who controls these witless old men now?

It is my father’s legal concubine, Lady Claudia Moretti, in white, not a single hair out of place, wearing a pearl necklace that once belonged to my dead mother…

She didn’t flinch under my stern gaze; she only gave me a cold confident smile.

On her left was her 28 years old son Luca, the illegitimate son of the Moretti family, pretending to be part of a legacy he was never born legitimately into.

I wasn’t ready for this shenanigans, I was here once again to demand access to my right…

“I’ll say this once. The thirty trillion dollars my father willed to me… I want my sole exclusive access finalized today. No delays. No legal stalling. The legitimate heir clause in his will is clear.”

I demanded sternly and one of the older lawyers, a silver-bearded man with trembling fingers; cleared his throat.

“We are only… exercising due diligence, Mr. Moretti. Given the complexity of the…”

I cut him off,

“There is no complexity. There is only cowardice. My father didn’t entrust his empire to stammering old relics. He gave it to me.

So unless anyone here plans to stand before a global press conference tomorrow and explain why Moretti Tech’s rightful heir is being delayed by dusty politics, I suggest you sign the damn exclusive access.”

I growled; and the silence that followed was so tense, even the air held its breath. These old foolish men stared at lady Claudia… as if telling her to control me, Ofcourse she is the lady of the household now…

Then came Lady Claudia’s voice,

“Cassian… must you raise your voice in this boardroom?” she said, folding her hands over her customised Hermès purse.

“Your father raised you to be filial, to respect your elders. I may not be your birth mother, but I am still the Lady of the Moretti Estate. Control your temper and show some dignity in this room.”

“Dignity?” I scoffed,

“Is it dignified to sit in my father’s chair wearing my dead mother’s pearls?”

“You don’t speak to my mother that way!” Luca barked at me like a mommy’s boy he is… I cared less about a useless spoiled step brother.

“I will end this meeting now you are stepping overboard… escort Cassian out.” Lady Claudia ordered her guards and they walked at me at once… and Jared, my bodyguard cocked his gun pointing at them, they halted.

“Step-mother, there are some shots you can’t call in here. While you can control the Moretti estate and the household lawyers… you can’t control anything in this company or any company under the Moretti corporations, I call the corporate shots” I said sternly and the whole room went silent.

One of the lawyers voice cut the tension in the room, only to say the same thing they said a year ago, reading directly from my father’s will.

“The legitimate heir shall inherit the empire if and only if he is married with a male heir by the 7th year of my passing. Else, the inheritance passes to the next qualified male descendant”

And immediately he said that Lady Claudia cuts in,

“And the next male descendant is my son Luca Moretti, he has a legally married wife, and a 2 years old healthy son… what do you have Cassian?”

My hands went cold, and I slammed the table so hard… the old men shivered in fear.

“Don’t you ever compare me to your sorry ass son ever! I have a family.”

“Family where Cassian? Your wife and your 2 years old son died in a jet crash along with your mother 4 years ago! And you’ve not moved on since then… you even vowed not to ever marry or have a son again and you still claim you have a family? A perished family can’t qualify you to claim exclusive access to this thirty million dollars legacy…”

Lady Claudia said and a tremor ran through me; so small no one noticed, but I felt it deep in my bones. My breath caught in my throat like a knife…

I remembered Donna’s laugh. The way my son Jade used to run to the door when I came home. The way my mother used to hold my hand like I was still her little boy, no matter how tall I’d grown.

But they are all gone in that jet cat! And this woman dared to weaponize this traumatic situation again.

I stared at Claudia, refusing to blink. If I so much as exhaled too hard, I’d break. But I wouldn’t let her see it.

I could see that this woman wants to show these old men my weakness. Not today, I will not show it in the slightest. Even when I couldn’t breathe at that moment.

“You will never speak of my family again,” I said, my voice so low it was barely a whisper, but it stopped the room cold.

“Face it, brother,” Luca said, with that smug grin that made my knuckles itch. “You’ve got less than three years to find a wife and produce a legitimate male heir. Even if you married today, there’s no guarantee she’d give you a son. You’re gambling with time you don’t have.”

He leaned back like he’d already won.

“Why waste what’s inevitable? Hand it over now, and I’ll be generous, I promise to give you a two percent stake once I’ve taken the reins. That way, at least you’ll still have a seat at the table… even if it’s at the very end.”

My fist clenched beneath the table, my nails digging into my palm.

That’s all it was to him, thirty trillion dollars and a seat.

He reduced my father’s empire, my grandfather’s legacy, my bloodline, to nothing more than a bargaining chip.

And he thought I would sit and beg for crumbs.

“I’ve heard enough of these insults to my father’s legacy. Shame on all of you useless lawyers… This meeting is dismissed!” I ordered, and they all started leaving lucky once again that they have their heads intact.

….

“ I’ve confirmed that the chief justice emeritus' daughter will be released from the women’s detention today… She's female, 24. 5’9, slim. Cherry red hair, hazel eyes. Mentally wrecked. She’s a junkie”

Jared said.. as he drove the car towards the women’s detention center.. Justice Emeritus is the most influential amongst my father’s lawyers closely controlled by Lady Claudia and his daughter is the most precious to him… I’d see who controls him once I have his daughter in my captivity.

“Are you sure you don’t want our men to do this job instead my Lord?” Jared asked as he turned to the detention center district.

“I have the people in charge of the detention center’s surveillance under my control… Just get her thrown in the car trunk and drive away, once we get there before her father comes to pick her up… my men will get rid of the internal footage from the detention facility”

And soon she walked out, a woman who matched her description, she looked a mess but her beauty stunned me, walking a step at a time sobbing silently, the tears and her pale look couldn’t even obliterate her beauty.

“Seize her…” I ordered and at once she was knocked off, thrown inside the trunk and we drove off the detention center, surveillance deletions confirmation sent to my burner mail… I was never here today.