Conditions

Bethany’s Pov

Right as I reached the door my fathers loud and stern voice had me stopping dead in my tracks.

"Sit down now." My father ordered in a tone he rarely had to use with me. He was always gentle and kind. Even when I did wrong he never talked to me like I was a subordinate.

"You have 10 seconds." He continued in a semi loud voice which still would’ve had anyone else running towards their seat. I bit my lips and cursed inwardly a few times. Even after death he still had control over me.

Danny sighed when I didn’t move right away. I’m assuming he was hoping that my fathers command would make me more compliant. "Bethany please sit, your father is not finished and it's important."

I didn't want to stay and the tears that I hadn't felt until this moment told me that my heart couldn't take it. I licked my lips which were now wet and salty because of the flow of tears.

"Sweetheart please sit down. I knew you would be upset so I made a few different tapes just in case. Now can you sit down so I can finish telling you what Bella is inheriting." He said softly, the demanding tone in his voice was gone now and in its place was the gentleness that I was use to. My chest tightened and even though I wanted to be rebellious, I still loved my father too much to walk away.

It took every fiber in my body to force myself to turn back around. Everyone was looking at me. The expressions I thought I would see weren't there. Everyone looked actually concerned and sad. Everyone besides Victor that is, he seemed to not care that I was broke. He looked annoyed and seemed to want to leave.

"Honey sit down. Let your father finish." My aunt Vicky pleaded sounding foreign. I blinked a few times as I stared at her. Was this the same aunt I knew? Everyone always looked at Victor and me like they hated us.

"We didn't think uncle Matt would care enough to leave us anything in the will. Even if it's just because Bella is a girl, it means a lot." Theodore said with a small smile. My chest tightened. They were being nice to me because my father gave the position to Theodore and not me or Bella.

I turned to walk away but my arm was grabbed before I could take another step forward. "What I'm trying to say is we are sorry. Even if the position is just temporarily, it feels good to have him trust me after all the years of working with him." Theodore stated near my ear.

I froze as I took in his words. "Temporary?" I asked softly. "Yes temporarily. I can only assume until Bella gets to be of age and by than I'll be too old to want to work." He chuckled. My chest tightened as I realized that all my family on my fathers side aged besides me. I slowly looked at him with teary eyes.

His grey eyes had a softness in them that I never seen before and it broke my heart. My arm was grabbed and I was gently brought to the table. I slowly sat down on the cushioned chair and willed my heart to relax.

"Now that you are back and sitting I can continue." My father laughed. I hesitantly looked over at the screen and my heart broke some more. He was looking directly at me with love filled eyes that I would never see again.

"I skipped to Thomas and Theodore because I knew that the next part of the will will make you hate me." He stated with a grim expression. I could only stare because what could be worse than telling Theodore that he is the temporary ceo instead of me?

"Sweetheart I want to start by saying I knew that you were having a girl the moment you told me you were pregnant and it was a boy. You couldn't have possibly thought I wouldn't see through your lie. I'm your father." My father stated sadly. My chest tightened as I stared at his sad eyes.

"Thats impossible." I mumbled as I tried to figure out if he was lying or not. His chuckle as he looked back at Bella had dread filling me. I tightened my grip on Bella a little and closed my eyes tight. This wasn't just a will reading but my last goodbye. The last conversation I will ever have with him even if it was a one sided conversation.

"I know you so well my lovely daughter. Every time you said it was a boy you fidgeted and looked away. I was prepared for you to come in the hospital room with a fake baby boy or no baby. So I wasn't surprised when you made up an excuse as to why you couldn't let me see her right away. That's why I told you that since my grandson came out healthy that I changed Bella's part to my first grandson instead of my first grandchild." My father stated with a wry chuckle.

My cheeks heated up as I realized he had tricked me into bringing her to see him. I had planned on dressing her like a boy and bringing her but he forced my hand and I could only tell the truth.

"After meeting Bella, I instantly knew I had to protect her more than I already planned too, so I changed a few things around in the company and my will." He stated. My brows furrowed as I watched him interact with Bella.

"You may not trust your cousins but they are hard working and they have only wanted to watch the company succeed. They were always jealous of you because I had told them in the beginning that once you gave birth to a son, that I would give your husband temporary control of the company so that he could teach my grandson how to run it." My father stated as he smiled at Bella.

I glanced at Victor and instantly regretted it. The anger in his eyes had me feeling flustered. I knew he only wanted to marry me for my fathers company and I shouldn't have been surprised that he was angry. He loved the money, the power and everything that came with my name. It still hurt to know I was a victim of a greedy man.

"I had always planned on giving the company to my first grandson even if I had passed before he was born but after meeting Bella I realized that she needed my protection. She needed me to protect her from men like Victor." He stated. Victors anger only grew and the hate in his eyes seemed to fill them even more.

"So I created a list with the top ten elite families that have just had sons in the last three years. You are to pick one of the names off of the list for Bella to marry when she comes of age." He stated causing me to go rigid instantly.

"Marriage." I whispered as a paper was pushed in front of me. I looked down at the list of names and felt my world spin. These were the same names that my father had given me when he tried to convince me to not marry Victor. He had told me that Victor couldn't be who he said he was because he never seen or heard of him. He forbid me from getting married to Victor and told me to pick a family I wanted to get married into.

He had told me that we would make an alliance with marriage. I could chose as long as I didn't marry Victor. So in a panic driven haste I got married to Victor without a prenup so that my father couldn't force me to marry someone I didn't love. And in return I was heart broken by Victors behavior when my father refused to give me his company.

"Bella is to marry someone off of this list. Once she does the company will be transferred to her." My father stated lowly. I paled at his words. He couldn't seriously be creating an alliance with babies.

"You have one year to pick someone off of this list. I have already contacted each of the families and they are all willing to create an alliance. They know that it is your choice and they are all still willing." My father stated with not a hint in his voice that this was all just one big joke.

"She's just a baby." I mumbled softly even though he couldn’t hear me or reply. "Once you chose you are to let Danny know and he will start the contract that will solidify the alliance."

I gently rocked Bella as I stared at the list that seemed to be multiplying. "Theodore will work with whoever you pick to make sure that once they come of age they will be prepared to run the company." My fathers words had me setting my hand on the table to balance myself.

"They will run the company." I mumbled to myself. I knew this would happen but still somehow I had hope that things would be different for her. “Once Bella has signed the prenup and her husband has taken over the company, she will have access to the billions that she's inherited from me and all the properties that are now in her name will be accessible." He stated.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and someone whisper into my ear but still I could only hear my fathers voice.

"I know you might hate me for this but these are the conditions of the will sweetheart and until they are fulfilled she will not inherit the company." My father stated right as my world went black.