Relentless Hope (Resilient Hearts)

by Cassidy, Ashley

  “I understand that. We talked about it. That’s why I don’t understand why he wanted me to be here. It doesn’t make any sense and it’s making me nervous.”

  “David was a very direct man and he was also a meticulous planner. If he told you he is not going to leave you anything in the will, he probably didn’t, but I’m sure he has a good reason for you being here. We’ll know for sure in a little bit,” he reiterates, as he directs me towards a chair at the end of the long table.

  “You should sit in this chair. I will sit next to you on your left and one of our female attorneys will sit to your right. My law partner Steve Johnson, who is running today’s meeting will sit at the head of the table on this side. You’re pretty much well isolated from those wolves.”

  A few minutes after we take our seats, a tall middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair walks in, followed by a young blonde woman with a kind smile. David introduces them as David’s estate attorneys Steve and Kate.

  The family starts walking in next. The first faces that I see are Karen, Aiden, and Aiden’s teenage sister, Andrea. Karen takes the chair right across the table from me, and Aiden sits next to her. I try to avoid making eye contact with anyone, looking down at my hands on the table and playing nervously with my ring.

  “IS THAT…? Oh, my God… That’s my grandmother’s ring on your finger, isn’t it?” Karen exclaims in a shrill voice.

  Everyone’s heads snap towards me, the room falling silent. I try to hide my hands under the table in a belated effort to divert the attention away from me, but that makes Karen raise her voice even more. “You can’t hide that from me. Let me see that. Let me see your hand,” she almost shouts. I slowly raise my hand, staring at the ring.

  She gasps. “Oh, my God... It is. That is our grandmother’s ring. I begged Dad to give me that ring all my life, even a couple of months before his death. When he said no, I asked him to give it to Andrea to make sure it stays in the family, and he still refused. Said it’s a family heirloom and too sentimentally valuable for him to give away, and then…he gives it you?” she asks, disbelief written all over her face.

  She stares me down with furious eyes. “He wouldn’t have. He wouldn’t have given you that. You must have stolen it from him.”

  My jaw drops. “Excuse me? Are you calling me a thief? Maybe you should ask yourself why your father didn’t want to give you the ring, instead of accusing me,” I yell back, unable to control my rising anger.

  Lou tries to intervene at this point. He waves his hands at both of our faces, starting in a stern voice, “Calm down, both of you. Karen–you’re way out of line here. I was at Aleah and your father’s wedding ceremony. He gave her the ring and told her that it was a family heirloom and very dear to his heart. He specifically said he wanted her to have it and asked her to keep it. There were a couple of other witnesses there too, including the priest who can vouch for this. You should apologize to Aleah.”

  Karen’s mouth falls open, her eyes getting so big they look like they are about to pop out of her head. I chance a glance at Aiden and the intensity with which he’s studying me gives me chills.

  Steve takes advantage of the silence shock created by Lou’s statement to jump in. “We should get started. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Steve Johnson. I was Mr. Pierson’s estate attorney and helped prepare his will and trust. I will be reading you the will today, but before we start, I want to reiterate again that any interruptions or inappropriate comments will get you removed from the room. We have a few extra security guards here today waiting outside this room who are ready to escort people out. I know this may be an emotional time and some of you may not be happy with the contents of this will, but everyone must remain quiet and courteous in order for us to get through this today,” he warns.

  “David had very specific instructions on how he wanted this meeting to go and we will follow everything to the dot.” Steve then starts reading through a long document, the beginning parts of which are all legalese and things very few people in this room care about.

  “And now the bequest part.” Everyone’s heads lift up, turning attentive ears to the reading.

  Unbeknownst to everyone in this room, a few years ago, I signed Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge for Billionaires, committing to give over fifty percent of my wealth away to charity. Accordingly, I am bequeathing fifty-one percent of all my shares in Pierson Investments and my other investments to the Pierson Foundation.

  I hear loud gasps all around the room, followed by a whisper of “the bastard.”

  Lou’s head snaps towards the sound, but he can’t tell who it came from and Steve continues.

  To my oldest son, Tom Pierson, I bequeath the house in Manhattan, five percent shares of Pierson Investments, and a trust fund valued at a total amount of fifty million dollars.

  To my daughter, Karen Pierson, I bequeath the house in the Hamptons and a trust fund valued at a total amount of fifty million dollars.

  To my son, Chris Pierson, I bequeath the vacation house in the Bahamas and a trust fund valued at a total amount of fifty million dollars.

  The will goes on to give each of the grandkids except for Aiden thirty million dollars in trust funds, and then smaller trust funds to David’s sisters, brother, and nieces and nephews, ending with:

  The remainder of my estate should be kept in a trust account managed by trustees designated in the separate formation of trust document with specific instructions provided in that document as to how, to whom and when proceeds from the trust will be released.

  Tom bangs his fist on the table exclaiming, “This is ridiculous. I know Dad was worth over four billion dollars. Even if he’s giving away fifty-one percent of his wealth to charity, that still leaves about two billion dollars. The total of everything he gave all of us here today cannot be more than three hundred million dollars. Are you saying he’s putting one point seven billion dollars into a trust account?”

  “That’s precisely what your father wished to do, Mr. Pierson,” Steve responds.

  “That’s preposterous. It doesn’t make any sense. I’m contesting the will. I’ll take this to court,” Tom retorts.

  “You can do that Tom, but I warn you, David’s will is one of the most bulletproofs ones I’ve ever done. In addition to the written will, he also had us videotape him stating the same things, and he had two different physicians evaluate him on the same day certifying that he was of sound mind. He knew you would want to drag this to court and he did everything he could to make sure there are no questions about the authenticity of the will.”

  Tom’s face falls, revealing his disappointment. Someone jumps in at this moment asking, “What about her? What is she getting?” while pointing to me.

  “You heard the will. Only the people mentioned in the will are receiving something,” Steve responds.

  “Are you saying my dad gave her the sentimental family ring, but is not leaving her a penny in his will?” Karen interjects.

  “Ha…Dad did it again,” Chris jumps in with a smirk, “guess he was as sharp as ever. He took advantage of another gold digger and left her high and dry.”

  I can’t take the insults anymore. I have to make one thing clear. “I knew your dad was not going to leave me anything. I agreed to it in a prenup before we got married.”

  Everyone’s eyes go wild. “You mean you agreed to marry a dying seventy eight year old man knowing that you wouldn’t get any money out of it?” Chris asks, his voice laced with surprise.

  “I didn’t marry your dad for money, Chris.”

  The shocked look on his face and everybody else’s in the room gives me a warm happy feeling. For a fleeting moment, I think that maybe finally I have been able to prove to these people that I’m not like them. That money is not everything to me.

  “What about Aiden? He didn’t receive anything in the will either,” Karen asks.

  “You heard the will. That’s all there is to it. I need to ask all of you to leave now. You will rece
ive letters in the mail detailing how you will receive your inheritance,” Steve responds.

  At this point, I notice the female attorney next me slipping me a folded piece of paper under the table. I steal a brief glance at the paper.

  Please stay after everyone leaves. You should pretend like you’re gathering your stuff or talking to Lou, but don’t leave.

  I raise my head, my eyes catching Aiden. I notice that he’s looking at a small piece of paper too.

  The group starts to slowly leave the room grunting and grumbling their disappointment, while they leave. I start digging in my purse, pretending like I’m looking for something, and notice from the corner of my eye that Aiden is lingering too.

  Soon everyone’s gone except for Aiden, me and the lawyers.

  “You’re probably wondering why we asked you to stay here,” Steve starts. “For you Aiden, that’s because your inheritance is different from everybody else’s. In fact, David wrote a personal letter for you that he asked me to read after everyone is gone.”

  I start to rise from my chair after hearing that, but Steve quickly asks, “Where are you going, Aleah?”

  “Aren’t you going to read him the letter? I can stay outside and come back in when you need me again.”

  “No, David specifically asked that you be present when we read the letter to Aiden.”

  Aiden’s head snaps towards me, his eyes full of questions I don’t know the answers to. I shrug my shoulders, trying to tell him that I don’t know any more than he does.

  “Are you sure? This sounds private.” I ask again.

  “I’m sure, Aleah. He wrote us specific instructions on how he wanted this handled,” Steve repeats.

  I sit back down and let Steve start.

  “Aiden–As the days of my life are coming to an end, I realize more and more everyday that among my many regrets, my biggest one is for the way I let you down when you needed me the most. I told myself that I’m busy, that I don’t have time to handle this when my work is so demanding, that I’m doing everything I can, but even then I knew those were excuses. I was selfish and preoccupied with my own life and didn’t know how to handle a lost teenager. You were left alone on your own without anyone to point you to the right direction or give you any emotional support. Despite all of that, you have turned out to be a great young man. You are smart, well-educated and have a business mind that reminds me of your Uncle Tom and myself when we were younger. In addition to those qualities, you have something else. There is a spark in you, a kind of passion simmering underneath the surface that I never had. You have the potential to do incredible things with your life, take what I built and take it new heights. Yet I feel that you are letting all of that go to waste, because you do not have the vision to pursue those horizons. You have never had the coaching needed to cultivate your talents and broaden your perspective. That is my fault, and I hope to fix that now. That is why instead of giving you money outright, I want to give you a challenge. An opportunity to learn lessons that could change the course of your life and make you a better man. But because I also believe that the first step in any transformation is willingness of the participant, I want to give you a choice, so the decision is yours. You can either choose to receive ten million dollars in a trust fund, or you can decide to participate in a series of challenging experiments I have designed for you for a chance to receive the remainder of my estate. The experiments are designed to be life changing and will be tough for you. My attorney Steve Johnson can give you more information. You have one week to decide which route you want to take. My sincere hope is that you will pick the right one.”

  I study Aiden’s face as the letter is being read and see the range of emotions playing on his face, disappointment, anger, confusion, and if I’m not mistaking, a hint of excitement.

  “What does this mean?” he asks when Steve is finished reading.

  “Exactly what it said. He has set out specific instructions for a series of experiences he wants you to go through and a scoring scheme for scoring your performance during each experience. Each will have a different length which may vary depending on your progress, but you should expect the whole experiment to last anywhere from six months to a year and a half. The amount of your inheritance will be determined based on your total score on the experiences and a few other markers that will be gauged at the end of the whole experiment. If you decide to take this route and quit in the middle, you won’t receive anything. Let me know one week from today, if you want to give this a try or not.”

  “What are these experiences?” Aiden asks in confusion.

  “I can’t tell you what they are. You will know what the first one is if you decide to try it. Then each next experience will be revealed after the previous one is finished, but not before.”

  “This is really stupid. Why couldn’t he just give me something like all the other people here today?” he asks in exasperation.

  “Because he loved you too much,” Lou chimes in.

  Aiden snorts. “Yea, sure... No, he always wanted to make my life difficult. I just never thought he would keep doing that from beyond the grave too.” He turns to leave the room.

  I grab my purse to leave when I see Aiden about to head out, but Steve’s voice stops me.

  “Aleah–you should stay. There’s a letter for you too.”

  Aiden turns his questioning eyes to me and I shrug my shoulders to let him know I am as clueless about this as he is. He is about to sit back down in a chair, when Steve turns to him.

  “Your portion is done, Aiden. You can leave now.”

  “I’d like to hear this,” Aiden responds.

  “You can’t. David wanted this letter to be read to Aleah only.”

  Aiden’s demeanor changes instantly, going from calm to furious in a second. He turns an accusatory glance at me, his eyes burning a hole through my face. “She can sit through my letter, which was very private, by the way, and I can’t hear hers?” he asks, raising his voice.

  “I’m sorry. That’s how your grandfather wanted it done,” Steve says apologetically.

  “We have to kindly ask you to leave the room now,” Lou chimes in.

  Aiden mumbles under his breath, “This is bullshit,” before storming out of the conference room. I sit silently staring at his profile as he leaves; my mind perplexed at his reaction, until Steve turns my attention back to the matter at hand and starts reading.

  “Aleah−First, I need to thank you for everything you have done for me. I know this is not how you envisioned your life, or where you wanted to be at this stage of it. I know that marrying me was painful for you, and I know you did it for me. You have a heart of gold and a purity of soul that is truly rare on this planet. Your kindness and sacrificial spirit is unparalleled, and I will be forever grateful to God for bringing you to my life when he did and will always be appreciative of you through eternity. But because you are such a saint, I have another request from you. This one is about Aiden. If things have gone according to plan, you should have just heard the contents of the letter I wrote him. The experiences he will have to go through will be very tough for him and he will need a true friend to stand by him through it all. A real friend is a rare commodity in and out of itself these days, but among the people he surrounds himself with, it is undoubtedly nonexistent. He needs someone who is not into this for personal gain, and I can’t think of anyone better than you to fill that role. That is why I am asking you to please consider moving back to my house. The house will become Aiden’s base throughout this experiment and your presence there will be a huge boost for him. I know that this may be asking too much from you, but I hope you will consider it, as a last request from me. I don’t want to promise anything in return to you for this, but I guarantee you will not regret it. With all my love. David.”

  I sit dumbfounded at the words just read, and marvel at the range of emotions overflowing my body. The letter makes me miss David. It reminds of me of days he could actually talk, telling me stories and shari
ng words of wisdom. But in addition to sadness, the letter terrifies and excites me in equal measure, and I don’t dare examine the roots of either one of those feelings.

  As I pivot my way down the hallway and into the reception area of the law firm on my way out, I see Aiden sitting in one of the chairs. I turn my head around to wave him goodbye when we lock eyes and the extent of the fury in his glance startles me. Before I have a chance to open my mouth, he blurts out, “You must have given him one hell of a blow job for my grandpa to have fallen under your spell like that…must have sucked him off real well.”

  My jaw drops, my heart rate jumping in anger, as his crass words hit me like a blade.

  “How dare you talk to me like that?” I manage to ask, through clinched teeth. I open my mouth to say more, but soon realize that I can’t get anything more out past the huge lump in my throat. Not wanting him to see how much his words have affected me, I choose to turn around and run, like I always do.

  I lie awake in my bed all night for another sleepless night, turning the events of the day repeatedly in my head. What Aiden said was deeply hurtful, but beyond the sting of the words themselves, the fact that he spoke them hurts the most. I may have expected that from someone like Tom or even Karen, but not from Aiden. The more I think about it, the more I’m at a loss at what could have caused such a sudden outburst.

  I’m also still perplexed at why David would want me to move back into his house and become friends with Aiden. David was a very sharp and observant man. I know he had sensed the tension that’s always simmering beneath the surface between me and Aiden.

  From various conversations, I also know full well that Aiden is a very popular guy. He has a huge social circle that includes Hollywood celebrities and people with a lot of money and influence. Why would David think that he will need another friend? And why would he want me to be that friend?