Dressed in a black coat with her hair flying in the cold breeze, Anastasia stepped out of the car with a lawyer following right behind. Her beautiful face was locked in a serene expression as she walked through the path sectioned off by her bodyguards.
The air around her echoed with a barrage of questions from the journalists.
“Miss Anastasia, did you really kidnap your comatose father to steal the right to inherit?”
“Miss Anastasia, do you have some ulterior motive for secretly transferring your father into a private hospital for treatment?”
“Anastasia Tillman, do you even know what love is? Aren’t you afraid of karma?”
Despite the near-interrogation she was being subjected to, Anastasia merely glanced at the surrounding journalists
before striding into the building doors where the security guards kept the pack of journalists at bay.
Her proud figure stood out among her bodyguards, just like how a red rose would catch the eye of those who saw it.
As the photographers swiftly snapped photos of her, they all sighed at how extraordinarily beautiful she was.
When she entered the meeting room, Naomi and Erica were already waiting inside with two other shareholders. They had both been panicking since the moment they heard of Francis’ collapse. After all, he had been leading the company this entire time. Now that he was unconscious, who was going to lead Tillman Constructions?
Admiration flashed through Alex’s eyes when he glanced over at Anastasia. No matter when or where he would always be irresistibly attracted to her.
Anastasia pulled up a chair for herself
and sat down. The middle-aged lawyer following her sat down at the table as well.
“This is a private meeting, Anastasia. Why is there an outsider here?” Naomi barked in irritation.
“As my lawyer, he has the right to be in the room,” Anastasia coldly replied.
“All right, ladies. We are all here now, so let us discuss the future of the company. The reason why we are here, after all,” solemnly said Jordan Tillman, one of the shareholders.
“Yeah! We are all family, so let us play nice,” said the other shareholder in a placating manner.
“We are all distressed about what happened to President Tillman, but the company cannot be left headless. After all, we have a few hundred employees waiting on our orders. Hence, we must decide on the next person who will take charge of the company,” said Alex.
“Yes, what happened to Francis is sad, but the company cannot go ignored.” Jordan then turned to Alex and said, “Mr. Hunter, you are President Tillman’s most trusted man and the second-in command. What do you think we should do next?”
“Well, I’m just an employee who doesn’t have any say in the company.” Alex then turned to Naomi. “Mrs. Tillman, what do you think?”
Naomi cleared her throat and replied, “I have asked my husband’s lawyer for an early reading of Francis’ will. Let us listen to it before we decide on the future leader of the company.”
When Anastasia saw just how calm and prepared Naomi was, it was obvious to her that her father’s will had been tampered with.
“I agree with my mother’s suggestion,” Erica said, raising her hand.
“Very well,” said Francis’ lawyer, Colin, as
he stood up. “As per Francis Tillman’s wishes, I have been entrusted with his will. By request from Mrs. Tillman, I will now read out his will.”
He then pulled out a few pieces of paper from his document holder solemnly and ceremoniously and began reading aloud from it.
Anastasia silently listened as all of her father’s accounts, assets, and investments were to be inherited by Erica and Naomi. Then, Colin arrived at the section on the company shares.
“The company shares currently held by Francis Tillman will be split into three portions; the first lot containing 40% of his shares would be inherited by Naomi Lowell, the second lot containing 30% of his shares would be inherited by Anastasia Tillman, and the third lot containing 30% of his shares would be inherited by Erica Tillman.”
Under the table, Anastasia’s hands clenched into fists. So, this was Naomi’s aim.
With the tampered will. Naomi and Erica would own a total of 70% of Francis’ company shares. While the division of shares inherited may seem logical and fair to an outsider, she knew this could not be her father’s true will. After all, he had never even thought of splitting his company up.
