Page 57 of Twisted Knight

You know I hate rules, so this will seem odd that I’m attaching parameters to your inheritance. I have my reasons. I’ll explain below.

My precious Row, I leave you thirty million dollars—but there’s a catch.

I know you. You’ll get so lost in work, in your drive to succeed, that you’ll forget to fall in love. So, listen closely. Thirty million—a lump sum payment—will be yours two years after you marry.

Yes. That means you’d better get on it, because you’re not getting any younger, now, are you?

Because you are like me, I’m sure that rule just pissed you off—because no one tells you what to do. Am I right? If that’s the case and you choose to overlook the finding love and getting married part, you’ll receive one million a year for the next thirty years.

Not bad by any means, but not the same. The lump sum will give you more possibilities.

My opinion? Choose option number one. First, see number two above. And second, that lump sum payment might be enough for you to buy some votes of those on the board. You can outright buy a percentage of the ownership or you can persuade a board member and buy their vote at the table. The more clout you have as a board member or owner, the more pull you’ll have in one day getting a no-confidence vote of Rhett as the CEO.

(My lawyer has my notes on which members might be for sale, and the dirt I have on them to convince them. Did you expect any less?)

Already thinking of how to get around this? Marry someone, get the money, then divorce them? See? I know you well. That’s where my recent addendum to my will comes in: you must remain married for two years before receiving the totality of the inheritance.

In addition, my company, Mirium LLC, is yours. What’s that, you ask? It’s a company your grandpop set up for me so that I can have a say in my family’s business. Your new company nets you a 5 percent stake in TinSpirits, which is a big enough percentage to warrant a board seat. Congratulations, you now have a vote.

It’s up to you whether you keep this company’s ownership private and vote by proxy or make it known and vote yourself. Private gives you more leverage.

Why am I giving this to you? To give you options and freedom. A chance to use these options to level the playing field if need be. Allow you to work your magic and sell whatever agenda it is you want, just like I know you can.

I love you, Rowan. You have always owned my heart in a way neither Rhett nor Cassie did. I was truly blessed to be your grandmother. Go conquer the world. I’ll be watching.

Forever and always,

Gran

It was quintessential Eleanor Rothschild. Quirky, humorous, blunt, and loaded with the tough love I’d come to expect from her.

Not to mention a huge holy shit in regards to the trust.

The holy shit that prompted me to open the most expensive bottle of wine and down it myself.

The flap of the envelope flutters with the ocean breeze. I stare at it until my eyes blur and my head spins even more than it already has.

I loved it at first. An unexpected treat to hear her voice again.

Then I hated it. I read it the one time, followed by all the legal attachments that came with it. Then I tossed it on the table where it sits, mad at it.

At Gran for leaving me.

At the inheritance I’m flabbergasted by but that I don’t want all the same.

At the parameters she set on me when she knows that falling in love is the last thing on my mind.

It’s like my world has been tipped upside down twice—first with her death and then with the buyout—and she’s giving me an unexpected way to try to right it.

But right it at a personal cost I don’t exactly want to pay.

Marry and receive an astronomical lump sum that I can possibly use to move mountains. Don’t marry and receive a million a year for thirty years.

Net a seat on the board either way.

The clichéd rich kid in me says receive the million a year for thirty years. That’s more than anyone needs by far. Gran was crazy if she thought I’d strap my love life to a ticking clock.

Sure, a few dates and some great sex are on my radar—but not falling in love and getting married. Especially the definition of marriage and the role of being a wife here in Westmore.