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Carrigan
Present day
Staring down at the cell phone in my hands I read the words of the letter I memorized years ago, the words that my mom made me recite over and over again until I could relay them on demand. The rules. The stipulations that I have to abide by to receive the money my great-grandfather bequeathed to me in his godforsaken will.
Carrigan,
The Archibald name has been honored and revered for our hardworking nature and upstanding moral values for hundreds of years.
My child and his child in turn have sullied our family’s good name and made a mockery of the fortitude and perseverance our ancestors and I strove so hard to instill. As such I have decided to attempt to make our family great again with your generation.
I’m worth a great deal of money, all of which will ultimately become yours if you can prove that you are prepared to work hard to be successful and contribute to the legacy I want to create for the future generations to come.
The world can be a complicated and difficult place to navigate, and as such I have created strict guidelines that I expect you to abide by. This inheritance is not free money. I expect you to work for it and by asking you to abide by this set of rules, I am providing you with the incentive to become a person worthy of being called by the Archibald name.
Should you fail to live up to the standard I expect of you, the bequest will be revoked and my lawyers will act on my wishes on who should inherit in your stead.
Below is a list of my expectations of you as my sole heir.
One – I expect you to graduate as an exemplary student from the school I attended, St Augustus Preparatory School, with no less than a 4.0 grade point average.
Two – You will apply to, and be accepted into, one of the below mentioned colleges.
Harvard University
Cornell University
Yale University
Princeton University
Three – You will graduate from one of the aforementioned educational facilities with a useful degree and no less than a 4.0 grade point average.
Four – As my heir you will create a beneficial alliance through marriage, with a son from a suitable family from the list provided. You will then relinquish control of all of my business assets to your husband who will take over the day-to-day running of my companies.
Five – You will be a person of the upmost moral fortitude, by entering the married state as a virgin. An annual medical examination will be required of you and a report provided to Hallsworth, Hallsworth and Kingston attorneys at Law, until your marriage to ensure you are still untouched.
Six – Unless you are physically unable, you will provide at least one heir to inherit the Archibald fortune upon your death. Should you be unable to have children, the Archibald fortune will pass to the next eligible recipient of my estate, you and your husband will be provided for with an annual stipend until your death.
Seven – You will maintain the honor and status of the Archibald family by being a person of upstanding value and worth. As a wife and mother, you will support your husband and children in any way required and within the expectations of our family heritage.
Eight – You will remain married and faithful for a minimum of twenty years, unless you become a widow, at which point an alternative marriage should be sought from one of the approved family bloodlines. Should it be your wish to dissolve the relationship after this point, if a suitable heir has been created then you may file for divorce and be provided the widows maintenance allowance while the rest of your estate will be passed to your eldest child.
Nine – Upon producing an heir, you agree that your children—should they wish to inherit upon your death—will adhere to also live by these guidelines to ensure the purity of my bloodline and legacy.
Should you not adhere to any of the above listed rules, you will forfeit all rights to my estate. Upon reaching your twenty-fifth birthday, should you decide that you no longer wish to inherit, then you may choose to refuse the inheritance and continue to live your life as you see fit.
I understand that you may feel that these guidelines are extreme, but I fear that without this guidance our family will be lost to laziness and a false sense of expectation that my wealth has given my son and grandson. You, Carrigan, are my final chance to set straight the failings I have encountered in my own children and I hope you succeed and live a happy, prosperous, fruitful life.
Regards,
Harold Archibald the Third.
Ican’t help the scoff that falls from my lips when I consider the words written by a geriatric old man that have ruled my life for years. I remember the first time I read this letter, I’d laughed, sure that it was all just some elaborate joke. Because what other reason could there possibly be? Who in their right mind would discard their family and leave all their money to a fourteen-year-old on the proviso that she live by a certain set of rules?
By the time my parents and grandparents had screamed and shouted and petitioned the courts to get the will overturned it was too late. The entire world, or at least the world we live in, the world of the filthy rich, all knew that eventually I’d be worth billions. In the blink of an eye I went from being Carrigan Archibald, new girl. To Carrigan Archibald, heir to a fortune.
I’d like to say I handled the new notoriety well, that I didn’t let it change me, that my family laughed it off. That they loved me more than the money. But none of that is true.
