AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Stop,” Carson whispers against my ear. “No matter what happens in this meeting, nothing changes. Rich as the queen of England, or poor as a fast food worker, I don’t care. I love you and you love me, so give me your hand, kiss me, then let’s go find out what else your great-grandfather had planned for you.”
A relieved sigh falls from my lips as I place my palm against Carson’s and let him take control, just for a second. I don’t think I’ll ever stop needing him to take over, even if it’s just for a minute at a time. His orders ground me, they silence the doubts in my mind and allow me just to be, and without me even having to tell him, he knows when I need him.
The car pulls to a stop and I glance out the window at the familiar façade of the offices of Hallsworth, Hallsworth, and Kingston. The last time I was here I was alone, but this time I’m surrounded by family. Last time I wondered if my sister and I were closer if she’s have gone with me, now she’s here by choice because she wouldn’t let me do this alone. So much has changed in my life and walking away from this money was the catalyst that caused it all.
“Let’s go,” Carson says as the driver opens the door. Pulling me to the edge of the seat he climbs out, helping me out then guiding me forward so the others can all climb out after us.
When we’re all standing on the sidewalk, I glance around at the others and flash them a shaky smile, then I inhale sharply, straighten my spine, and move, striding to the buzzer and pressing it.
“Hallsworth, Hallsworth, and Kingston, how may I help you?” the same receptionist from last time asks.
“Carrigan Archibald to see Mr. Worth,” I say, hating the sense of de-ja-vu that hits me. The door buzzes, and Carson reaches around me and pushes open the heavy wooden door, gesturing for me to walk through.
Retracing the same steps I took the last time I was here, I stride into the wood-paneled room and cross straight over the desk.
“Good morning, do you have an appointment?”
“I don’t, but if you let Mr. Worth know I’m here, I’m confident he’ll see me,” I say using my Carrigan voice, as Carson likes to call it.
The man pushes his horn-rimmed glasses up his nose and lifts his phone receiver to his ear. “I’m sorry to bother you, I have a Carrigan Archibald in reception.” He listens for a second, then says. “Yes, sir,” and replaces the receiver back into the cradle and looks up at me. “He’ll be right out.”
Nodding condescendingly, I turn to the others and try to smile.
“I love it when you go all Crueligan,” Wats says with a wink.
This time when I smile, it’s real, and I exhale some of the tension that’s been building since the moment we got in the limo to come here.
“Miss Archibald,” Mr. Worth, says, his voice booming and a little too loud for the space.
Spinning around I greet the man. “Hello Mr. Worth, thank you for agreeing to see me. This is my fiancé Carson Windsor,” I say, gesturing to Carson beside me. “My sister Tallulah, her fiancé Arlo Lexington, and our friends Oliver Montgomery and Watson Hilborn,” I say, pointing to them each in turn.
Mr. Worth, greets everyone with a polite nod, then turns back to me. “Carrigan, I assume you got one of my letters?”
“Letters?”
“I’ve been trying to contact you. You didn’t get my letters?” he asks, his brow wrinkled in confusion.
“I’m afraid I didn’t, I’m no longer living with my parents.” Glancing over at the receptionist I look back to Mr. Worth. “Perhaps we could go somewhere a little more private?” I suggest.
“Oh of course, of course,” he says. “Please come through to my office.”
Silently we all follow him into his office, which feels a little crowded now that all six of us are in here, despite it being a large space. “Err,” he clears his throat, glancing at the hoard of people I’ve brought with me. “Shall we sit? I’ll have Gerald bring in some more chairs.”
“Watson and I are fine standing,” Olly says politely.
“Well okay then,” Mr. Worth says, moving behind his desk and lowering himself into his seat.
“I recently came into possession of a letter my great-grandfather wrote to me,” I say.
“Ahh yes, I assumed your parents would have given it to you.”
“My parents and I are estranged,” I say simply. “They weren’t on board with my decision to forfeit my inheritance. Are you saying they knew about my great-grandfather’s get-out-of-jail clauses?” I ask.
Mr. Worth laughs, a deep booming noise that shocks me. “Harold was a brilliant, but old-fashioned man, he wanted the world to move backwards, back to a time that made more sense to him. I told him those damn rules wouldn’t work, but he was determined to try. That’s why I advised him to put something in place for in case you failed to live up to his unrealistic expectations.” Pulling a file from a drawer he places it on his desk, flips it open, and lifts up a pile of papers. Glancing to the others in the room he looks to me, his eyebrows lifting in question. “What we’re about to discuss is of a confidential nature, perhaps a little privacy?”
“That’s fine, this is my family, they can hear whatever we’re about to discuss,” I tell him.
He nods stoically, glancing at the others again, before turning all of his attention to me. “Carrigan, when you came to see me and told me that you had deliberately broken the will, I wasn’t sure what to say or do. I wasn’t sure if it was all just an excuse from an eighteen-year-old girl who didn’t want to admit that she slipped up. But then you told me that if you didn’t get away from this money there would be nothing redeemable about you left, and I knew in that moment that your great-grandfather truly was wrong to have placed that burden on you, that those ill-conceived rules were fallacious, and well, just plain wrong. I don’t know what happened to drive you to choose to break the will, but I want you to know, for what it means, that I think you did the right thing.”
