Page 67 of Maddening Fixation

Barely three percent of their total wealth and assets.

The remaining ninety-seven percent had been entrusted to me...

Subject to the conditions he had just read aloud.

With each name he called and each allocation he announced, the resentment in the room deepened.

Faces hardened.

Jaw muscles tightened.

Several of my uncles muttered curses under their breath, while others didn’t bother lowering their voices at all.

Aunt Sofia looked as though she wanted to snatch the will from Mr. Volkov’s hands and tear it to pieces.

No one even tried to hide their anger anymore.

They all knew the truth.

Everything they had expected to inherit had slipped through their fingers and landed in my lap.

By the time Mr. Volkov reached the final page, the room had become a pressure cooker of barely restrained fury.

Satisfied that every provision had been read and every remaining asset accounted for, he closed the folder with a quiet snap.

The sound echoed through the suffocating silence.

“If there are no further questions, I shall take my leave.”

My father gave a single curt nod.

“Thank you, Mr. Volkov.”

Mr. Volkov gathered his papers, offered his condolences one final time, then quietly excused himself from the room.

The instant the doors clicked shut behind him...

The room exploded.

“What kind of joke is this?”

“Ninety-seven percent?”

“They’ve disgraced the entire family!”

Angry voices crashed over one another as my uncles rounded on my father.

“So this was your doing?” Uncle Viktor snarled, jabbing a finger toward him. “You manipulated them into leaving everything to your branch of the family!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” my father snapped. “I knew nothing about the contents of that will.”

“Liar!”

Several of my uncles surged toward him, their faces twisted with fury. For a terrifying moment, I thought fists would fly.

My pulse quickened.

It felt as though the Sokolov family itself was on the verge of tearing apart.