Chapter 45: Heart Problems

The next day after the funeral, Zarah, Xavier, and Franklin together with his family, Natalie, and Paula were gathered inside the restaurant to hear Isaiah's will.

Seconds later, the lawyer arrived with the suitcase in his hand containing Isaiah's will.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry if I'm late." He apologized after arriving five minutes late.

The lawyer then settled down and started reading it and they listened carefully.

"As mentioned, I give fifty percent of my shares of the holding company to my son, Xavier. The remaining half will be given to my daughter, Zarah."

"What?!" Paula protested. "What about Natalie's share?" She asked the lawyer.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Stevens, but there's none for Miss Natalie. Now if you'll keep on interrupting my reading, then, I'll ask for you to leave!" The lawyer strongly reminded her.

"Now, let me continue," he said and continued reading.

"I give the chairmanship position to my son, Xavier. I give all of my properties, to my son, Xavier Lockhart except the two properties which I have given to my daughter, Zarah Jansen which are our old property at Maple District, and the penthouse apartment at Alpha Heights. That's supposed to be her graduation gift but I have to give it in advance."

"I give my car collection to my son, Xavier Lockhart."

"I assigned my daughter, Zarah Jansen, to manage the two foundations I have founded decades ago with love."

"I give every penny inside my personal savings account including the trust funds to my daughter, Zarah Jansen which would sum up all in all to over one and a half billion dollars after the following deductions enumerated below."

Zarah's eyes widened not because of how big the amount was but because she didn't expect that she'd be included in the will.

Was it too late to refuse this now? She had always been vocal about not wanting anything from Isaiah.

Xavier knew her reluctance but Xavier reached out for her hand and he gently squeezed it. He then leaned forward near her ear and whispered, "Accept it. You deserve it, Zarah."

Xavier reassured her that it was fine.

"I give my old friend, Adam Henderson five million dollars and Julie Henderson, five million dollars. This is for their good service and loyalty to me and my daughter."

"I give my two grandsons, Ken and Jeremy, ten million dollars each."

"They might not be my real grandchildren but they've been good and have never given me a headache."

"I give my two daughter-in-laws Paula and Nicole five million each. This is for the years that you stayed loyal to your husbands and for giving me, grandchildren."

"What?!" Paula exclaimed as she had no idea about this.

"I give Natalie, five million dollars. I hope she could invest it in a business venture and make it grow." Natalie thought that it was unfair.

Zarah inherited a massive fortune while she was only getting a penny compared to what she got.

"Nothing follows."

"What?! Attorney, are you sure you've read everything?"

Paula could not accept that her daughter only had five million dollars. Nikolai and Franklin didn't get a penny, too.

So what was going on?

"Nikolai and Franklin knew why Chairman Stevens didn't give them a penny from his will."

Nikolai had stolen and illegally sold some of his properties. As for Franklin, he was not the biological son. Even so, he should get something from him, right?

Isaiah planned to give him properties to inherit in his original will. However, he recalled that both of his sons were involved in the crime relating to his late wife's death.

And so as a way of punishment, he removed him from the will and gave his two sons money instead.

After the reading, the attorney left the room with Xavier and Zarah while Paula and Natalie were left fuming in anger.

"Is that it? No! I will not let this from happening. Maybe that bastard and that b*tch changed the will."

Franklin whose real identity had been exposed didn't complain about the will. He did have no right to ask for any since he wasn't a legitimate heir and besides, they did something unforgivable.

He was thankful that his sons were given ten million dollars each.

As for their mother, she said that she had no choice. Carla Kent, wanted his sons to wait for her return.

She'd make sure to take back the company that she and Isaiah established from scratch.

Franklin believed that his mother would do what she promised.

He could not tell this to other people and so he didn't try to pacify his sister-in-law's temper and decided to leave the restaurant with his family.

The mother and daughter had no other choice but to leave the restaurant, too.

Paula decided to go to the hospital to confront Nikolai about this while Natalie on the other hand went back to Josh's side.

After the reading, Zarah went home immediately so she could rest. Xavier on the other hand had to go back to the company.

She still could not process what had just happened.

She was sure that Paula and Natalie would not sit still and would try to make trouble for her just so she would give them the money.

Should she be prepared then?

Two weeks after the funeral...

It had been two weeks after Isaiah's funeral. That also meant that she had a week left in her six-weeks internship.

However, since she missed a lot of days, she had to stay for another week while the others had to leave on schedule.

Zarah's life had also slowly gone back to normal. Little by little, she had gotten over her grief.

That was all thanks to Xavier.

It was safe to say that their relationship had improved within the last two weeks. After their father's death, Xavier became even more considerate of her feelings.

She now considered him a friend and a brother.

She realized that Xavier inherited most of Isaiah's traits. Like his work ethic. His kindness and gentleness. Yes, underneath the cold and aloof facade was a gentle monster that she had recently discovered.

As far as the list of his wife-to-be candidates was concerned, it was still empty.

She kept asking Xavier about his qualifications but he kept giving her vague answers.

He seemed to be dragging it and told her that it could wait. And that he was not worried about the bet because he was confident that he was going to win over his grandfather.

They were running out of time. The deadline was getting closer.

She had also moved out from the apartment she shared with Josh and put it up for sale. She had moved back to the mansion as Xavier insisted.

Xavier also moved back to the mansion.

So was it safe to say that they were living together?

They might be in the same house but they were living on opposite sides of the mansion.

She wanted to respect Xavier's privacy the same as she wanted to maintain hers.

They'd still meet every morning and would go to the company together, though.

As for her personal life, she hadn't seen Natalie or Josh for the past two weeks. Olivia and Trixie also didn't mention anything about them every time they hang out on the weekends with Hope.

Zarah also resumed the internship at the company and she realized a huge difference in how the employees treated her.

Because of the funeral, everyone in the company learned that she was the adopted child and not just an ordinary adopted one, she was one of their bosses now.

Zarah's future at Stevens Group was very promising. Like her future was laid out on her with a red carpet and all she had to do was walk on it.

Xavier also made sure to include her in every meeting involving the company.

If not for the fact that she'd intentionally called him brother after the meeting, they'd think that she's his plus one.

Just like today, they had a dinner meeting with a long-term client from overseas.

After their dinner, Zarah could tell that Xavier was in a foul mood the moment they stepped out of the restaurant.

She didn't have to ask him why he was acting up because she knew the reason.

Their ride going home was silent and Zarah did not try to comfort him. Being silent was the best way in this situation.

Her mission was to make Xavier to be over her. So far this was her plan to do it.

As they arrived at the mansion, Xavier didn't come out of the car and decided to go out for the night.

He wanted to clear his head and calm down his emotions.

He thought about the two weeks that they had spent together were fruitful. Still, he could not make her omit that habit of her calling him "brother" in front of other people.

It annoyed him.

Should he just give up this tactic and plan for another?

Dylan was in the city together with Cole. Seems like these two brothers had a lot of time on their sleeves.

They hang out inside the VIP lounge of the bar. Two women were sitting on Dylan's lap.

"What is the matter, cousin? Why did you want to hang out? Did you finally give up keeping the good boy image?" Dylan tried to tease Xavier.

For some reason, Xavier wanted to forget about Zarah for an hour as he felt like he was about to go crazy.

Her subtle rejection way of rejection kept him on the edge.

"Shut up Dylan! You're not helping." He said, sounding annoyed.

"So you want my help now? Are you sure?" Dylan teased him again.

Xavier on the other hand had no other choice but to pour himself a drink.

Dylan signaled one of the women sitting on his lap to approach Xavier.

But Xavier pushed her away and fell to the ground.

"Go away!" He angrily yelled and the woman immediately got up and stayed behind Dylan.

"Relax, cousin. You just need to have a good lay tonight so you'd stop being moody like an eighty-year-old grandma." Dylan said.

"Are you hurt baby?" Dylan asked the woman and she meekly nodded.

Cole on the other hand looked at his cousin and told him, "Don't listen to brother, cousin. All he knew is fool around."

"Ouch! That hurts you know. Why? Do you know anything about women? You've never been laid, Cole."

"That doesn't mean that I don't know anything about women. Remember, women should be respected and must not be played. What you're doing now is such a disgrace to our family, brother." Cole fought back.

"Ha! They're all the same, except for mom. They'd leave once they had enough. Look at my mother. She left after giving birth to me."

Not everyone knew that Cole and Dylan were only half-brothers. Cole's mother and Dylan's mother were twin sisters. After Dylan's mother left to be with another man, Cole's mother filled in the role of being the mother to her nephew Dylan.

The pregnancy was kept secret for nine months by Dylan's mother and since the twins were both overseas, Aurora, Cole's mother came back with Dylan and she told their father about the truth.

Cole's mother, Aurora, loved him like he was her child. Eventually, his father fell in love with Aurora because of her kindness and loving nature and they eventually got married.

Dylan's mom came back when he was already fifteen and started introducing herself as his real mother.

She could not find any excuse to justify the abandonment that she did to him at a young age.

His mother wanted to be in his life but he rejected him.

Dylan found it hard to accept that the woman he kept calling mom for years was his aunt. His mother wanted his forgiveness but he didn't give it to her.

She died of cancer three years ago and Dylan had not fully recovered since by it.

He hated his mother for leaving him at birth and for leaving him without even trying to make an effort to earn his forgiveness.

The only woman he respected was his mother Aurora.

Unless he found a woman like her, he would not stop fooling around.

"You know what, you're drunk. We can talk about that matter some other day. For now, let's help Xavier solve his problem with our future sister-in-law."

"Don't include Zarah to the list of women whom you think had bad qualities, Dylan. She's different!" Xavier defended Zarah in front of Dylan.

"Yeah right. So different that she's giving you a headache." Dylan said with a little bit of sarcasm.

"Did you already confess? You've been around her for five weeks now if I'm not mistaken." Cole asked Xavier and the latter gave it a thought.

He did not.

"Is it necessary?"

"How can you be this naive, cousin? I don't blame you though. You've been guided by a bad example all your life." Cole said while looking at Dylan on the side.

Dylan snorted after hearing his younger brother's remarks.

"Ask her out for a date and then start confessing."

"For someone who never dated a woman ever in his life, you surely know how to be romantic." Dylan made a side comment again.

In Cole's defense, he wanted to do this to the woman he liked. However, he had no courage to confess to her which was why he was trying to help Xavier.

"Women sometimes got super comfortable that they'd misread your signals."

"What if she rejects me?" Xavier expressed.

"Will you stop if she rejects you?" Dylan asked him.

"No. I won't stop. She's mine."

"Hold up! If you're decisive to make her yours, why would you take it slow? Seduce her and make her sleep with you." Dylan suggested and he earned a big smack on the head from Cole.

"Shut up! You're not helping. Forcing or seducing her would make her think that Xavier is only after her body and nothing else. She would not take him seriously." He scolded his brother.

Dylan gave it a thought. Well, how would he know? He had never pursued a woman before.

The room became silent after they gave it a thought.

"If she rejected your confession, let's cross the bridge when we get there. For now, let's work on how you'd confess to her."

***