Page 30 of Owned By Two

Even destroy it.

I thought back on Lizzy and her reaction at discovering her father had left her everything.

We had been in the artifact room, a room her father visited often.

He liked to finger the items and even used them to cook toast or fry eggs — something that always put Chef on edge because he always feared that if James could cook for himself, what need did he have for a chef?

He needn’t have worried.

I had seen the old man cook, and except for the occasional egg, there wasn’t a great deal else he was proficient at preparing.

Still, it made Chef work harder with each subsequent meal that he prepared for James, and it was for that reason that I thought that he had done it in the first place.

It was a shock when Lizzy had reached for the toaster and smashed it on the floor before proceeding to do likewise with the other items.

Technically, as none of the items yet belonged to her, she was only really destroying somebody else’s possessions.

By the look on her face as she caused the destruction, I didn’t think she much cared.

I had seen the aggression, hatred, confusion, and pain on her face, and recognized the same emotions reflected on her father’s face in that shuttle.

She was angry at him the same way he had been at himself.

I didn’t think she would forgive him, or if she did, it would take a great deal more than me saying a few simple words.

I wasn’t naïve.

But perhaps, in some way, inheriting her father’s vast wealth — as it was his last dying wish — would help allay some of the anger she had stored up against him.

We entered her father’s office — no,heroffice — and I shut the door behind us.

I moved to the huge desk that was sparse and without ornamentation — James was a true minimalist when it came to decoration — and motioned to the chair for her to sit.

She moved to it but refused to sit.

“Was this his chair?” she said, fingering the thick leather folds.

“Yes. He always conducted his business from here.”

Lizzy just looked at the chair.

I imagined she must have pictured him sitting there and that was the reason for refusing it.

She turned to me. “Why did you bring me here?”

I reached for the thick wad of paper that was the contract that assigned everything to her.

“You need to sign these documents,” I said. “They give you full power and control over every asset your father owns… owned. With a single signature, it all passes to you.”

Lizzy lifted the first page of the six hundred-page tome.

“This is a contract?” she said.

I nodded. “Prepared by your father’s — I mean,your— lawyers. Don’t worry. I’ve checked every item and ensured everything is right and proper. I can assure you everything will pass on to you. But if you need to read it first, you can. There’s no rush. Take all the time you need.”

Lizzy flicked through a few pages before running her thumb over the dense edges. “That’s okay,” she said. “I trust you.”

Another shiver sashayed up my spine.

---