Chapter 6 - The Secret Will
Grant’s head snapped up. The desperation in his eyes shifted back toward resentment. ""So that's it? You're cutting me out completely? You're going to give Arthur's life's work to some charity? He worked until his heart burst for me!""
""Your father worked until his heart burst because he loved building things,"" I said, rising to my feet. ""And before he died, he sat with Sam Vance in the hospital room while you were out partying with your college fraternity, and we drafted our final estates together.""
Grant swallowed hard. ""What are you talking about?""
""You always believed you were the sole beneficiary of the Ashford Family Trust,"" I said, walking to the sliding glass door. ""You never read the bylaws. Arthur knew your flaws far better than you ever gave him credit for, Grant. He loved you fiercely, but he wasn't blind. He told me: 'Ellie, if Grant grows up with grease under his fingernails and respect in his heart, give him everything. But if he grows up thinking the world owes him a throne, let the foundation take it all until he learns how to dig a ditch.'""
I turned back to face him, the yellow light illuminating the stubborn, unyielding lines of my face.
""The Hermitage house was the final provision of Arthur's clause,"" I revealed. ""Under the terms of the trust, if I reached seventy years of age and Grant had demonstrated five continuous years of fiscal responsibility, personal integrity, and filial duty, the deed was to be transferred to him outright on his thirty-fifth birthday.""
Grant’s jaw dropped. ""What?""
""You had five years left,"" I said. ""All you had to do was be a decent man. All you had to do was treat your mother with the same basic human decency you'd show a stranger on the bus. But you couldn't even wait. You let Paige convince you that you were already royalty, and you treated the woman who built the castle like dirt on your shoe.""
""Mom... no... that's not fair,"" Grant stammered, stepping toward me with outstretched hands. ""You set me up! You set a trap for me!""
""Life is a trap for the arrogant, Grant,"" I said. ""The private sale of the Hermitage house closed at noon today. Three point eight million dollars. The entire sum has been deposited into the Arthur and Eleanor Ashford Trade Apprenticeship Endowment at Central Piedmont Community College. It will fund full scholarships, tools, and living stipends for three hundred young men and women who want to learn welding, carpentry, and electrical work. People who actually know how to build a world.""
Paige let out a choked shriek. ""Three point eight million? You gave it away to trade workers?""
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""Those trade workers have more honor in their dirty thumbs than you have in your entire body,"" I told her.
""Get off my property,"" I said to both of them. ""If I see this rental car turn down my road again, the sheriff will have your license plate before you reach the highway. Now go.""
