The Heart Of A Mother
Two days after the attack, the financial world was still reeling, but the Fortuna matriarch was focused on one thing: control. Mother Amelia arrived at the expensive, quaint restaurant in New York at 05:55 AM, cutting it close to her meeting with Atty. Robert Lanier, a man who is more a family oracle than a lawyer.
Atty. Lanier had arrived earlier, and he nervously smoothed the cloth of the table, remembering the gravity of the meeting.
Atty. Lanier:"How's your morning... uhm... how's uh..." He trailed off, stuttering as he remembered the grim reality of the accident his wealthy clients were facing.
Amelia simply offered a practiced, brittle smile, her eyes already sweeping the menu she was holding, seeking normalcy amidst the chaos.
Atty. Lanier:"Apologies, Madame. I'll get you your favorites." He knew her routine better than anyone. He signaled the nearest restaurant servant. "Sir, uh... our favorites... please." The servant obeyed immediately, recognizing the lawyer's urgency.
Amelia:"Why are we here?" she demanded, cutting straight to business.
Atty. Lanier:"Technically Madame, you were the one~"
Amelia:"Whatever! We need to hurry, everybody knows this is our favorite place. Where are the documents?"
Atty. Lanier immediately wanted to comply, but professionalism rooted him to his seat. He remembered a strict instruction. "Madame, the documents that we were talking~"
Amelia:"Aurie don't want me to interrupt? Are you sure?" She dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand.
Atty. Lanier:"You technically not interrupting and surely, Aurie..."
Amelia:"What? What do you need? Her phone?" The mention of the phone was a direct hit to the heart of Amelia's current obsession.
Atty. Lanier used the brief pause to compose himself. He fixed his necktie, gasped for air, and injected a calm control into his voice. "Madame, I really do understand what you feel right now. Yes, you aren't interrupting some documents by your daughter and we don't need to because she's just... just..."
Amelia:"Coma, yes. She's half alive. She's half dead." She finished his thought with brutal frankness.
Atty. Lanier:"Let me finish, Madame. Please."
They fell into a charged silence. The air felt unnaturally cold despite the warm setting. Their eyes fixed on their own plates, avoiding the heavy weight of the shared grief. They couldn't form another complete word; the emotional burden was simply too much for this early morning.
Atty. Lanier cleared his throat, regained his posture, and pulled the documents concerning Aurie's assets from his briefcase. He inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, until he could speak with professional resolve. "Madame Amelia, I want to start with, Aurie wants all her assets, wealth, under her name even when she's in the extreme accident. That's what she strictly instructed me since the day we met. Maybe... she foreseen this."
Amelia:"I know that. We hate Hugh and she don't listen. That's why she's in coma." Her blame was instantly projected onto Hugh, the narrative she was building to justify her next actions.
The servants placed their favorites on the table. Delicious, meticulously prepared food, respectfully, silently, and carefully. The whole restaurant seemed to sympathize with this sacred meeting of powerful, heartbroken people. When the servants left, Amelia wasted no time.
Amelia starts: "Please Robert. You are smart. Aurie was strictly said that to you because she's a brat. Don't you see~"
Atty. Lanier:"Aurie is not under 18 years old, Madame. She's... we are... we are literally old people too." He delivered the gentle rebuke with respect.
Amelia:"So you want Hugh to manage her legacy? Her conglomerate..."
Atty. Lanier picked up a piece of document from his right side, his voice strong with the weight of Aurie's legal will. He declared: "Aurie quoted, no one in my family, Fortuna Family, and my husband's family side will not getting any parts of my conglomerate that I managed since I was ten years old, taking care of everything, everything that my Fortuna parents has. I, Aurie Fortuna Adler wants to keep all of my conglomerate to be managed by my Atty. Robert Lanier, as an assistant to all of my assets, not to inherit it. Mild, severe, or even extreme accident will still prohibits~"
Amelia:"Wait, is that even on that paper you're reading on?"
Atty. Lanier:"That's the shortened version." He was protecting the finer legal details.
Atty. Lanier picked up half of the document copies from his right side and gently landed it on the left side of Amelia's plate.
Atty. Lanier:"Those are the photo copies. I'm giving you that since... even Aurie said too that no photo copying is allowed... I'm uh... I'm allowing you because..."
His composure finally broke.Atty. Lanier started to cry, covering his mouth, removing his thick reading glasses. He was exhausted and terrified of the burden. "I can't handle this alone. I mean... I can not handle all of Aurie's assets but that's what she's instructed me to do."
Amelia slid her chair closer to him, rubbing his back in a moment of genuine, shared humanity. "I believe you...I believe you... our families known each other for... since we were studying college... right?!"
Atty. Lanier stopped crying, cleared his throat, and in an instant, his gaze locked onto Amelia's face. He asked straight on: "Are you sure that this is all Hugh's masterclass?"
Amelia:"Yes!!! I'm investigating... we are investigating... right?"
Atty. Lanier took all the photo copy documents he had given to Amelia, gently lifting them from her side of the table. "Why Robert?" she asked, confused by the sudden retrieval.
Atty. Lanier, in an almost whispering tone, "I'm revising this, out of Aurie's will. Yet, you need to promise me that Hugh will pay for this if he's the master mind. Okay?"
Amelia almost cried in happiness, covering her mouth with her two hands. Robert is the second person she has found who is willing to side with her, to give justice to her daughter. She nodded in agreement and tightly hugged Atty. Robert Lanier.
A YES , FROM AURIE
Moments later, when Atty. Lanier was in the car, Aurie's translucent-human form appeared beside her, seating herself unseen beside him. No one saw her, not Robert, not even his personal driver.
Aurie:"I knew it. You always agree with mom." Her spectral sigh was filled with exasperation.
Atty. Lanier was looking out the window, his emotions raw. He burst out, seemingly to the outside world, "Why you didn't run so you won't hit by that car!!!"
Aurie was in shock, instinctively touching her chest, her spectral mind reeling with the thought: "Are you hearing me?"
Atty. Lanier kept looking far away, through the window. He began to remove his necktie.
Atty. Lanier:"Are you sure you were here since I entered the restaurant." he asked, his voice low, testing the waters.
The driver, automatically answers: "Yes boss."
Atty. Lanier:"I want to do breakfast again. Let's go to my favorite restaurant."
Aurie hugged Atty. Lanier, hoping he could feel her presence, "Atty. please guide mom too. For sure, she'll yell at Hugh whenever she sees him in one of my offices. Gosh mother! The accusations huh!"
Atty. Lanier murmured to himself, a low, thoughtful sound: "Yeah right, Hugh needs to be ready with Amelia. Especially Amelia is always blind. She always blame Hugh for marrying you."
Aurie pulled back her hug, her translucent eyes wide. "Are you really hearing me?"
Atty. Lanier smirked faintly, then embraced himself, as if he felt something warm and weird. He commanded the driver: "Please close all the aircon, it's just 6. Seven. It's cold."
ALL EARS TO...
On that same day, at 07:18 PM, Amelia, is already in Aurie's prestigious New York office. Amelia's call is sharp and immediate: "Go here... New York office."
Atty. Lanier, who had just finished dinner with his own family and was in the process of unwinding, was taken completely by surprise. "What? Why? We talked about this... I need to~"
Amelia:"You already gave me the copies, Atty."
Atty. Lanier was momentarily stunned by the brevity. He wondered, thinking, "Huh? What was that?"
Amelia, even over the phone, struck with the impatience of a true business general. "Clock is ticking, Atty. My daughter is in coma. You need to lead this meeting."
Atty. Lanier covered his mouth with his hand. He suddenly understood the urgency and the audacity of Amelia's move. It was a mix of madness and gladness that he knew Amelia would do this. He agreed, resigned and energized at once. "Okay, give me 20." He dropped the call.
Atty. Lanier thought to himself, "Amelia is always in a hurry!" He swiftly exchanged his comfortable pajamas for a crisp corporate suit.
At08:32 PM, Amelia and Atty. Lanier are seated at the head of the conference table in Aurie's high-powered meeting room in New York. The room filled quickly. Adiel andHugharrived, each accompanied by their own legal teams; a visual testament to their deep-seated distrust.
Amelia launched the attack instantly, her eyes narrowed. "How come you know this meeting needs lawyers, Mr. Adler?"
Hugh offered a casual, devastatingly dismissive reply. "Madame Fortuna, Aurie whispers at me in the morning."
The small group of family and business members slightly laughed, though they quickly composed themselves. Atty. Lanier and Amelia exchanged a heated glance that screamed: "What? Is Hugh insulting my daughter's current state?" But Atty. Lanier subtly shook his head like, "No, don't fight Hugh. We're in the meeting now." Everyone settled, fixing their chairs.
Atty. Lanier cleared his throat, taking control. "So now that we are all here. I would like to ask, are we waiting for some conglomerate people involved?"
Adiel:"Where's Carlisle?" His concern for his grandfather was immediate.
Amelia:"In the hospital. With your mom."
Hugh:"Son, it's okay."
As Atty. Lanier cleared his throat again, he started laying out the cold, hard facts of the matter. "I need to make this quick and professional as possible. Now, now that Aurie Fortuna Adler is in coma, and to shortened Aurie's will in my briefcase. I'll be the one who manages all her conglomerate and assets, not as a husband, heir, but as an assistant."
Hugh and Adiel slightly gazed at each other, the only outward sign of their reaction. Amelia observed their silent exchange, and a smug smirk crossed her face. She whispered to herself, "Those bastards!"
Atty. Lanier continued: "All assistants including personal assistants will report to me~"
Amelia interrupted swiftly, slamming her hand lightly on the table. "And to me. On a daily basis."
Hugh rubbed his chin, a slight nodding motion visible, as if he simply wanted the meeting to be adjourned. Atty. Lanier was amazed that Hugh, and even Adiel, didn't raise their voices or offer an objection.
Amelia placed her luxurious big diamond briefcase on the table with a decisive thud. She drove the final nail into the coffin. "Clearly, no son, no Unico Hijo, no husband will put their hands on my daughter's assets. All assets."
Hugh and Adiel simply nodded.
Hugh:"Are we done? Thank you, Atty. Lanier." He stood up, shaking hands first with Atty. Lanier, then Amelia, and then the rest of the business partners. He left the room without a single further word.
Adiel stayed behind, his expression complex. "Madame Amelia, thank you for including me here in this meeting. I want to... I just want to know."
Amelia flipped a piece of paper from the document stack, reading the words aloud with cold precision. "All assets will go to the kids of Mr. Adiel Adler if me, Aurie Fortuna Adler will pronounced dead."
Adiel's wide eyes fixed on the document. "Wait, is that even on that paper you're reading on?" then, Amelia sees Adiel as her young self.
Amelia:"A shortened version? You want a copy? It's prohibited, dear."
Adiel rubbed his temple, close to crying. Atty. Lanier and Amelia glanced at each other, gauging his distress. Adiel turned and left the meeting room without any word as well.
Amelia clapped her hands, her mission accomplished. "See? That's all they want. Poor Aurie. They just want money from my daughter." All the business partners present gazed at each other, murmuring their disbelief, then left the meeting room without any word too.
Atty. Lanier wondered aloud, "Really? Hugh just accepted it?"
Amelia:"I don't care. What, you want his P.O.V.?"
They both laugh like kids, the sound sharp and cynical, pleased with their victory over the grieving husband and son.
You, readers, why did Hugh accept the will so easily? Does he know the will is about to be illegally revised by Lanier? What did Aurie whisper to Hugh that morning? Did he genuinely feel his wife's spectral presence, or it was just a calculated insult to Amelia?
Will Aurie follow the phone to Amelia's home? Or will she focus her spectral energy on the one person who seemed to sense her presence: Atty. Robert Lanier? How will Aurie communicate with Adiel; the son who is still grieving and focused on the document's cruel clause about his future children?