me now because it’s obvious that I won’t be able to be there either.
Blaire assures him that they’ll wait for him while I tell him his exceptions and stipulations, “You can commute. It’s right here in the will. As long as you only do it twice a week and you’re back the same day, you can do live appearances. Fucking William Aldridge. He has to be laughing his ass off at us from hell. Mills, it says that your son could benefit in this environment, and it’d be good to be around his uncles and aunts.”
“Which aunts?” Mills asks, confused.
“Leyla and Blaire,” I answer, but the problem is that Leyla can’t be close to kids because this is going to break her heart. I exhale and close my eyes briefly. “Let’s hope that Leyla doesn’t come.”
I rub my eyes with the heel of my hands when Henry asks, “What’s the plan?”
To kill our father a second time for being an asshole?
“Let me see what I can do,” I suggest, taking the copy. “I’ll take it home and have my team look into it.”
“Listen, he made this foolproof,” the lawyer warns me, and I hate to agree with him. This feels like a game where I have to forfeit just after reading the rules. It’d be easy to say fuck it, but it’s not just one, but two towns and thousands of people who will suffer if we do.
Why do I care? The answer comes in the form of a petite, feisty redhead. If there’s something she’s been teaching me, it’s to care for others. When I look around the table, I wonder how much they’ll care about it? We Aldridges are selfish bastards. The only saving grace the towns might have is me finding a way to get us out of this mess.
“You can hire the best attorney in the country,” Parrish states. “But at the end of the day, there’s nothing you can do to stop me from executing this next month—if you’re not here, everything will be sold. You can either mobilize or waste your time. The decision is yours.”
Chapter Sixteen
Pierce
Blaire leaves disappointed, and I wish I could assure her that I can fix this, but other than giving her money to run her charity, there’s not much I can do. I still hope I can stop this will, but it might take me longer than thirty days, and if we’re not here by then, this asshole will sell everything.
As Parrish gathers his things, Mills snaps. “That’s it? Here are your father’s last wishes, deal with them, and you wash your hands of it and us?”
“It’s not his fault,” I intervene.
Shit like this happens more often than people know. As a legal counselor, I’ve done it a few times. We can’t tell the person they’re an asshole while we’re drafting their will. It’s not our place to be their ethical compass. We’re just there to provide a service. There’s always a rich person having their loved ones jump through hoops so they can receive their inheritance.
William knew that at least one, if not all of us, would say fuck the money.
How did he find the right thing to make us consider staying?
He was a smart, demented asshole. The thought gives me some hope, so I ask, “When did they diagnose our father?”
“Maybe his assistant has that information. I’m not family or a friend of his,” he says, and there’s a bitter tone in his voice that’s barely noticeable, but I catch it.
Why are you upset, Jerome Parrish? Are you an Aldridge bastard, but you can’t demonstrate it?
“Why does that matter?” Hayes asks.
“He had cancer, right? Remember Carter’s hallucinations?” I explain, hoping that they support me.
“We already tried to use that excuse to stop Blaire from getting Carter’s trust fund. It didn’t work that well,” Henry grunts.
He’s right, and it takes us back to the deadline. Even if I can prove that our father was insane, it will take me a lot longer than thirty days. We’d have to be here while I fight something that might take years. It’s not worth it, is it?
“He was in his right mind when he requested us to draft his will a few years back,” Mr. Parrish clarifies, and that confirms that it’s not worth bothering to contest the will through that venue. “He made a couple of adjustments three months ago, adding the potential buyers and the criteria they should follow to be eligible. Everything else has been in place for