AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
ROSALIE
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Anthony says, standing to greet us in our father’s office. He’s our father’s private solicitor, who we’ve known for many years. He has always been kind to us, compared to some of our father’s staff. “Thank you for meeting with me. I know it’s been a difficult day for you all.”
Not as difficult as I thought it would be. Burying a man you hated, who controlled every aspect of your life, and was a selfish, arrogant, self-indulgent, gambling womanizer. There was a sense of freedom and relief at seeing his coffin slowly lowered into the ground in the palace’s private cemetery. The thought that,thatman no longer controls my sisters and me is such a relief. I found it incredibly hard to hide the smile that wanted to form on my face as I stared down at the wooden box and happily indulged in the idea that finally my sisters and I had won against his tyranny.
We all take a seat and hope and pray that the will brings us the freedom we all so desperately are looking for, and that Magnolia can now be the queen she was born to be and turn our country around into the prosperous land it once was.
Anthony clears his throat as he pulls out the parchment paper and scans the document. “His Royal Highness Charles Theodore Maximillian Moore states his children will inherit what they are entitled to under the succession laws.”
I turn and look over at where my oldest sister Magnolia is sitting and give her a small smile. Happy that she will now be Queen.
Anthony clears his throat, his brows pull together tightly as his eyes scan the next section of the will. “Oh.”
“What does that mean?” I ask him.
Anthony looks up slowly from the will and looks at each of us, and I know what he is about to say isn’t good news. “Your father never signed the documents changing the law from primogeniture to matrilineal or even absolute primogeniture.”
What? No. He promised. He’s been dangling that carrot over our heads all our lives, and you’re telling me he didn’t sign the piece of paper.
“I don’t understand what that means?” Skylar asks.
“It means the rule of succession goes to the next male heir, not female or next born person,” Anthony explains.
“Are we going to lose our home?” Skylar questions him.
Anthony shakes his head. “The will states that you must be provided for. That you come with the title, lands, money, and palace.”
“Like we are a prized cow and not his daughters.” I sneer.
“What happens in the event that there is no male heir?” Magnolia asks.
“That I am not sure of, I will have to look into it,” Anthony states.
This is bad.
Magnolia is supposed to be Queen, not some random person from who the hell knows. Who has no link to our country other than he has a dick. He promised us he would change that law. Repeatedly, we asked, and he assured us it was sorted. That he loved and wanted us to be free to live our lives the way we always wanted.
Damn liar.
That’s what we get for believing in a narcissistic gambling addict. He knew changing that law meant he could no longer gamble using us as his leverage to self-serve him. Obviously, that was more important to him than our freedom.
“There’s more,” Anthony adds, and I watch him swallow nervously. Whatever he is about to tell us can’t be good. “This next portion of the will is about Magnolia’s marriage to Dante Carandini.”
We all still at his words.
“The agreement your father had with Valerius regarding Magnolia’s marriage to his son is still binding,” Anthony explains.
“Magnolia is to be Queen. She doesn’t need to marry, Dante,” I question him.
“It’s mentioned here that if Magnolia marries Dante, the debt owed to Valerius will be cleared,” Anthony explains.
“What debt?” Magnolia asks.
Anthony loosens his tie before answering her. “As you know, your father liked to gamble.”
“Among other things,” I grumble.
