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“In case the couple chooses to continue their relationship or keep in contact in any shape or form, my grandson, Benjamin Radcliff, shall no longer be the heir to my fortune and that right shall be passed on to his mother, Lucy Radcliff. Ava Burns shall no longer receive the agreed upon amount of $10,000,000. Her payment shall be reduced to the amount of her mother’s medical bills and her personal student loans."
"Wait…WHAT?"
“WHAT?!”
“ARE YOU JOKING!” Benjamin, Ava, and Lucy yelled at the same time. Ben even jumped up from his seat, glaring at the lawyer in shock.
“But that c-can’t be, we did everything right,” Ava stuttered as her lungs seemed to struggle forair. She felt cold and hot at the same time, as if she was about to faint. Even Lucy was shocked. She crossed her arms and wildly shook her head.
Benjamin slammed his hand onto the desk Walter was sitting at. "Ridiculous! Grandpa had truly lost his brain before his passing!"
Lucy gasped. "Benjamin! Don’t speak of your grandfather like this!"
Benjamin ignored her, looked over to Ava who was fighting down tears.
“Walter, please. You can’t tell me that this is legally possible. Binding!”
But Walter avoided his gaze, nervously fumbled with the pen in his hand. “I am so, so sorry, Benjamin, I really am…but it is…”
It took Ava a few tries to speak, no words would come out, but she finally somehow found her voice again. “So, if we stay married, Benjamin will lose his entire inheritance? All of it? This is truly the end of the will? No more meetings in a few months, no more ‘hello everybody I have changed my mind’ letters from here on in?”
With closed eyes, Walter shook his head. “This is it. All of it.”
Ava’s next reaction shocked everyone but herself the most. She pushed back her chair and stormed out, tears flowing down her face like an untamed river. “That is fine with me, I want a divorce,” were the last words she cried out before she disappeared into the hallway, slamming the door behind herself.
Benjamin wanted to run after her, but he still wasn't entirely certain what was happening here. He spent the next couple of minutes arguing with his mother and the lawyer, trying desperately to find a legal loophole to all of this.
"This must be a mistake!"
"I'm sorry, Benjamin, but–"
"What are you being sorry for?" Lucy cut in sharply. Her fiery gaze shifted to her son.
"This is what we had hoped for all along! How can you question this? Divorce her and get what's rightfully yours. Wasn't that the plan?"
Ben sighed deeply; his fist shaking, clenched.
"I love her..." He grunted and exhaled deeply, his words out of reach.
“Love? Ava? Don’t be absurd!” Lucy’s high-pitched voice sounded like a cat being strangled. Benjamin looked at his mother, long and deep, before he walked by her. But Lucy grabbed him by the wrist.
“Ben! You can’t be serious! Did you not hear her? She wants the divorce, make sure she gets the money.”
He pulled free, his eyes filled with anger and frustration, with all the pain this world could hold. “I can’t be serious? I can’t be serious? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You have nothing but hatred in your heart. I never see you smile unless you’ve just bought yourself another diamond, and—”
“Maybe you shouldn’t inherit your grandfather’s estate,” she cut in with a tongue that hissed like a snake. “He was ten times the man you will ever be. I’m glad your father is dead so he doesn’t have to look at you every day like I do!”
After those words of burning acid, there was only silence. Benjamin stared at his mother, his mouth and eyes wide open in shock. Walter scratched his head, clearly wishing for a hole to open up in the ground to disappear in. Lucy on the other hand crossed her arms, a look of guilt on her face, and yet her mouth did not move to apologize.
“…As a billionaire or in the gutters of New York… May the heavens strike me dead if I ever talk to you again,” Benjamin declared out loud, his voice steady and clear. Then he left, his steps wide and steady, with not the slightest interest in what his mother had to say next.
Lucy jumped up, her chair falling backwards. “BENJAMIN! Benjamin come back here! I said come back!” Lucy screamed after him once more, louder than the first time.
“If you stay with her, I shall cut you off! FOREVER! YOU HEAR ME! FOREVER!”
Benjamin rushed out the door and tried to find Ava. She was all he could think of, all he cared about. It was shocking, but for a man who was just losing a billion dollars, he was incredibly clear about what he wanted, and the price associated with it.
"I want only you," he said to himself, "...where are you, Ava?"
