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Urgent! Open Immediately!
Chrissy Raines was instantly puzzled when she saw the plain white envelope with that message stamped in red on the outside. Usually, those types of instructions were printed on junk mail, but Chrissy wasn't sure about that this time. The return address was a law firm in L.A. The firm name was familiar, Jones and Jones, because that was the law firm that had handled all of her father's business when he passed away. She had absolutely no idea what they would want with her now, especially since her father would be gone a year in less than two months.
When she opened the letter, she was surprised to see that the subject was her deceased half-brother, Michael Raines's, last will and testament. This confused her, primarily because her brother had been dead for over six weeks. She would have figured that all of this would have been taken care of by now. However, because her brother's death had been so sudden, everything was disorganized and it had taken a while to get everything figured out.
The letter read:
Ms. Raines,
We wish you our deepest sympathies at the passing of your brother. He was a highly-respected client here at Jones and Jones and did much of his business here. Despite the fact that Michael passed with many crimes hanging over his head, he will be missed here. Our thoughts go out to you and your brother at this time.
In regards to Michael's last will and testament, a current copy of it is not in existence. Therefore, because it is not specified in either your father's or Michael's wills, Skyline Publishing will automatically go to your mother, Mrs. Ann Raines. However, you and your brother, Adam, will also be taking on new roles in the company and serving on its board.
Whenever possible, please call me at the number indicated on my business card so we might set up a meeting to discuss you and your brother's respective duties in the company as were specified to Michael in your father's will. Again, I am very sorry for your loss and I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Walter Jones
Attorney at Law
Jones and Jones, Attorneys at Law
Chrissy had nearly thrown up while reading the first paragraph of the letter. She wondered who exactly was going to miss Michael. She certainly wasn't. If they'd known exactly what kind of monster he'd been, maybe they would understand her logic. She'd noticed they hadn't mentioned that he'd been a nice person or anything like that. Mr. Jones had simply referred to him as "a well-respected client." Yeah, that proved her point.
Chrissy was definitely a little surprised by the revelation that Michael did not have a standing will and testament. Therefore, everything went directly back to her mother. She hadn't spoken to her since she'd left L.A. over eight months ago. Truthfully, she'd never had a great relationship with her mother, as Ann Raines had always favored her step-son and never believed much of what Chrissy or Adam said. That's probably why Chrissy had never told her mother about Michael raping her. Ann would never believe that her baby Mikey could be capable of something like that, and say that Chrissy had made the story up for attention. It was no use.
Now, however, Chrissy's mind was running in a thousand directions. She now had a job in one of the top publishing houses in the world, her father's, no less. She'd be working for her mother, who knew absolutely nothing about publishing, but would act like she did. Not only that, but it was expected that Chrissy would drop her entire life for this job. Chrissy's life was now entirely in Hawaii. Her job was there, her friends were there, and, most importantly, the man she loved was there. Sarah loved it in Hawaii. She couldn't walk away from all of this. It just wasn't possible.
Of course, Chrissy knew she had to call Walter Jones and probably at least schedule a meeting with him. She'd probably have to fly to L.A. for a couple of days and straighten all of this out, then she could come home. As much as she loved Skyline Publishing, she just couldn't move back to L.A. anymore. It was no longer her home, and she was sure she'd feel like a complete outsider there. The city was too fast paced for her. She loved the tropical, relaxing atmosphere of Honolulu. It was the ideal place to live after L.A. She was not giving up her life for a job, especially when it meant that her mother was going to be her boss for the rest of her life.
Chrissy decided she'd tell Steve about this when they had dinner that night. They had no secrets from each other, especially about important stuff like this. Steve definitely needed to know about this because this revelation could change the course of the rest of their lives, and not for the better.