Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 21
Rachel was sitting on the cold stairs in front of the house of the Hummel-Hudsons, looking at her watch. Finn texted her over one hour ago whether she had time to meet him at his home, and she didn't hesitate to say yes. She wanted to be there for him and support him, even though it meant comforting him after a horrible meeting of the firm.
A couple of seconds later, the black limousine appeared at the driveway, so she got up, straightening out the wrinkles of her skirt. Andy stopped the vehicle, and Finn got out of it. Even though Rachel knew that he hated it, she couldn't help but notice how hot he looked in the suit he wore during the meeting. She gulped, and when she looked up again, she spotted the ambiguous smile of Finn.
In the next moment, he came closer, pulling her into a hug. "Hey", he mumbled into her ear, kissing her forehead.
"How was it?", she asked carefully, softly touching his back.
He nodded to the entrance door. "I will explain everything inside." Finn threw Andy a weird glance before the chauffeur nodded at them, got into the car and drove to the garage.
Before they entered, Janine, the housekeeper, came over to them. "Janine, Rachel and I would like to have some privacy", Finn said to her. "It would be great if nobody went upstairs."
Rachel felt how her cheeks reddened, just like the housekeeper who blushed. When Finn and she went up the stairs and to his room, she expected that he would press her against the wall and kiss her relentlessly. But instead, Finn retrieved his wallet from his pocket.
"I need to show you something", he repeated the words he had texted her.
"What happened?", she wanted to know, looking confused.
"After the meeting, Andy picked me up and drove me home – but he stopped at a bar. He told me something about grandfather. Something that changes everything."
He retrieved something from his wallet – a small key.
"What is that key for?", Rachel asked slowly.
"Grandmother entrusted Andy with that key some years ago. Besides, he told me that grandfather drove to an attorney shortly after her death. He told him that it was urgent, and not to tell anyone." He sounded nervous and excited at the same time.
Without realizing it, Rachel had held her breath. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Finn dropped his tie on his bed. "That means that we need to find out what grandmother was hiding from him. Maybe, the key could help us more. Maybe…" He trailed off, thoughtful.
Rachel squeezed his shoulders and kissed him softly on the cheek. "We will find out what the key is for."
He gulped and nodded. "Grandfather will stay at Columbus overnight. That's the perfect opportunity to search through grandmother's things."
They left his room, and Rachel followed Finn to the other wing of the second floor. The hallway was at least as long as the one where Finn's and Kurt's room were situated, but there was only one single door.
Finn took a deep breath before he turned to doorknob and opened the door. It somehow felt forbidden to enter someone else's room, and Rachel's heartbeat quickened. The room was spacious, on the left side was another door, certainly leading to an en-suite bathroom. In front of them was a walk-in closet which had to be more spacious than Rachel's bedroom.
"I have no idea when I have been here the last time", Finn whispered as if he was scared that someone caught them. He looked over to her desk at the window.
"Grandmother loved it to look out of the window while working. Everytime she entered my room, she wrinkled her nose, commenting that a desk shouldn't be standing at the wall."
Rachel stepped closer to him, touching his arm. "Shall we start?", she asked softly.
He stared at the desk for a while before he nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. "Yes. Let's start."
Rachel looked at him, questioning when she pointed at the drawers of her desk. "Just do it. No inhibitions.", Finn said.
So she opened the drawers, searching through them. There were only pens and photos, so she took them all out and knocked on the desk, listening whether it sounded hollow or something.
"You look like you don't do this for the first time. Is there something I need to know?", Finn asked while he looked into the drawers on the other side.
"I have watched enough movies", Rachel shrugged, knocking on the floor and taking a look at the carpet.
"I don't know whether I should find that scary or hot", he mumbled.
Rachel grinned while she had a look at a file, finding nothing that was suspicious. After they had searched through the entire desk, they didn't find anything, so they started with the nightstand. To be honest, Rachel felt kind of bad when she opened the dresser, looking through Mrs. Hummel's lotions, powders, and lipsticks. She even found an old magazine with her on the front cover.
"Nothing. Not even underneath the bed", Finn just said after he had gotten up. His shirt looked really dirty right now.
"Okay. Let's go to the closet", Rachel said, and he nodded.
When Rachel said that the walk-in closet was spacious, she didn't exaggerate. On both sides were clothes rails with dresses, tuxedos, pants, blouses and so many more. The left side must have belonged to Elaine, and Rachel needed to sweat a bit when she spotted her clothes. At the same time, she thought that Mercedes would probably give away a body part to have a look at those clothes.
Finn stepped into the closet, softly touching the gowns of his grandmother. "They still smell like her", he mumbled hoarsely.
Softly caressing his shoulders, Rachel said: "If you want to stop, you just need to say something."
He shook his head. "No."
So she nodded and went to the first shelf. Carefully, she started searching through shirts, skirts, pants and underwear. But she didn't find anything.
Finn on the other side of the closet wasn't successful either. When Rachel went to her white dresser, she held her breath after she had opened the first drawer. The jewelry inside the drawer was literally blinding her. Everything was shining and sparkling – brooches, bracelets, earrings and some elegant fascinators.
"Wow", she gasped.
Finn joined her, looking at the jewelry. "I remember a lot of these pieces; I even remember when exactly she wore them. Is that weird?"
"Not at all."
Carefully, they searched through her things, accessories, hair needles with diamonds, hair roses, and Rachel even recognized some of the brooches Kurt wore during classes when he had been sitting in front of her.
"Why is that drawer looking weird?", Finn suddenly asked.
Rachel was too busy looking at a glittering spider and to wonder when exactly she could wear something like that. In the next moment, Finn leaned forwards, pulling out the entire drawer, and his eyes widened. "I think I found something." He put his hand inside it, and Rachel could hear some rustling.
When he pulled something out, Rachel frowned. "What's that?"
Finn also looked surprised. He was holding a small box which had been pasted up with pearls and stones. The casket was so shrill and colorful, it didn't fit to the other things of Elaine Hummel's closet.
"Looks like a jewel case. But…but I doubt that it belonged to grandmother. It looks kind of weird."
Rachel nodded. The stones had been glued to the box in an unprofessional way, as if it had been made by a small child. "Did you or Kurt make something like that in kindergarten?"
Finn shook his head. "Even if we did, grandfather threw everything away."
"Finn", she said. "Turn it around."
He followed orders and froze. On the back was a small keyhole.
"Do you have the key?", she asked, but Finn already had pulled it out, and she was convinced that neither of them was breathing when he turned the key.
They exchanged glances and Finn opened the casket. Rachel leaned forward.
Inside was a small envelope, and Finn quickly took it out. Her eyes widened when he ripped open the paper and when he read it.
One minute later, Finn slowly looked up.
"And?", she whispered.
"We have to call Mildred. Immediately." He held the letter in the air. "That's the testament of my grandmother."
…my daughter Mildred shall get my parts of Hummel-Hudson's men's wear. In case of my death, she shall take over the role of the creative director and of the first chairwoman until my grandsons finished their studies.
While Mildred was reading it out loud, Kurt's eyes widened. His aunt was rubbing her eyes as if she couldn't believe it herself.
"But that's not all", she said, handing it to Kurt. With his free hand, he buried his nails into Blaine's arm, excited.
Herewith I, Elaine Hummel, appoint my grandson Kurt Hummel and my step grandson, Finn Hudson, to equal heirs. May they always believe in themselves and implement their visions.
Kurt gulped. After he came out, James had hinted that he had no future at Hummel-Hudson's now that everything apparently belonged to him. Now, he didn't need to worry about it anymore.
"I cannot believe she still had that thing", Mildred said quietly and looked at the casket in her lap. "I gave it to her when I was six."
"So if she hid the real testament carefully, that means…"
"…that the other will is a fake", Finn ended Kurt's sentence. "The will where only grandfather gets everything."
"Elaine's testament had been kept officially.", Mildred commented. "I have been there when it had been read out loud by Maximus Blood. Everything was correct."
"That testament has not been certified by Maximus Blood", Blaine suddenly said and pointed at the letter. "It has been certified by someone called Sean Knightley."
Finn and Kurt exchanged glances.
"That was our old attorney", Finn said slowly. "He died a couple of years ago, so grandfather employed Mr. Blood." He laughed, stunned. "I can't believe it."
"What exactly?", Kurt asked, snorting.
"Andy drove grandfather after grandmother's death to Blood. They must have faked her last will."
"So grandfather must have known that he wouldn't get anything. But…" Kurt trailed off before he continued speaking"But if she knew all the time that Mildred would get the firm eventually, why didn't she do anything when grandfather excluded her?"
"Because she wanted to protect me", Mildred said quietly. She brushed back a strand of her brown hair and gulped. "I will call my attorney. He will take care of the implementation of the real testament."
While she dialed the number of her attorney, Kurt almost squashed Blaine's hand because he was holding it way too tight. Because he still couldn't believe what was happening right now.
"What do you think about that pose?", Mercedes asked, trying another pose while she stood underneath Rachel's apple tree. Right now, she was modeling for some pieces for her blog, and Rachel volunteered to take the photos.
"Perfect", Rachel said, taking a couple of photos with the camera. At this moment, the doorbell rang. Mercedes frowned. "I thought Finn wouldn't be back soon."
"Maybe it didn't take them as long as they expected", Rachel answered when she went inside the house and to open the door.
And was surprised to see a middle-aged man and woman on her porch, both of them wore dark sunglasses. They looked kind of tired. "Hello, can I help you?"
"Are you Rachel Berry?", the woman asked immediately, looking stressed.
"Y…Yes?", Rachel answered, confused.
"Who are you?", Mercedes who appeared next to her, asked.
"I'm Burt, and this is Carole, my wife. We are Finn's and Kurt's parents", the man explained quickly.
Rachel's eyes lit up. "You are Finn's parents? Oh my gosh, it's nice to finally meet you" She straightened out the wrinkles of her skirt. "Oh my, where are my manners? Please, enter."
The woman, Carole, shook her head. "Unfortunately, we don't have much time. We really need to know where our sons are. Neither of them are reacting to our phone calls or texts."
"Wait", Mercedes spoke up, looking confused. "I thought that you were dead or something. Actually, everyone thinks that you are dead."
Burt looked around, paranoid. "Long story, but it is important that it stayed like that for a while. So please, don't tell anyone for now, it's just for the boys' protection."
The girls nodded slowly.
"Would you tell us now where they are?", Carole pleaded, checking her watch. "It's urgent."
"They are at Columbus right now with their aunt Mildred, talking to James Hudson. It's about Mrs. Hummel's last will", Rachel explained.
Both of the boys' parents paled instantly. "Oh no", Carole muttered.
"What is it?", Mercedes asked, looking worried. Rachel got a bad feeling as well.
Burt gulped, rubbing his baseball cap on his head. "James Hudson…he is highly dangerous. He tried killing us, and I'm sure that he will try the same with other problem factors as well."
It took a couple of minutes until James' assistant let Finn, Kurt and Mildred into his office. Mildred wore an elegant sheath dress, Finn and Kurt wore Hummel-Hudson's suits. When they entered, Finn couldn't help but feel nervous when he spotted his grandfather.
"To what do I owe this honor?", James asked the trio, sneering.
Mildred crossed his room, more relaxed than Finn had ever seen her. At this moment, it seemed like she had more pull. "We need to talk, James.", she sat down on one of the stools on his opposite, Finn and Kurt followed suit.
James looked back and forth between Mildred and his grandsons.
"We have found that piece of paper", Mildred went on, retrieving her briefcase and taking out a copy of Elaine's last will and giving it to James.
Finn studied his face expression carefully. First, James blinked, perplexed. In the next moment, he paled and reread the document.
"What is that?", he asked and looked up.
"That's the last will of my mother", Mildred answered, calm. "And we wonder which testament had been read out loud in December."
Grandfather's right eye started twitching. He ruffled his grey hair and gulped. That gesture was speaking volumes. But Finn needed to be sure.
"Did you fake grandmother's testament, grandfather?", he asked, and was surprised that he sounded emotionless and ice cold.
James just stared at him, apparently speechless.
"I asked you something." He looked at his grandfather who had started sweating. "Did you fake her testament to take over Hummel-Hudson's?"
"I had no other choice", he finally admitted.
Kurt inhaled sharply. Finn was gripping the chair tightly. "Why?", he asked, trying way too hard to stay calm.
"I didn't work my entire life for that firm to get nothing in the end."
"Elaine would have given the parts to you if she didn't know how greedy you are", Mildred spat.
"You have no idea what you are talking about!", James roared.
Mildred glared at him, furious, and crossed her arms. "We have two options, James", she said slowly. "The first: You withdraw from this firm and I take over the leading position, like mother has planned it."
It was dead silent in the room all of a sudden. "In case you refuse to do it, I already talked to Maximus Blood. He will testify against you if we don't press charges against him. He will tell the judge that you blackmailed him and forced him to read out loud a fake testament. Your chances to win are zero percent, James, because of the proofs. And you can imagine what will happen if the press finds out about it."
Finn was surprised when James started laughing. He folded his hands, looking relaxed when he got up. "I'm impressed, Mildred, I'm impressed. But let's say that both options are not quite optimal to me."
He retrieved something from his belt – and Finn's eyes widened when he saw what it was.
A gun. At the same time, someone else entered the room. Someone with a gun in his hands as well.
Maximus Blood.
"Get up, all of you. And walk over to the wall.", James ordered coldly, his gun pointed at them, just like Mr. Blood.
"And don't do anything stupid, I dare you.", the attorney (was he even a real attorney? Or one of James' criminal friends? Finn honestly couldn't tell) hissed.
The trio slowly followed orders, shocked about the development. Finn dared looking at Mildred and Kurt who had paled as well.
Well, he didn't see that one coming.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, guys, but I just couldn't help it :P That was the penultimate chapter, next time: The finale!
In addition to that, I will upload a fun-facts-chapter (what excatly I changed from the original novel etc.).
See you next time and...stay tuned!