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CHAPTER 5

Emily closed the file in front of her as they finished reviewing her father's will. She had been both shocked and surprised by several items in her inheritance.

First surprise was that she had had a college fund. Her father had designated money that she could have started to access when she turned 18 for school related expenses that she hadn't known existed. Her mother had paid for her first semester at Georgetown however there had been so many strings attached to the money that Emily refused to ask her for later semesters. Little did she know that the money her mother had used to try and manipulate her was actually her's all along.

Emily had already earned an academic scholarship which paid for most of tuition. For other expenses after that, Emily moved off campus to live with 2 roommates to save money. She had 2 to 3 jobs at a time. There were several external scholarships that helped to make up the difference. Emily had also been forced to take out student loans to make ends meet.

When Emily went to grad school at Yale, she was chosen as a teaching assistant which paid her tuition and gave her a small stipend. In addition to that, she worked. Again she had needed to take out loans to cover her living expenses. Loans that she was still in the process of paying off. Loans that she would have never needed if she knew about this part of her inheritance.

The second surprise was that she also had money that she could have accessed to pay for wedding expenses. In all likelihood, she wouldn't have used that even if she had known about it.

Their wedding had been a small intimate gathering of the team and a few friends that took place in the garden at Dave's house, err mansion. Dave had gone out of his way to assure that it was exactly what her and Aaron had wanted. More money would not have made it a more memorable day. And Dave would have been insulted if she had tried to pay for any of it as he considered the day his gift to them.

As Emily was thinking back about their wedding day, she noticed that Aaron had taken her hand and was squeezing it. She looked up and noticed that Mr Anders and Mr Donovan were standing at the other end of the table looking at her concerned. Ms Hill and Mr Wilkins had already left the room. Apparently they had been trying to get her attention for a couple of minutes.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" Emily said distracted.

"It's fine Emily." Mr Anders said.

"I know a significant amount of surprises have come up today Mrs Hotchner. I already have my assistant working on scheduling us a place on a judge's docket to have your claim on the inheritance from your father solidified and work on reclaiming your inheritance from your grandfather. I will let you know as soon as I hear when we are scheduled." said Mr Donovan.

Emily nodded before saying. "Thanks you both for being here. I wasn't expecting all of this when we walked in here today." She stood up and walked over to shake hands with both of the lawyers before stopping next to Hotch.

"We are here to support both of you." Mr Anders said while Mr Donovan nodded behind him.

Mr Donovan walked up next to Mr Anders before saying with his attention towards Emily, "I need you to think about what you want to do about Mr Sinclair living in the house before we go to court. If you want to evict him, we will need to start that process when we're in front of the judge." Emily shook her head because as much as she hated the man, she wasn't sure if she wanted to evict him.

The third surprise was she owned the house that the family lived in while she was growing up when they were in DC. It was also the house that her mother and stepfather had been living in for years.

They had told her she was no longer welcome at the house when she was in college and had refused to given in to their demands on how they wanted her to live her life. She had not be allowed to set foot in the house since she started at the FBI academy.

"I don't know what I want to do about it. I haven't lived there at all since high school and even then it was only school breaks… and with the memories...," Emily trailed off before sighing, "I can't see myself ever living there again. Also Aaron and I have a house that works well for our family." Emily rambled with uncertainty. Hotch put his arm around her shoulders and move over closer to her.

Mr Anders and Mr Donovan nodded, understanding her mindset. Mr Donovan continued, "whatever you decide is fine. We will just need to clarify it when we go to court. Also in addition to the house itself, you were given all of the furnishings as well. So if you decide to gift or sell the house to Mr Sinclair, you will need to decide what you want to do about that part of your inheritance."

"Also, if there is any paperwork in the safety deposit box, I would like to see it." Mr Anders added.

One of the items that Ms Hill had given her was a key to a safety deposit box along with a letter from the law firm that Emily could access it at the bank that her family had all their accounts. Ms Hill hadn't been able to tell her what was in the box as there was no inventory in the file. The only insight she was able to give concerning the safety deposit box was that her father left strict instructions that only she could access it and that the Ambassador had used her position as trustee several times over the years to gain access without success.

"Of course. I'm planning to stop at the bank soon. I'll let you know once I've been there." Emily stated before she turned to pick her purse up from the table so they could leave. Hotch picked up the boxes that they would be taking home.

As they started to walk towards the door, there was a knock and when the door opened, they saw Noah Wilkins. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, he said hesitantly, "Mrs Hotchner, Mr Barton asked me to bring you this letter. As you know he can't disburse your mother's estate yet however since a letter was all she left for you, he concluded you should have it now."

"Thank you Mr Wilkins." Emily said as she took the letter and placed it into one of the boxes that Aaron was holding. Mr Wilkins nodded and walked back out the door followed by Mr Donovan. Hotch was right next to Emily as they walked out the door next with Mr Anders behind them. Mr Wilkins turned down the first hallway while the rest continued down the hallway.

As the group walked towards the exit, they heard angry voices coming from another office. As they walked closer they noticed Mr Tate's name on the door. The voices were distinctively those of the three firm lawyers and Emily's stepfather.

When she realized that they were talking about her, Emily stopped just out of sight from the office. Aaron and their attorneys also stopped, standing with her.

"What do you mean you aren't going to read the will today? I demand we get this done. And what is this nonsense about going to court?" Mr Sinclair could be heard yelling and a thud was heard of him banging his fist.

"We can not distribute Elizabeth's estate until we have settled the estate of Edward Breckenridge. Elizabeth repeatedly lied to us about Emily's marital status. That is why this is happening now." Mr Barton's voice was heard replying tersely.

"Her lawyer has already been working to get the case on a docket. I would expect the case to be in court this week." Mr Stevens stated annoyed.

They could see the shadow of Mr Sinclair pacing in the office before he stated angrily. "I hope you are ready to fight this for me. Edward will be rolling over in his grave if you let a Fairfax get access to his money."

Emily could feel Hotch stiffen beside her. Fairfax had been his mother's maiden name. She turned and saw him staring intently at the office door where the men were meeting. She placed a hand on his arm and before she could say anything, they could hear the men continue.

"We know of the family feud however our hands are tied. We can't deny them the inheritance because Edward did not put it in writing as an exclusion criteria." Mr Tate stated empathically.

"This firm will not be representing you in this lawsuit." Mr Stevens stated firmly.

There was a pause before Mr Sinclair yelled loudly, "Why the hell not?"

"We are compromised and also culpable as we were trustees of Emily's trust fund from his will. Elizabeth should have come to us with her concerns instead of lying to us. We can't represent either party in this case." Mr Barton replied sternly.

Mr Sinclair sighed loudly before saying forcefully, "I don't see what the problem is- they aren't even truly married."

Out in the hallway, Emily gasped while tightening her grip on Aaron's arm. She looked back at their attorneys who had serious yet curious looks on their faces as they also listened to the conversation. When he noticed Emily's look, Mr Anders gave Emily a small smile as he shook his head at her. Before he could say anything they heard Mr Barton's booming voice, "What are you talking about? Yes they are married. We have a copy of the marriage license right here." As he finished they heard a bang.

They could see the reflection of Mr Sinclair pacing in the office again. Then he was heard stating calmly and slowly as if he was explaining a complex topic to a small child, "They didn't get married in the Church so they aren't truly married. Their ceremony was in someone's backyard. Does that sound like a real wedding to you?"

At this point, Emily was furious. How dare he insult their wedding!

As she started to move forward towards the office, she could feel an arm come around her waist. As she turned around to confront whoever had just stopped her she felt herself being pulled back against Aaron. A quick look at him showed a firm glare directed to the office.

"That is irrelevant. Fact is they are legally married and in this case that is all that matter." Mr Stevens stated.

"Both Sebastian Prentiss and Edward Breckenridge only stated that Emily must be legally married. There is no mention of matrimony or a religious ceremony or blessing." Mr Barton continued.

"This is ridiculous. She wasn't even their real daughter." Mr Sinclair yelled.

Emily gasped at this and struggled to pull herself away from husband's hold.

"Again it's irrelevant to this case. They both mentioned her by name in their wills. And she is their daughter legally." Mr Stevens stated as he shook his head at the man standing in front of him.

"What do you mean I wasn't their real daughter?" Emily asked. The 4 men quickly turned to see her standing in the open doorway of the office with Hotch standing right behind her glaring at the men in front of them.

AN: The confrontation will happen in the next chapter. I plan to have that upload mid to late week.