Samantha kept replaying the conversation she overheard between Kent and Patrick. Her husband had lied to the police about being in contact with their son. She had gone to her father's house to discuss the concerns. Harvey roared in frustration and demanded Samantha remove Kent and Patrick from her will. "After Patrick left with Sandra and Allison, I changed who would inherit everything," Samantha told him. Sandra would become wealthy once Samantha died. Only Samantha's lawyer had the updated copy of her will.
Kent Huntington got raised in a respected family. However, Kent was a bastard. He was born to a maid. Caroline Huntington was unable to have children. She fired the maid and took the boy to raise as her own. Nobody was the wiser except for Harvey. He knew the truth. Kent was not the man Harvey wanted for his daughter, but she loved him.
Harvey also knew his son, Tom, preferred men. Tom might have fooled his mother and sister, but not Harvey. He was as sharp as a tack, never missing a trick. Harvey's wife, Margaret, died thinking her son was a womanizer.
The only person inheriting Harvey Buxom's estate was his daughter, Samantha. Tom received his inheritance through an annuity trust fund, an arrangement he made with his mother. He withdrew cash every month - more than he needed to survive. Tom was frivolous in his spending and often threw parties for his deviant friends. Harvey kicked Tom out of the house after returning from Bermuda to witness a sickening orgy of men fucking in the living room. It was a disrespectful display to commemorate Margaret's death.
Unfortunately, Harvey had a heart attack and passed away a few hours after he and Samantha had their conversation about Kent Huntington. Samantha and Tom, Harvey Winchester's children, were his only heirs. Tom would receive the residual of his trust fund and not a cent more. Harvey refused to leave anything to his granddaughter since the father would access the money. Harvey knew Patrick was a gold digger like his father, Kent.
Samantha was biding her time to leave Kent. She returned from planning her father's funeral and heard her brother and husband having sex in the master suite. Samantha was devastated. She had no idea. Her naivety cost her more than her marriage.
It finally made sense why Kent urged her to find a lover - a married man to entertain her. The man wouldn't have any expectations other than fucking a woman who wasn't his wife. Samantha felt like a fool. She let Kent manage their finances. How much money did he squander away while she preoccupied herself with another man?
Unable to ignore things for another day, Samantha opened another account at a different bank. She arranged to have the inheritance from her father deposited into that account. Samantha was wise and opened the account in her maiden name. She didn't want Kent to access the money. The only person who could access the funds was her granddaughter, Sandra, upon Samantha's death.
Samantha returned home several hours later. Her brother, freshly showered, was sitting in the living room. "Hi, Tom," Samantha said, sitting beside him.
"Hey, Sam. I hope you don't mind that I dropped by. My apartment is getting painted. Kent said I could stay here for a few days," Tom explained.
"Oh. I don't mind," Sam replied. "You know I like having you here." It was true that she enjoyed having her brother at the house. However, Samantha did not like Tom sleeping with her husband. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day." Samantha knew what she had to do. It was time to leave Kent.
Tom kissed her cheek and watched as she went upstairs. He shook his head, wondering why Sam would go to bed before 9 pm. She must have run herself ragged to get the funeral arrangements for their father completed. Tom supposed he should have helped his sister, but he was never good at those types of things. He only cared that he would receive his remaining inheritance from Daddy dearest. It was something Tom had in common with Kent. They loved to live large.
"She's asleep," Kent announced. He pulled Tom to his feet.
"Are you sure?" Tom asked.
"Of course." Kent kissed Tom, letting him know what he wanted by grabbing his ass. Tom groaned and broke the kiss. He tugged on Kent's hand and guided him to the guest bedroom down the hall from where Samantha was sleeping. Kent didn't bother closing the door, knowing how much the sleeping pill affected his wife. She would sleep like the dead for the following eight hours. It was plenty of time for Kent and Tom to fuck hard.
Samantha heard Kent call Tom his lover. The grunts and moans echoed from the guest bedroom. Wiping a tear from her eye, Samantha pulled on her pants and top over her panties and tank top. She pulled her luggage from the closet. Then she made her way to the stairs. Earlier that evening, Kent caught Samantha packing her suitcase. He wondered where she was going. Samantha claimed it was to stay at her father's estate to prepare it to get sold. It was what Harvey asked Samantha to do.
Wanting Kent to know she was leaving him, she grabbed the divorce papers from her purse, then approached her brother's bedroom. Her eyes stung with tears of despair as she watched her husband fuck her brother. "Kent!" Samantha screamed. "I can't believe you are sleeping with my brother. Why didn't you tell me you were gay?"
"It's not what it looks like," Kent replied. He pulled from Tom, leaving the man unsatisfied, and approached Samantha. She noticed Kent's lubricant-covered dick, but he was condom free. Samantha felt sick to her stomach. The relationships she started with married men made her feel empty. She ended those affairs and started dating a man working at her father's engineering firm. Dave, who loved Sam, couldn't wait for her to leave Kent and commit to him. He promised to wait another few years for Samantha to divorce Kent.
Samantha shoved the divorce papers at him and yelled, "You can have Tom all to yourself. I'm out of here. Don't call me. Anything you have to say can get said to my lawyer." Samantha turned on her heel to leave. She got to the top of the stairs before Kent caught her. He grabbed the suitcase, turning her to face him. Samantha lost her footing. Kent gave her a gentle shove before she fell down the stairs.
Tom had pulled his pants over his hips, then watched in horror as his sister fell backwards, cracking her head on the step. She landed at the bottom with her head twisted at an unnatural angle. "You're a fucking monster!" Tom yelled at Kent. "I thought you loved me. How could you hurt my sister?"
"Give me a break, Tom. You know I don't love you. I love the money in your bank account," Kent sneered. Tom backed away from his lover. It was time to get away from the man.
"But… but," Tom said before jumping over the railing to drop below. He had to get out of that house. Tom ran to his car, his feet getting cut by the loose stones and other debris on the cold sidewalk. He tugged the key from his pocket and started the car.
Kent ran to the guest bedroom to get dressed. He called the emergency services for help as he straightened up Tom's room. "911, what's your emergency?" the female answered.
"It's Kent Huntington. My wife fell down the stairs. I think she's dead. We argued, then I grabbed her luggage. The handle broke before she fell," Kent lied. "Hurry."
The dispatcher promised to send an ambulance to his location. Kent smiled, then hung up the phone. He went to the suitcase to break the handle, making it appear that Samantha had lost her grip when it gave away. They would assume his prints were on the handle from grabbing it. Kent had carefully set the scene to keep himself from suspicion.
A squeal of brakes and a crash echoed in the dark. Kent looked outside for the accident scene. Unable to detect anything down the road, Kent returned and waited for the ambulance to collect his wife. He hid the divorce papers between the mattresses of his bed. Kent didn't want the police to find it lying in plain sight. He refused to give the detectives ammunition to use against him.
It took the emergency crew longer than expected to get to his house. When they finally arrived, the officer, coroner and ambulatory technician apologized. There was a car accident around the corner. A man drove too fast. He swerved to miss another vehicle, then smashed into a tree. The man got pronounced dead at the scene.
"My brother-in-law left my house after my wife fell down the stairs. Was the car a navy blue Honda Civic?"
The officer checked his notes. "Yes," he replied. "Do you have a photograph?"
Kent went to the guest bedroom, where Tom had left his wallet. The officer followed him to the room. An overpowering scent of the wallflower plugin scent of Sandalwood filled the space. "Sorry, Tom loves Bath & Body Works," Kent said when the officer followed him into the room.
"Why was Tom staying here?" the officer asked, removing the wallet from the dresser. He wore gloves as he opened the wallet to view the identification. The name on the license matched the registration papers in the car.
"Tom and Samantha lost their father recently. I made up the spare bedroom for Tom while my wife handled the funeral arrangements. Tom wanted to be here for his sister," Kent answered, explaining why they may find his prints inside the room.
"I'd like you to come with me to identify the body," the officer announced. He dropped Tom's wallet inside an evidence bag.
Kent could hardly wait to claim his inheritance.
~~~~~
Lester received a strange call. Someone had left Sandra Huntington (his adopted daughter Sadie Santos) over sixty million dollars. He couldn't believe it. "Honey, what's wrong?" Nicki asked. Lester stared at the wall in shock. Nicki could hear someone talking on the other end of the line. She gently removed the phone from his hand. "Hello?" Nicki asked.
"Is Mr. Santos okay?" the man asked.
"He's in shock. May I ask what this call was regarding?"
"Sorry, Ma'am. I can only release the information to Sadie's adoptive parents," the man replied.
"I'm Nicki Santos. Lester and I adopted Sadie. Is there a problem with the adoption?" Nicki asked, afraid Patrick wanted to claim the girl.
"No, Mrs. Santos. The adoption stands. My name is Lawrence Cunningham. I'm a founding partner with the law firm of Cunningham, Braxton and Tenor located in Miami, Florida. Ms. Samantha Buxom passed away a few days ago. Her brother, Tom Buxom, had also passed away, leaving his assets to his sister. Since she predeceased him according to the time of death, all the funds go directly to Ms. Buxom's beneficiary according to the directive in his will. Ms. Buxom left all her assets to her biological granddaughter, Sandra Huntington. I hired Rangeman in Miami to search for her family. They gave me Lester's number," Lawrence explained. Nicki was happy that Rangeman Miami knew Sadie's birth name.
"What do you need from us?" Nicki asked.
"I'm flying to Trenton in a few days with the paperwork and to meet with Miss Sadie Santos," Lawrence replied. "Ms. Buxom was specific in her instructions. I must prove Miss Sadie is Sandra Huntington before releasing the funds into a trust fund. Ms. Buxom does not want her husband, Kent Huntington, or son, Patrick Huntington, to access the money. It's imperative to handle this issue immediately."
"How did Ms. Buxom know where to find Sandra?" Nicki asked, not believing that someone from Rangeman would readily provide the intel. She was worried Patrick would attempt to take Sadie and the money.
With a small sigh, Lawrence replied, "I'll come clean with you. Her father, Harvey Buxom, hired a woman to clean his mansion. Samantha met the woman and thought the young daughter resembled her son's late wife, Lydia Huntington. Ms. Buxom managed to procure a DNA sample from the child for testing. Several months ago, she received a report from a private investigator that Sadie was in Trenton, living with Stephanie and Carlos Manoso. Samantha met Manoso many years ago at a charity function his company, Rangeman, secured. She gave me the contact information when she filed for divorce on the day of her death."
"Wow. That was a lot of ground to cover," Nicki said. "Should we worry about Patrick or Kent Huntington coming after Sadie?"
"It wouldn't hurt to hire security to protect the child," Lawrence replied. "I'll be in Trenton in two days. My flight should land at 9 am at a private airport off Route One."
"We know where that is," Nicki said. "Thank you for calling."
Lester shook from his shocked state. He looked around for his phone. "Did I hear what I thought I heard?" Lester asked.
"Yes," Nicki replied, passing Lester his phone. "The lawyer, Lawrence Cunningham, recommended hiring bodyguards for Sadie. He suspects Kent Huntington will come after Sadie for the money. We have to ensure her accounts are secured."
"I'll get Hector on it. He would protect our daughter's assets," Lester said. He pulled Nicki into his arms and kissed her forehead. "Thank you. I love you, baby."
"I love you too, sexy."
~~~~~
Kent was furious. He took the copies of Samantha and Tom's wills to the lawyer to claim his inheritance and learned his wife and brother-in-law had removed him from the will.
Tom removed Kent a month earlier when his buddy suggested Kent was using Tom for his inheritance. It was something Tom's father had stated years earlier. Tom's buddy, Cody, worked at Cunningham, Braxton and Tenor. Cody overheard Kent asking Jonah Tenor, a senior partner, a hypothetical question about wills and prenuptial agreements. Kent was disappointed the prenuptial agreement was ironclad. He couldn't divorce his wife to get half her potential inheritance. Jonah had explained the only way to get the money was to wait until his wife passed away since he was the sole beneficiary.
"I know this is my wife's current will," Kent insisted. "I would have known if she paid for a lawyer to modify it."
"But that's where you're wrong, Mr. Huntington. Your wife paid for the transaction. Perhaps, you're not such a keen accountant after all," Jonah Tenor said. He motioned for assistance to remove the irate Kent Huntington from his office. "Good day," Jonah said when Kent got escorted from the room.
Timothy Braxton waited for a few minutes before entering Jonah's office. "How did he take the news?" Tim asked.
"Not well," Jonah said, smiling. "I got Cody to talk Tom into changing his will. Did you handle the transaction?"
"No. Lawrence modified the will. I was in the Bahamas," Tim replied. "I'm glad the Huntingtons won't get their grubby hands on Harvey's hard-earned money."
"Me too. Have you heard Lawrence discovered the location of the missing child?"
Tim quirked an eyebrow. He could tell by Jonah's excitement that it would be an epic story. "I can't wait to see how it ends," Tim said after Jonah shared the details.
"Neither can I," Jonah laughed. "I bet Kent getting excluded from the wills was not in the plans."