Authors: Fiona Knightingale
He made to grab the handle of the biggest suitcase but was stopped with driver frantically waving his hands and saying, “Oh, sir! Please! Do not worry, I will take these in for you.” He gave William a very large smile, one that looked far too enthusiastic to the point William thought a somewhat crazed driver might have been sent for him. But as he turned to look at the estate in front of him, sprawling over a very large and valuable piece of land, he knew it was just the way of things around here. As they made their way up the walkway, William looked up at the front door as if expecting someone to come walking out of it.
---
“William, you’ve arrived,” his father said with a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips as he leaned against the frame of the house’s front door. It was not until his family had started using this place, closer to where William was situated, that his father sometimes greeted him like this. It also happened right around the time William had been promoted but his mother always claimed that was mere coincidence in timing. He never bought it. He knew his father’s ideals all too well to not know he was finally at least somewhat proud of his son and willing to openly show it, even if it was with the most minimal gesture. He also knew his mother all too well to not have figured out that even if she wanted changes earlier she would never even think of going against his father’s plans or wishes. That was the way it had always been in his family.
William gave a small nod and replied, “Good evening.” He was always formal with his father; it was the only way he knew how to be. He had been raised to behave with only the utmost manners and respect but he had also been raised in such a way he would never feel comfortable with his father. They would never have a close relationship full of affection. It simply did not happen. Even his mother would not provide him that, though she certainly came closer. William sometimes had the suspicion she held herself back from being the fawning mother she truly was inside. And now she would never have a chance to show her son what that woman was like.
---
“Sir, are you feeling unwell?” It was the driver who had been standing next to William for a couple minutes now while he was completely unaware. William had been staring at the main entrance of the estate lost in his thoughts, lost in that memory of his father standing at the other house. But he knew his father would not burst out of this door at any moment to welcome him home in his own way. He knew his mother would not be waiting inside to pull her son into a tight and somewhat awkward hug, but a hug he looked forward to nonetheless because it was uniquely his mother’s. He knew there would be nobody to ask about his younger sister and whether or not she was there. He did not even have to wonder if he would see her during this visit.
Because this was not just a visit and his family was not there waiting for him. His family was not anywhere waiting for or thinking about him. As the main door swung open and he stepped inside to the familiar entrance hall, he knew this was his life now. He was alone in it. While he was here, his family was gone. And it was not until he walked up the marble staircase toward the upstairs den, lined with tense family portraits, that he realized they were gone. These people in the photos were people he would
never
see or speak to again. All he had left of their faces were his fading memories and these photographs. He walked out of the den and down the hall to his old bedroom, a place he had not seen or been in for so long he could not even remember. He wondered if I was still a bedroom at all. So many years had passed he assumed something else had been done with it. He braced himself and swung the door open to find it was actually still a bedroom, only it was not
his
bedroom anymore. It had been turned into a guestroom.
William chuckled. It was laughable his family would turn his old bedroom into a guest bedroom considering how rarely they had overnight guests. Even more rare was for his family not to have them use the guest bedroom downstairs. So it was really quite useless to have converted his old bedroom but it did not matter. That was the choice they had made and he was not surprised to find all his old furnishings and decorations gone. Though he did wonder if they had also rid themselves of his old belongings. He continued to walk down the hall, opening his sister’s bedroom door out of mere curiosity. Everything there was still intact, almost as if she actually still lived there. The thought, those words, caused him to sit on her bed and bury his face in his hands. And there, in his younger sister’s old bedroom, he wept silently to mourn her death for the first time.
It was not that he had not cared when he found out or had not mourned. He had been greatly impacted when he was informed of his family’s passing. It was only that having lost everyone at once and so suddenly came as such an unbearable shock he simply could not wrap his mind around it. Everything felt completely surreal. No matter how many arrangements he made for the funeral or how many people expressed their deepest sympathies, it was not real in his world. He was not in denial. He was completely unable to comprehend what had happened. It was not until he set foot back on the family’s estate and truly until he sat in his younger sister’s room after seeing the family photographs that it really hit him. The emptiness of the house was overwhelming. The wait staff was all there and everything was intact but it was an empty place.
The last thing he wanted was to live here. He knew he had to keep up with its maintenance and keep it functional. He knew the estate had to be managed as well as the family’s affairs, but he could not bear to live there. He could not live at his parents’ other house, the one closer to where he had been situated, because it would be even more unbearable. No, William had to find a place of his own. He needed to make his own memories now. And that was exactly what he intended to do as soon as possible.
But much sooner than that he would learn it would not all be so simple.
---
“What do you mean I can’t leave yet?” He sat across the table from the family’s lawyer. He was a very loyal lawyer who was great at his job. He was the sort of person who caught others off guard due to how feeble he looked. In reality, Theodore Jenkins was as strong a man as any in both mind and body. He had taken excellent care of his health and was now reaping the rewards, much like his business. He had a thriving law firm, one of the most renowned in the country, and with him at the helm it was a force to be reckoned with. His family had strong footing with him given they had worked together for many years, practically since Mr. Jenkins had started to practice law. Of course, it certainly was of great help he came from a long line of lawyers and law enforcement officials.
“There is a stipulation, Mr. Larsen. You cannot simply be handed the reigns and rights of the estate despite being the only heir. This was something drawn up since your birth. It is a rite passed down during numerous generations of your family.”
William resisted the urge to slam his fist down on the desk. He normally did a great job keeping a level head but this was over the line. He already had far too much to deal with. His life had completely been flipped upside down and now he was being told he needed to jump through hoops to do something he was not entirely sure he wanted anyway. It felt more like an obligation than anything else. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he said, more as a thought spoken out loud than a statement directed at the lawyer.
Mr. Jenkins grimaced and pulled out a large file, flipping it open and rifling through some paperwork until he took out what looked like a packet. “I know it is frustrating, but this is the way it has always been done in your family. Quite frankly, I’m rather shocked you had no idea.”
William turned back to face and heaved a sigh. He was already here and committed to this situation, he had to see it through no matter how frustrating it was. Throwing some kind of tantrum in his fit of annoyance now would do him no good. He sat back down and stared Mr. Jenkins directly in the eye. “What is it I need to do?”
“It’s a rather conventional stipulation, I daresay. Please take a look at the file first,” he replied as he handed William the packet he had been looking for just moments ago. William took it and looked it over slowly. As he read through, it began with an explanation as to why this stipulation had been set into place many generations ago and why each generation following the first had decided to keep it. He also learned he was the first heir to need to adhere to it given the situation his parents and sibling had passed away in and given the choices he had made in life. He swallowed hard at that, wondering if his parents had secretly thought he had made poor choices. He suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, a feeling at the mere thought of his parents going on through life feeling such grave disappointment with their eldest son.
It was not until he reached the bottom of the second page that he learned exactly what those choices were. “Am I understanding this correctly?” He set the packed down on the table and looked back up at the lawyer. He was certain he had not misunderstood but he needed to be reassured of it. “Is this stipulation really what I am understanding it to be?”
“It is likely you have fully understood the documents but I will explain. In order to fully gain control of the family’s estate, including home property and the business, you need to be wed and have an heir. It does not matter whether the heir be male or female, only that you should have an heir apparent.”
William gulped. He closed his fist tightly and pushed himself up, beginning to pace the room. Those were the choices. Maybe his parents were not disappointed after all, at least not entirely. It was just that his decision to focus solely on developing his career meant he had never given time or importance to relationships. He never really thought about marriage and children. He was not against the idea, it was just that had different visions and plans for his life. But everything had changed without his say as of late and this was just another change to add to the list. Now everything he had read about the reasons behind all this made much more sense to him. It was a way for the family to protect what was rightfully theirs. It was a type of insurance so everything would remain within the family.
There was really no loophole to this. Every one before him in previous generations had been married with kids at the time of their parents’ passing. That was why nobody had needed to go through this trouble. He was the only one who had focused solely on such an intense career outside the family. He was the only one who had neglected relationships entirely for that reason. Now, he had to find a wife and have a kid with her as soon as possible. That was not easy. That was not a simple task. “Is there a statute of limitations by when I need to do this?”
“You have six months,” Mr. Jenkins replied seriously. It was almost as if he was thinking the same thing as William: that sounded like far too little time to accomplish this.
---
Two months had passed and William felt as stuck as ever. He had not even gone out to meet women or asked about potential spouses from elite families his knew for years. He had spent much time in the house he had not wanted to stay in. He paced the halls daily trying to think of the best course of action. This was not a decision to take lightly. “William should have no problem attracting women,” he had often heard his mother say. He had never understood why she would tell her friends that during afternoon tea. It was not until now that he needed to know. One morning, he paced the hall back and forth in front of his parents’ old bedroom. He finally gathered the courage to step inside. He swallowed back the pang he felt at being in there and knowing he would never see or speak to them again, making a beeline for his mother’s walk-in closet. It was a lavish room. It was easily the size of a bedroom. It was fully stocked on its numerous shelves, wardrobes, and drawers. There was even an area for her to apply her makeup. Everything was very expensive and beautiful, from the furnishings to the objects lining the walls. It was near her beauty center that he spotted multiple photographs of her on the wall.
He smiled. It was as if she needed a reminder of her beauty to keep it up. He sat on the bench and looked straight into the mirror, willing himself to see whatever it was she saw in him. And, like a miracle, it worked. His memory was flooded with numerous compliments he had brushed off over the years. William was a very attractive man in more ways than one. He was very tall, muscular, with a golden-tanned skin that would rival even a movie star’s tone and smoothness. He had beautiful hazel eyes and light brown hair. Many women had constantly told him how handsome he was, a few even being bold enough to tell him he had a great body. He had slept with women, of course, and dated a couple. But everything was kept to a minimum due to his lack of interest. They also found him charming and driven. He was the kind of man who took control and the women who pursued him where the kind of women who liked that. He would never push anybody into an uncomfortable or dangerous situation but he never backed down. He held his ground if he felt threatened and he always went after what he wanted. He was extremely committed and a natural born leader with great ease in conversing with others. People never failed to take him seriously.