4 The Will

Aidan Smith! Sarah couldn't believe her eyes. Recovering from initial shock, Sarah took a seat as far as possible.

Mr. Jaxons walked in to his seat and opened his briefcase. If he noticed the tension that Sarah was radiating, he didn't bother. Aidan, on the other hand had not even bothered looking up ever since her entry.

"Here are your copies of the Will. I'll have you keep them so you can refer to them later if you need it." Mr. Jaxons passed bunch of paper to both of them.

Collecting his copy, Aidan looked up and for a brief second Sarah thought he looked at her.

"Since you both now have detailed list of properties and the Will, I will just go through the main points." Mr. Jaxons pushed his glasses further up his nose and began reading a summary that he must have prepared in advance.

"As his niece, Sarah gets his town house, his shops in town, all his properties abroad except Australia. As his confidant and close friend, Aidan gets all his property in Australia, including vineyards and the factories. As for the remaining, which is his estate, shares and stake holdings, balances in bank, collectibles and all other miscellaneous assets; they gets equally divided between two of you." Mr. Jaxons paused.

Sarah released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She had a thousand question in her head at the moment. Confidant and close friend? Vineyards and other property in Australia? Aidan? Again Aidan Smith? Half the estate to Aidan Smith?

Sarah glanced at Aidan, he seemed intrigued but no way felt the shock that Sarah felt. It seemed he knew most of it.

"And above all is applicable when you fulfil his conditions, failing which all your share will be donated." Mr. Jaxons continued.

Sarah caught the Aidan's sharp intake of breath in surprise. Maybe he wasn't expecting this. But her uncle never handed out free lunches.

Ignoring their reactions, Mr. Jaxons continued, "you cannot sell or transfer any part of any asset for at least one year. His properties in town and estate can only be transferred between two of you. Both of you have to spend a minimum of eight weeks at the estate and have to spend at least twelve weeks every year thereafter. And lastly you have to marry a local before your next birthday."

"Before next birthday?" Aidan spoke first clearly shocked. Sarah was equally shocked. It wasn't her uncle's usual style. What was his agenda? She expected almost everything but 'marrying a local'.

Sarah looked up to find the room empty. Aidan had left without a word and Mr. Jaxons had moved out to give her time to let things sink in. She walked out of the room and called her uncle's old assistant to leave for the estate.