Misfortune Cookie Read Free Page B

brown either.
    “Can you read minds?” Cripes, I hoped not. The tips of my ears flamed red.
    “Your thoughts were obvious and the idea logical. Especially given the unfortunate display earlier. The Ashworth fortune is bound to a single heir and that legacy cannot be changed. If you should wish it, you can make reasonable gifts to family or friends. You can also choose to employ any of your family at the various companies you own. But the majority of wealth is for the heir’s use. The reason will become clear shortly.”
    He slid papers in front of me and handed me sleek and expensive pen, a Montblanc. Sebastian clearly paid him well. The weight of it made my fingers ache after the first few documents. Luca patiently explained each paper and the reason I had to sign it.
    “Do I get to choose the next heir?” I wondered out loud.
    “This is the last bit of business.” His fingers trembled slightly as he pushed the final document toward me. Unlike the other papers, this one was on heavy cream-colored velum. The writing, in cursive script, was densely packed onto the oversized page. “This document cements your role as the heir. No one will be able to usurp your place in the family. The next heir will not be from your generation.” Which meant not Reg or Selene or half a dozen others near my age could take my place.
    Visions of Reg trying to oust me at a board meeting popped into my head. Or killing me and proclaiming himself the heir. Now that I understood the terms better, even if he did that, he would never be my successor.
    The pen hovered over the page. This was it. The final nail in what I hoped wouldn’t be my proverbial coffin. I thought back to Sebastian’s last words to me. I didn’t have to become an asshole. I would always be me. And that would have to be good enough. At least I would be in a position to help Selene or Grace if they ever needed it.
    That clinched it for me. I sealed the deal and wrote my name.
    After I signed it, Luca took the pen and stood. “Please rise, Ms. Ashworth.”
    He stared intently at me, hands by his side. The library chilled. The air thickened and the room darkened as if the sun had been blotted by a large cloud.
    “Is your name Radiance Lee Ashworth?” Luca’s voice boomed, deep and firm. An unearthly glow emanated from underneath his glasses. The ends of his hair swayed as if ruffled by an unseen wind.
    “Yes.” The vibe in the room was all wrong. I drew the line at creepy, day-glow eyes. I stepped back and rubbed my arms, chasing away the goosebumps.
    Julian appeared in the window behind the desk. His mouth opened in a scream.— RUN !
    Luca spoke as if he couldn’t hear Julian. “I declare you the rightfully chosen heir of Ashworth as decreed by the Higher Power so witnessed by me, their agent. This is a true and final covenant, sealed by blood.”
    His right arm rose, a flintlock pointed to my chest. Julian ineffectively banged his ghost fists against the glass. I stumbled backward, my feet leaden and uncoordinated.
    Luca whispered, “I’m sorry.”
    The bang was sudden and soft. Funny, I thought it would have been louder.
    Sharp pain tore through my chest. The bullet shattered bones, then plunged into my heart like an angry fist. The world tilted cockeyed and the gilt-edged library ceiling filled my vision.
    A man sobbed in the background, muffled as if his face were in his hands. Oh, Julian.
    I lolled my head sideways and stared at Sebastian’s portrait. The eyes were wrong: one pupil glowed white and the other burned black. His hands faced outward, an eye on each palm—one white, one black.
    Hallucination . . . had to be.
    My mouth opened in stunned disbelief to ask, Why ?
    The words remained unspoken, dying on my lips with the last beat of my heart.

Chapter 2
    The price of greatness is responsibility.
    There was no light at the end of the tunnel, with dead relatives beckoning me to join them. No chorus of angels singing in the heavens. No rainbow