The Billionaire's Will Read Free Page A

but she had to be careful not to give Bronco8881 too much information. The internet made it easy for people to find someone if they tried hard enough, and the last thing she needed was for him to show up at her apartment.
    A s soon as her break time was up, Maggie begrudgingly went back to work. The basement was filled with equipment that softly hummed, but she had grown used to that. The top floor held meeting rooms and offices for the owner and his corporate lawyer daughter, neither of whom Maggie saw very often. Her cubical was on the middle floor, and when she looked in the one across the hall, the department manager’s desk was indeed cleaned off, and Colleen’s chair was empty.
    *
    With billions of dollars, thousands of employees, and the fate of several lucrative companies at stake, Mathew and Laura Connelly vs. The Estate of Nicholas W. Gladstone, was the best kept secret in Denver. The small courtroom offered enough seats for a six-member jury, but a jury, even one that was sworn to absolute secrecy, could not be trusted.
    Instead, Marcus Stonewall Hawthorn, a direct descend ant of the famous Colorado Hawthorns on one side, and Stonewall Jackson on the other, served as both judge and jury.
    The judge wore the usual black robe and sat behind the usual podium with an American flag on one side and a Colorado State flag on the other. The walls were polished wood paneling and a short fence, complete with a center gate, separating the proceedings from two rows of spectator pews, all of which were empty. Facing the judge, Attorney Bradley Hyde sat at a table with his clients, Mathew and Laura Connelly, while the estate Attorney, Austin Steel, sat alone at the other table.
    The argument between the two attorneys had already lasted well over two hours. Laura looked bored and Mathew looked irritated.
    Once more, Austin Steel respectfully stood up. “Your Honor, the will specifically states that proof of Miss Connelly’s death must be conclusive. The Connellys have admitted they registered their daughter in a boarding school in the United Kingdom, under the name Georgia Marie James. I submit to you, that the photograph of the dead woman they claim is their daughter is anything but conclusive.”
    Bradley Hy de slowly stood up too. “Your Honor, Miss James’ identification was found on the body after the accident. Who else could it have been?”
    “It was found sever al feet away, Your Honor,” Austin countered.
    “ Yet, no other identification was found anywhere near the site of the accident,” Bradley Hyde argued. “The body was cremated; therefore there are no fingerprints and there is no DNA. How else are my clients to prove their daughter is dead?”
    “Your clients wouldn’t know their own daughter if…”
    Judge Hawthorn banged his gavel twice. “Mr. Steel, I have already heard what you think of the parents. Please refrain from mentioning it again.”
    Austin lowered his gaze. “Yes, Your Honor.”
    “ Counselors, both sides agreed not to call any witnesses and to have me judge this case based on the facts presented. Am I mistaken about that?”
    “No , Your Honor,” said Bradley Hyde.
    “No, Your Honor, ” Austin sadly agreed. Just then, a bailiff walked in through the side door, whispered in the Judge’s ear, and when the judge nodded, walked down the steps and handed a note to the estate attorney.
    High line hotel, 24 th floor, Suite A
    Jackie Harland.
    Austin Steel couldn’t help but take a relieved breath. “Your Honor, some new evidence has just been handed to me. I will need time to verify it.”
    “What new evidence?” the opposing attorney asked louder than he should have.
    “ I believe I can prove Miss James is quite alive. I ask…no, I beg the court for a continuance. Miss James’ grandfather wanted her to have it all, and we owe it to her to at least… ”
    “How much time?” Judge Hawthorn asked.
    “A month, Your Honor.”
    “A month!” Bradley shouted. “Your Honor, my