Her Will Chapter 1

8/4/2019 Her Will Chapter 1

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1~e, peace, and harmony filled the air as Avon wasmeditating that morning. Only it wasn't going to be an ordinaryday, because her father had passed away, and she didn't even knowit.

She sat in the dark with her eyes closed, bonding to thesurface by inhaling deeply, exhaling gradually, and sensing truthfrom each of her heartbeats. Stillness and silence combined swayedas she connected to her soul and experienced an instant of bliss. Inthe midst of the darkness, her smile reflected delight like she hadjust joined infinity.

Suddenly, the sound of a spark broke the silence as she openedher eyes to light a candle placed on a table facing her. The tiny flameilluminated the entire room in which she spent hours breathing,reading, researching, thinking, writing, and learning about theaspects of being, existence, and life-force. As a humanitarian, Avondedicated her research to create goodwill projects and assist thecommunity where she lived.

She observed the small candle flame growing firmer andlarger, appreciating the fact that not long before, the space was as

"When the philosopher points to the stars, thefool's eyes arefixed on thefinger."


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dark asmatter in the sky at night beyond the stars, and she absorbedthe flame flickering glow brightening the room powerfully. She satstill, gazing at the flame until her eyelids naturally closed and abright reflection of the flame remained floating in her mind's eye.Then, just as she was beginning to focus on the flame remains inquest for her intent to develop a project, a knock echoed from thethreshold.

She asked who it was keeping her eyes closed. "I do not mean todisturb you, my dear," the doctor replied behind the walls. She openedher eyes calmly and as soon as she got the door, he cleared his throatadding, "Your niece Mae left a message. Your father passed away."

Not having much of an option, Avon received the news withgrace. She stared down aimlessly for amoment. Then she raised hereyes looking at him and with an untraceable but refined accent in asoft tone, she said, "I am deeply grateful for your assistance in thismatter-"

"It is my pleasure. Let me know if you need me for the triparrangements, my dear," he interrupted a bit tense, for being theemissary of such a message didn't seem to suit him well.

She smiled in response to his kindness saying, "I might indeedneed help. 1have not been in Bangkok since mama passed away andconsidering the situation, 1foresee a confrontation with my siblingsapproaching my way." Hesitant, she asked, "I guess 1could not eludebeing present at father's will distribution, could I?"He looked intoher eyes concurring with her guess by shaking his head, and hewalked away. Avon closed the door behind him and turned aroundgazing at the candle flame from the distance, while sensing Arolfwhose presence had been motionless all along. She sighed deeplyand quietly said, "Father is gone."


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HER WILL 3

Two weeks later ...

The afternoon was quite eventful at the PlazaAthenee Bangkokhotel where Avon and her siblings had been summoned to attendthe reading of their father's will. In the middle of summer, it washot, humid, and smoggy. Meanwhile, the gorgeous blue skies weredisguised behind the pollution in the active and heavily populatedarea. The thickness of the air provoked everyone to nearly stopbreathing, generating a distinctive scent uniquely perceived inBangkok, Thailand-locally referred to as "The City of Angels."

In the hotel, seven levels up, were the attorney assigned toexecute the will and his assistant, sitting by the elevator in the hall.They waited for Avon to escort her to the meeting suite like they'ddone with her brothers Chet, Kyet, Nikom, and her sister Kalayawho weren't patient enough to collect the fortune their father hadleft. The four siblings waited in the suite which was informallyarranged with a desk for the attorney, relaxing armchairs forthe family members, as well as refreshments and butlers at theirservice. While enjoying the appetizers and drinks, they protestedbecause their estranged sister Avon was coming from abroadto be present for the distribution of the funds. The attorney andhis assistant perceived, from where they were out by the hall, anargumentative family encounter on the verge of happening beforethe session started at all, and they just looked at each other.

Everyone in the suite was getting more impatient by theminute, and after exhausting every unpleasant word they couldthink of, complaining because Avon was coming to claim partof a fortune that belonged to them, Kalaya came out to the hallbeckoning the attorney, and they spoke inaudibly in a corner. ThenKalaya went back into the suite and persuaded her brother, Nikom,to entrust her with his share of the inheritance. Kalaya sat next



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to the forty-eight-year-old man, and rearranging his hair with herhand, she enticed, "Nikom, why don't you trust me, my brother?Yourmoney will be safe with me, sweetheart." At the same time,sitting opposite from them, Chet interrupted, arguing that beshould be the one entrusted with everyone's share of the fortunebecause he was their older brother.

Chet tried to win them over, saying in a devious tone, "I'vetold you, I canmultiply everyone's share of the fortune in no timethrough my friend's investments."After fillinghismouth with caviaron a cracker, Chet licked the tips of his right hand fingers, holdinga mother-of-pearl caviar serving knife in his left hand. When theothers ignored him and hismouth was still half-full, he pointed theknife at them, and he menaced, "Asyour older brother, I could justtake every cent from you anyway!"Kalayaand Nikom just glancedat him with a mocking grin. Then Chet chuckled, realizing thefragility of the threatening weapon he held in his fist.

In the interim out in the hall, the assistant asked the attorneywhat Kalaya had said, and he replied, "Well, she offered me apercentage of her inheritance, in exchange of my collaborationto distribute the funds in her favor."The assistant reacted amused,askingwhat didhe respond to such an irresistible offer.The attorneyreplied, "I told her that I was quite tempted, yet not interested inthe nature of her bribe."After that, the assistant asked if Kalayawasthe oldest of the siblings, "Yes,followed by the oldest male Chet,their brother Kyet is next, then follows Nikom, and the youngest isthe one that we wait for,"he replied.

Sometimes people keep financial secrets, but not Nikom.Everyone knew that any amount of money vanished when passingthrough his hands, and even he disagreed with Kalaya and Chet'sdishonest propositions. Meanwhile, Kyet stood by the windowsipping a drink, observing and listening, but not paying much


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attention, for he was thinking I want my money at once! I don't even wantto split the fortune with them, much less 8ive them my share. Anxiously,Kyet walked out complaining, "This is taking too long!" Whilewalking from the suite to where the attorney and his assistant satby the elevator in the hall, he carried on saying, "We should beginwithout delaying any longer and Avon should be-" But whatever itwas that he was ready to add was interrupted, because right at thatmoment a bell rang, the elevator door opened, and Avon steppedout. Arolf was with her. Kyet's expression of disappointment whenrealizing that Avon had just arrived didn't surprise the attorney,who stood up and introduced himself to her as Leopold.

Being a middle-aged brunette, Avon exposed no wrinkles onher face. Yet, her big black eyes expressed astuteness, experience,and determination through the glasses resting on the bridge of hernose. She wore jeans, a plain top, and casual flats, revealing herunaltered five-foot seven-inch height. She displayed no jewels, savefor a tiny sapphire pierced earring in her left ear. A couple of hiddengrays, attributed to her exposure to life, highlighted her shiny longlocks. However, when she finally arrived, she expressed no remorsefor making everyone wait. Avon's full lips stretched smiling whileglancing at the blonde assistant's blue eyes, whose hair was asbright as the sunshine. Then enhancing her smile, she looked upat Leopold's emerald eyes, whose hair, beard, and mustache werewhiter than gray, and she shook his hand, responding to his greetingwith her mysterious accent, "It is a pleasure, Leopold."

Kyet rushed ahead, and he entered the suite announcing to theothers that Avon had arrived expressing unkindly. While Leopoldand his assistant escorted Avon, there was complete silence. Whenthey entered the suite, Avon sat away from everyone at the leftcorner, and aside from papers rustling between Leopold's hands andwater chime pouring into glasses by the butlers, everyone waited



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motionless and unvoiced. Until Kalaya stood up addressing Avonand expressing aggressively, she said, "What are you doing here?Youhave no dignity! You came back just for father's will distribution!"Followed by Chet, Kyet, and Nikom's protests. Kalaya seemed asif she was restraining herself from approaching Avon, and she satback in her place. They were speaking all at once, and it was hardto tell who was saying what. In any event, they reminded Avon thatshe had left their family and their country behind. They complainedbecause she wasn't at their father's funeral. They seemed to seeeye-to-eye in dividing Avon from themselves.

They all agreed when Nikom accused, "Avon you thief! Youreturned to steal a fortune that belongs to us!"

Meanwhile, Chet said in anger, "Bear in mind that you'venever been a member of our family. You don't deserve a cent,Avon!" Clearly, they were sending Avon back to wherever she hadcome from. They were justifiably claiming their birth right, andtheir argument escalated gradually to the point where Leopold hadto interfere to prevent their voices from getting any louder.

During their dispute Avon remained calm. The only thing sheheard while they were blaring and voluble was her heartbeat andthe support ofArolf' s presence. She understood that her attendancewas of the essence, and she didn't say a word. She wasn't the leastsurprised by her siblings' attitude because she remembered visitingthem at random from abroad-when their mother was still living-and thanks to her siblings' rivalry, those visits were miserable eachand every time.

Leopold tried to get everyone's attention and everyone quietdown, but Kyet, who had much more to say.Kyet spoke demandingto annul Avon's name from the will and to assign him as the officialtreasurer. Apparently he spoke on behalf of the other three, saying,"We've agreed to exclude this estranged sister from the inheritance


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our father had taken a lifetime of effort and hard work to accrue forhis children. I volunteer to manage our father's fortune henceforth."He also said that as far as they were concerned, Avon didn't deserveto have anything from their father's hard labor. He mentionedAvon's absence during their father's illness, and he reminded herthat she wasn't at her dad's deathbed.

Then the others joined reminding Avon-as if she hadforgotten-that she had left their family when she was a teenager,and Chet said in anger, "Visiting occasionally doesn't give you theright to claim any money from our father's riches." Mostly theywere repeating what they'd just said, like by going over the same,Leopold would change his mind, as if it was up to him to decidehow to distribute the funds. Or perhaps they thought that by sayingtheir words over and over, the actual document would rewriteitself then and there.

In any event, their frustration was blocking their attentionand they weren't aware of their own words. Then Kyet carried on,on, and on. Kyet seemed oblivious to the fact that he was insistingto reopen a closed subject in vain. So Leopold claimed voice, givingKyet no option but to stop, and Leopold said with composure,"With all due respect Kyet, despite the differences among you assiblings, it is nobody's place to amend the will, much less my place;for an attorney is confided precisely to ensure that each word in thedocument remains unchanged."

Leopold was finding the situation rather challenging, becauseeveryone was expressing their own reasons to be divided. To someextent, he had to figure out a way to manage the circumstances,allowing him to execute his duty in truth and integrity. Virtues hefound hard to identify among the family members sitting beforehim. They weren't reciprocating respect, and Leopold couldn'tperceive truth or integrity from them. Everyone was acting as if



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they'd never seen each other before, and they were looking aftertheir individual interests, not accepting limits for the distribution ofthe funds. Leopold took amoment to reflect, thinking of somethingto break the energy of envy and greed quickly without adding anymore tension to the emotions that were already in turmoil. By then,he knew that explanations wouldn't accomplish much. Especiallywhen everyone was lacking consideration and talking above oneanother; for he couldn't begin to address the contents of the will,unless everyone was at least quiet and possibly calm.

Overall it was a sad situation, because if instead of overreacting,they only waited to learn about the good-willed intentions behindthe words in the document. They could have realized and clearlyunderstood that the contents of the will were a gift to them, nota right to be claimed or an obligation to be given. Perhaps then,they could have appreciated their new financial status and notargue, but seize the opportunity to enjoy meeting each other on theoccasion. Still there was very little Leopold could say apart fromperforming his duty. He felt sad witnessing such ill-will, knowingthat the document was definite and simple for him to execute in anexpedite process. Because basically the only requirement from thefamily members was to extend their hand and receive money, and ifthey extended the other hand, they would receive more money yet.However, their individual emotions were mismanaged, keeping themcompletely distracted from the ease of the matter. Nobody seemedto understand, and it was like their hearts were into acquiring themost money, not being grateful for whatever the amount was. Theirindividual ambitions combined seemed greedier every minute thatpassed during the time they had been in that meeting suite.

Avon's siblings' appearances were sharp, as if they'd goneshopping for the occasion and began spending money not yet intheir possession. They were already planning to spend each others'


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money without even considering details for a moment. The ideaof receiving money, with no effort on their part, seemed to blindthem. As though once the word money crossed their minds, they'dlost their sight. No one was interested to learn the ethics, values,integrity, and the degree of responsibility tagged along with theacquisition of an amount of money that, they could have dreamedon spending; however, they might have never dreamed on managingsuch an amount of money through a lifetime. Not one of thembothered to find out where the money came from. No one caredthat they'd never heard of the attorney before. They weren't evencurious about who Leopold was. Provided that their father had leftthem money, they assumed that as long as the attorney worked fortheir dad, they should claim their given right to collect withoutquestioning the funds source. For them it didn't matter if themoney originated from corruption, dishonesty, or fraud. None ofthem could hide their apparent materialistic appetite. In any case,Leopold took a moment to figure out a way to break the greedyenergy flowing around the meeting suite while they were there.

The ambiance was tense. Energy of wrath, greed, and ill-willwas replacing the oxygen in the room bit by bit. After reflecting fora moment, Leopold discreetly requested from one of the butlers,to light some candles he noticed adorning the end tables-a tacticLeopold had learned to crystallize energy. Everyone was so focusedon snatching as much money as they could from one another, thecandle lighting was ignored.

When the butler lit the first candle, an instant stagnation ofair was sensed. As the butler lit a second candle, the air in the entireroom changed to the opposite course. Then, as soon as the butlerlit a third candle, neutralized energy filled the ambiance at once.

When Leopold cleared his throat to begin addressingeveryone, the energy in the room had entirely crystallized,



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not decreasing nor increasing, for the surroundings were yet tense,but it allowed him to get everyone's attention, and at that point,he didn't even bother reading the will. Leopold just commencedsaying in concise detail, "Your father's last will grants each of youan equal amount of money which I present in individual envelopesenclosing five certified checks for one million dollars each."Furthermore, Leopold showed them a sealed package containingpertinent information, explaining, "In order to have access to thecontents of this package, one of you ought to exchange it for theone million dollar certified check."

Avon listened and remained silent. Just then, Chet, Kyet,Nikom and Kalaya, didn't hesitate to claim their certified checks;as none of them would renounce to one million dollars for apackage. The next thing Avon knew, her siblings were about toassign the package by unanimous decision to her. At the same time,they attentively noticed that there would be an unclaimed certifiedcheck for one million dollars from the package exchange, andexcept for silent Avon, everyone was asking what would happenwith the one million dollars left.

Leopold then clarified, "If you are interested in the contentsof the package collectively, the certified check is not required inexchange for the package. If all of you decide to share the contentsof the package openly, each of you will get a check for one milliondollars evenly." Leopold paused for a moment allowing them toassimilate, and he added, "However if you do not unite and reachan undivided agreement to share the contents of the packageopenly, the one million dollars check will be divided among thefour siblings who express no interest in the package, granting anextra quarter of the million dollars to each, and leaving one siblingwithout sharing the package contents with the rest, nor the onemillion dollars certified check."


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At that moment, being certain that their father didn't mean toleave any money to Avon; Chet, Kyet, Nikom, and Kalaya showedno interest in the contents of the package whatsoever. They claimedasmuch money as they could, ensuring that Avon didn't get a singlepenny.

Avon remained silent, save for a couple of nods in agreementwith whatever her siblings decided. She perceived that despiteof the distribution of the funds, their father's intention was forhis children to make a unanimous decision, and since everyoneappointed the package to her, she concurred to unite with them.Although she was assigned the package by her siblings' undivideddecision influenced by their sense of avarice, Avon was influencedby their father's intention for his children to agree collectively foronce and unify. Clearly, Avon wasn't focused on the one milliondollars check, as she could have shared the contents of the packagewith her siblings, and everyone could have kept their share ofthe money. But the event was taking a direction that she was notwilling to entertain, and she was ready to let it be. Leopold voidedthe check on Avon's name in front of everyone, and while he waswriting the extra checks, dividing Avon's share of the fortuneamong them, her siblings were mocking her, reiterating that evenshe realized not deserving any money by not debating her rights.

Her sister Kalaya articulated, "You belong in a mentalhealth hospital, Avon. While you're here, we should submit youfor treatment at once. My sister, you're crazy. I feel sorry foryou, sweetheart." Avon was seated, serene, and calm. She waswaiting patiently and looking down. But when Kalaya brought upsisterhood, she reacted. Raising her eyes slowly, Avon looked intoKalaya's with poise.

Then she said firmly, "Are you referring to me as 'sister',Kalaya? I am no one's sister." She paused glancing around at everyone



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in the room, and changing pitch to a low tone, she added, "You and1are one."

"I told you, she's insane!" Kalaya exclaimed. Avon just winkedand smiled, sensing the support of Arolf's presence.No one understood what Avon meant by her witty remark, and

ignoring her; they became quite involved in signing affidavits. Theassistant placed the package in a briefcase, and when it was Avon'sturn to sign papers, Leopold handed the briefcase to her, advisingher to open it in private. Avon absorbed the instructions signing therequired paperwork, and she left the meeting suite with Arolf.

Since Avon had traveled from abroad for the distribution ofthe funds, she was sitting at the lobby of the hotel patiently waitingfor the valet to bring a car she had rented, and thinking this miaht bethe last time I am stepp ina on the soil where I was born ... All of a sudden,she noticed her nephew, Chet's son, standing outside by the hotelentrance door, talking on a mobile phone. She had also noticedtwo suspicious men roaming around the hall during the session,and at that point, the two men were at the entrance of the hotelwandering again. She was aware of the corruption, danger, hijacks,kidnaps, and risks she took when traveling around the world, andBangkok, wasn't going to be the exception. So Avon was preparedfor the worst, but hoping for the best while there. When the valetbrought the car to the entry of the hotel, she was already waiting bythe lobby door, and she moved quick. After witnessing her siblings'greediness, she tried to protect the package, as she suspected thatthey might also want to take the package from her. So, she openedthe car trunk where she had a suede jacket and some packages. Sheswitched the package inside the briefcase for a similar one. She hidthe original package in the jacket liner, and she put the jacket on.She tossed the briefcase holding the swapped package on the carbackseat, and drove off.


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The steamy evening was slowly dissolving the scorching beamsfrom the sunset reflecting everywhere, and asAvon looked throughthe rear-view mirror, she spotted a car following her. Soon after,she spied a helicopter above monitoring her course. She becamealert, but she didn't panic. Clearly, she didn't want the followersto find out her destination. So she drove through the main streetsand thinking that she might lose the car behind her, she even drovearound in circles, but she ended up in a secluded area. She gotto a point where she had to stop. The car following her stoppedshort. Two individuals disguised behind ski masks got out. Avonnoticed one of them talking on a mobile phone and she wonderedif he was Chet's son. The other one took out a long blade knife thatlooked like the Rambo one and approaching her told her to get outof the car.

"Arolf, at times you are just a presence, aren't you?"Avon saidwondering while opening the car door.

"Always, not just at times; we got into this mess, we will getout of it, no doubt" was Arolf's response.

As Avon was getting out of the car, the individual pointedthe knife close to her face. He demanded that she give him thebriefcase or else she was to go with them. Not resisting him, norgiving-in right away either, she was saying, "I will give you what youare looking for, as soon as 1feel safe-"

Unexpectedly, the helicopter came down startling everyone.The two suspicious men she'd seen roaming around the hall duringthe session, and at the entrance of the hotel, jumped off thechopper rushing toward her. Avon noticed that at that point theywere armed and wearing bullet-proof jackets. They grabbed herand loaded her into the copter which flew up in the air withoutdelay. They took Avon away with the original package, but at leastArolf was with her.



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The car was left available to the aggressors who didn't bothertaking it. They just grabbed the briefcase from the backseat, leavingat once, and under the impression that the original package wasinside.

Her Will Chapter 1

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Transcript of Her Will Chapter 1