It was unusual indeed to see them all in black, especially for her. Lucretia despised wearing black, even scolded me for wearing it so much. Her immediate family unrecognizable; even they wore more color than her. Octavian was front and center with his wife with a top hat of all things... Probably to cover up his baldness... He always had such magnificent hair as a boy. Next to them were his son Gus, in all his side-burned glory, his wife, and their children, little Fabian and Minnie, who seemed unaware of what was going on. In a far corner of the room, I noticed a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair sighing to himself. Probably a representative of the Larsen family, the name of her first husband. Of course, I saw no one of the Chandra family, all were cut out when Lucretia and Valentina Chandra went through that excruciating divorce.

"It's awful, really."

I turned to the source of the voice. Evelina Harcourt. An old friend, or perhaps more than that, knowing her.

"How she went, you know," she continued, "And why couldn't she have just told her about her cancer?"

"She doesn't like to look fragile, you know that," I replied coldly.

It was true, she didn't. But why hadn't she told anyone? Because it wasn't cancer. It's just what the family said. The truth is, she had a personality disorder, Borderline I believe. It caused her to act recklessly, and sometimes be sullen and empty. Lucretia hated to have to leave work because of it, and she hated the medicines even more. Then came the accident. She may of thought she was invincible or something. But she wasn't. That time, the doctors couldn't save her. She was ashamed of her illness and hid it at all costs, but the press had to be told something, so I was called on to help cover things up.

Suddenly, the door to the study opened, and in hobbled Aurelius Kincaide, the family attorney (And Lucretia's second husband). I couldn't tell if he was just as sullen about her death, or he was still recovering from the heart attack he had at the funeral. No matter, he was determined to do his job.

"I, Lucretia Athena Petra, of sound mind and body do hereby declare this my final will and testament," he began "I declare that I am making this will and testament under no threat of duress. To the family of my dearly departed husband, Major Cassian Harold Larsen, I leave my wedding and engagement rings from that marriage, as well as a sum of 10 million."

Larsen rose and shook Aurelius' hand.

"The Larsen family is grateful, and flattered that she still thinks of us after all these years."

Aurelius cleared his throat.

"To my most trusted friend and partner, Aurelius Icarus Kincaide... Myself, I leave my most precious jewels, a 25% share of my estate, and he shall remain a shareholder in Bytieye Industries until his death, as well"

He paused a moment, and a ghost of a smile formed on his lips. Larsen looked a bit incredulous, but was it really surprising? Her love Aurelius was unfathomable. Unfortunately...

"Each of my three children, Octavian Kincaide, Blandin Lucien, and Priscilla Cassandra, shall also remain shareholders, and shall each receive 12% of my estate. Individually, Octavian, my eldest, shall receive the family home. Blandin, my second eldest, shall receive my priceless collection of art. My youngest, Priscilla, will receive my collection of amethyst jewelry, and shall have her pick of anything else from my closet, save of course, for anything addressed in this will."

Octavian scoffed. He'd expected to be bequeathed the company, no doubt, but after that incident involving the asylum, no wonder he only got the house.

"To my beloved grandson, Augustus Cassian, I leave the ownership of Bytieye Industries. I trust you will pick up where I left off and aim for tomorrow. He and his sister, Irina Sventlana, shall also receive 10% shares of the estate."

Gus dared not smile and tried to avoid Octavian's icy glare. Minnie tugged on his jacket, pestering him.

"Is that good, Daddy, is that a good thing?" she asked.

Gus softly hushed her and nodded.

"And to my beloved great-grandchildren, Fabian Cassian and Minerva Lucrezia, I leave each a 5% share of my estate, as well as individual trusts for their educations, and I name their father, Augustus, as their trustee. Fabian shall receive my books on business, and Minerva shall receive the archive of my experiments."

The little things were so clueless about what they heard. Perhaps it's a good thing, my twins were of age when my husband died, and they were torn apart by his sudden end.

"The remaining 9% of my estate shall go to a list of selected charities, which Augustus will receive at a later time."

Yeah, "Charities." As in rebel groups.

Aurelius cleared his throat once again. "Now for the friends. To one of my dearest friends, Seiko Fay Sakamoto-Lapin, I leave a sum of 12 million, my collection of moonstone jewels which she loves so much, and some select texts to be delivered at a later time."

What?! I was only one of her "dearest friends"? No, I couldn't have heart right? I was much more to her than a friend. At least, she made me believe so! How dare she!

"How dare she!" I shouted.

Everyone looked to me. I'd said that aloud...

"Is there something wrong, Seiko," Aurelius asked coldly.

"There's nothing wrong with the inheritance, please, just classify... How did she address me?"

"To one of my dearest friends, Seiko Fay Sakamoto Lapin," he repeated.

"Yes... I see..." I replied, "I apologize for my outburst."

I felt a part of me die. How could she? She may have had her excess of lovers, but she always ran back to me. I thought that meant something, but I suppose not.

"Oh, Seiko, is that a tear I see?" Evelina asked, handing me her handkerchief, "It's all right... We're all devastated here."

Nobody knew the half of it. And once I collect my inheritance, I'll deal with the Petra family no more.