Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
All I wanted to do was take a long hot bath with my newly-acquired, lavender-scented, rainbow bath bomb and a glass of Moscato followed with a bowl of popcorn and a steamy romance novel. Yes, I still believed in love and romance even though I haven’t had the best of luck in that department lately. In fact, my track record fucking sucked. But I didn’t want my past to leave me jaded. Hope was just about the only thing I had to cling to like a New York rat holding on to a slice of pizza. Not that I was looking for anything anytime soon. But one day….
I’d recently started my job new job at the nursing home, and as the newbie, I got most of the grunt work, which I didn’t mind. Interacting with the patients was a highlight for me and made my other duties not so bad.
I’d just finished running the bath and pouring myself a glass of wine when my phone rang, and the word Unknown popped up on my screen. I normally ignored those calls because they were almost always telemarketers, but a niggling feeling made me answer, which I immediately regretted.
“Hello?”
“Francesca.”
Only one person called me that, and he knew I hated it. My first instinct was to hang up, but knowing him, he’d show up on my doorstep again and that was a headache I didn’t want to deal with. I pinched the bridge of my nose to stave off the building tension. “Nick, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
“Save the sarcasm. I’ll make this call brief. I’m sure you were counting on a huge windfall as Kenny’s widow, but I wanted to disabuse of that notion now. You were quite close to getting what you wanted, but close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades.”
That tension headache I was fighting was now a steady drum beat right behind my eyes. I blew out a deep calming breath before responding. “Nick, I’m sure you have a point, so I hope you hurry up and get to it.”
“Of course. Kenny had intended to leave you a significant amount of money including the house you currently live in. In fact, he had been in the process of drafting a new will before his death. Perhaps if you hadn’t been so eager to speed up his death you, just might have gotten what you wanted.”
“I’m two seconds away from hanging up, so please make this make this quick.”
I could tell he was gnashing his teeth without seeing his face. I could hear them click. It was something he always did when he was angry, and I had gotten quite familiar with that gesture the last handful of times I’d seen him in person. “As I stated, Kenny’s was in the process of drafting a new will with you as the primary beneficiary. This meant you would have been a very wealthy woman, but since he died before that draft was completed and signed, well you won’t be. In case you need me to spell it out for you, the old will still stands, so you won’t see one red cent.”
I flinched at the matter of fact way he delivered that news so callously. Not because I was looking to be a wealthy widow. Honestly, I didn’t expect to receive anything. It wasn’t part of the bargain, but I hated that Nick seemed to take a particular glee in delivering this news to me.
Whatever reaction he thought he’d get from me, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“What? Nothing to say?”
“What exactly do you want me to say, Nick? You’ve called to gloat. Congratulations. I get nothing. Got it. Can we end this call now?” It had taken everything within me to remain calm against his condescension.
“You’re one cool bitch, aren’t you?”
“For Christ sake, what do you expect me to say?” I threw my hands in the air dramatically. “Oh curses, my wicked plan has been foiled! Whatever will I do now?”
“Cute. I’m sure you’ll be interested in what I have to say next.”
“I doubt it.”
“You’re entitled to contest the will. In most cases, you’d probably win considering this was clearly my brother’s intentions.”
“And you’re telling me because…? I doubt it’s from the generosity of your heart.”
“I’m telling you because you can contest all you’d like, but I have the high-powered attorneys, the money, and the time. I’ll make sure the courts know about what you’ve done and make you look like the evil, gold-digging whore you are. And if by chance you win, I’ll be there to appeal. I could have this tied up in court for years to come to the point where your children’s children will still be battling this if you foolishly try to go against me. This would bankrupt you. I will see you on the street, and you’ll have to resort to giving blow jobs in a back alley to survive.”