"Xiao Yi, you have to wear mourning clothes to send off your Third Uncle," Grandfather Yang said to Sheng Yi."I will, Grandfather," Sheng Yi nodded.
"I am Father"s biological child. I should be the one wearing mourning clothes and sending him off. Cousin, your father is still alive and well. If you wear mourning clothes, aren"t you cursing Eldest Uncle to have an early death?" Sheng s.h.i.+yun said all of a sudden.
"What nonsense are you saying?" Sheng Yi glared at Sheng s.h.i.+yun. She"s usually soft and weak. Who gave her the courage to talk back?!
Grandmother Sheng beckoned Sheng s.h.i.+yun over. "You are his child and would naturally have to send him off. However, we have already discussed and decided that your cousin should be adopted by your father, and inherit his family name. Hence, this makes him the only male descendant in your generation, and thus, he has the responsibility of shouldering the future of the Sheng household."
Sheng s.h.i.+yun was like a person with nothing left to lose. Instead of walking over to Grandmother Sheng"s side, she stood her ground and said rigidly, "Without the legal notarization, Elder Cousin has no right to inherit my father"s a.s.sets. I am his only child and if anyone were to inherit his a.s.sets, it should be me. I"m the rightful heir to his a.s.sets."
"How hilarious! Sheng s.h.i.+yun, Third Uncle has already thrown you out of the house. You seriously think you still have the right to inherit his a.s.sets? Also, you are a woman and will be married off in the future. Are you thinking of taking the Sheng Family"s a.s.sets so that an outsider can take over it easily? Dream on!" Sheng Yi sneered.
As someone of the same generation, Sheng Jia"s gaze kept darting between both of her cousins. Her gaze was filled with schadenfreude as she enjoyed the dogfight. Her mother, Sheng Xun"s second sister-in-law, also had the same gaze.
"Why did the business which my father painstakingly established suddenly become a business that belonged to the entire family? Hmph, Father didn"t write a will that gave you the right to inherit his a.s.sets. Let"s see how the court would decide who should inherit his a.s.sets then." Sheng s.h.i.+yun refused to yield.
After her mother was arrested and detained, Sheng s.h.i.+yun became acutely aware that one couldn"t live without money. Hence, she was determined to get the inheritance that belonged to her.
"s.h.i.+yun, how can you speak in this manner?!" Grandfather Sheng yelled at her.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun retorted, "Am I wrong? Legally, I am the rightful heir. My father"s a.s.sets have nothing to do with Cousin at all!"
"You…"
Clap clap clap. From the door came the sound of clapping hands.
Everyone looked over to see a tall girl walking in with a look of disdain and mockery. A very handsome man stood beside her, and the pair were followed by bodyguards. The aura they emitted was imposing.
"Lin Yu!" Sheng s.h.i.+yun called out in surprise.
Lin Yu, who stood beside Sheng Jiaoyang, only glanced at Sheng s.h.i.+yun briefly, but didn"t respond to her.
"What a good show. His body hasn"t even turned cold, and yet, here you are, fighting over his inheritance. How bitterly disappointed would he be, when he learns about this in heaven?" Sheng Jiaoyang mocked and ridiculed those in the room.
"You have no business here!" Grandmother Sheng angrily roared.
"Indeed, I didn"t have any business here initially. But, the deceased had repeatedly expressed his wishes for me to send him off after he pa.s.sed away," Sheng Jiaoyang said.
"Impossible!" a few people shouted out together.
Sheng Jiaoyang let out a cold laugh, "I know you guys wouldn"t believe it, so I have called Sheng Xun"s lawyer over. Just wait a little longer, he should be here soon."
The panic in Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s heart grew stronger and stronger, and she asked tentatively, "Did Father leave a will?"
Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t answer Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s question. Instead, she headed towards the inner side of the room and sat down on the mini couch. Her guards stood beside her, keeping an eye on the rest of the people in the ward.
"Mother, is she really Youngest Uncle"s daughter?" Sheng Jia tugged at the hem of her mother"s clothes and asked softly.
"Yeah, I will bring you over to her to say hi later," Sheng Xun"s second sister-in-law gave Sheng Jia a meaningful glance.
A trace of happiness appeared on Sheng Jia"s face, but in the next moment, she became acutely aware of the situation and immediately retracted her smile. However, there was still a joyous glint in her eyes. How could she not be happy? Xu Jiaojiao, the hottest and most popular celebrity in s...o...b..z was actually her cousin. Previously, when her mother mentioned it, Sheng Jia thought that her mother was joking, but it actually turned out to be true. How unexpected. Sheng Jia"s mother had said that she would help her ask Xu Jiaojiao to set up a career with good prospects for her. If she was able to ride on the coattails of Xu Jiaojiao, wouldn"t it be ten, or even a thousand times better than working as a normal office worker?
Soon enough, a man knocked and entered the ward with a briefcase in hand.
The man was dressed in a formal suit and wore a pair of gla.s.ses.
The moment he entered the ward, he introduced himself to everyone, "My name is Song Mingqing. I"m the probate lawyer of Mr. Sheng Xun, and also the executor of his will."
Everyone in the Sheng Family was dumbstruck. They hadn"t expected that Sheng Xun would actually draw up a will.
Sheng Jiaoyang looked at Lawyer Song and parted her lips to ask, "Lawyer Song, I would have to trouble you to tell them. In Sheng Xun"s last words, did he specify that I should be the one handling his funeral?"
Lawyer Song nodded in acknowledgement and retrieved a tablet PC from his briefcase. After sliding his finger across the screen, he said, "Mr. Sheng Xun had previously drawn up his will while he was awake and clear-headed. He had expressed his wishes for Miss Xu Jiaojiao to be left solely in charge of his funeral. This is the video evidence."
Lawyer Song tapped on the video of Sheng Xun drawing up his will, and dragged the progress bar to a certain timestamp. Sheng Yi then s.n.a.t.c.hed the tablet PC away.
Sheng Xun was clearly the man in the video.
"I don"t have many days left. Jiaojiao, I don"t know if you have forgiven me or not, but I can only shamelessly ask this of you. I want you, and only you, to deal with my funeral after my death, and I want you to bury my ashes together with Susu. As for the company and the house, keep them if you want to. If not, you can sell them too…" Bang! The tablet PC landed on the ground.
Lawyer Song"s eyebrows twitched rapidly as he looked at the tablet PC and its cracked screen. He pushed up the rim of his gla.s.ses slightly, and said, "It"s fruitless even if you dropped the tablet PC. There"s a backup copy of this video and the will has been doc.u.mented and notarized. Any actions by any of you at this point wouldn"t be able to change Mr. Sheng Xun"s last wishes."
Sheng Yi glared at Lawyer Song and asked, "What does Third Uncle mean when he said "as for the company and the house, keep them if you want to. If not, sell them if you want to"?"
Lawyer Song silently judged this person in his heart before retrieving a doc.u.ment from his briefcase. Then, he said, "Mr. Sheng Xun had stated in his will that, other than the financial support for his parents, everything else will be given to Miss Xu Jiaojiao…"
"What?!" Everyone in the Sheng Family was appalled.
Sheng Yi started to doubt the authenticity of the will after getting over his initial shock, "Xu Jiaojiao called you over. Who knows if both of you are in cahoots, and teamed up to draw up a forged will?"
Lawyer Song shot Sheng Yi a look of disdain, and said with a solemn expression, "My professional ethics do not allow me to forge or falsify the will. If you slander me once more, I reserve my rights to take you to court."
Sheng Yi immediately zipped his mouth shut after hearing the lawyer"s words.
"Let me have a look at the will," Sheng Xun"s eldest brother was still in disbelief and stretched his hand out towards Lawyer Song.
Lawyer Song pa.s.sed him the will.
The doc.u.ment was written clearly in black and white, and it was even endorsed with Sheng Xun"s signature and personal stamp. Indeed, as per Lawyer Song"s words, the doc.u.ment had been notarized and was hence protected by the law.
The will clearly stated the a.s.sets that Jiaojiao would inherit, and the mansion was included in the inheritance. The land deed had already been transferred to Xu Jiaojiao. Other than 5 million RMB, which was put aside as financial support for the two elderly, everything else, including the company"s shares and other a.s.sets under Sheng Xun"s name, would all belong to Xu Jiaojiao.
Everyone in the Sheng Family seemed to have suffered a huge blow. It was especially so for Sheng Yi. He looked to be lamenting that everything he had done was in vain.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun suffered a huge blow as well.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun originally thought that, with Sheng Jiaoyang dead, she would be able to inherit Sheng Xun"s a.s.sets. She had never expected that Xu Jiaojiao would appear out of nowhere, and she never expected that Sheng Xun would treat Xu Jiaojiao extremely well, to the extent that he had appointed Xu Jiaojiao as the sole inheritor to all his a.s.sets. Yet, her name had never even appeared on the will.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun looked like she was crying and laughing at the same time.
She had always known that Sheng Xun didn"t like her. She knew. But she never knew that she didn"t hold any s.p.a.ce in his heart. Not even a tiny little spot.
Now, her mother was still detained, and no one was allowed to visit her. Her father pa.s.sed away, but didn"t leave her a single cent. Sheng s.h.i.+yun felt as though the whole world had turned dark.
"The body will be sent to the crematorium to be cremated at noon tomorrow. It"s up to you whether you want to show up," Sheng Jiaoyang leaned against the sofa and said to the others in the room, who all had different expressions.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun glared at Sheng Jiaoyang with her swollen eyes and questioned, "What tricks did you use?"
"Do I need to use any tricks? It"s all dependent on your place in his heart. A piece of advice, stop dreaming about things that don"t belong to you. Regardless, your true colors will show," Sheng Jiaoyang said icily.
"Who is your mother? Why is she still not here at such a time?" Grandmother Sheng questioned. She wanted to see which vixen could seduce Sheng Xun to do something like this.
Sheng Jiaoyang had a clam expression, "Sheng Xun gave me his inheritance. How does it concern my mother?"
"Get her to show herself, I would like to see the person who has such methods!" Grandmother Sheng screeched.
Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t even spare Grandmother Sheng another look and turned to speak to Lawyer Song, "Lawyer Song, please come tomorrow too."
Lawyer Song nodded.
"Do you have any manners? Your grandmother is talking to you, but you actually dare to ignore her!" Sheng Xun"s eldest brother commented with his brows furrowed.
Sheng Jiaoyang scanned the few people in the ward and said nonchalantly, "So what if I did?"
"You—!" Other than the family of Sheng Xun"s second brother, everyone was clearly exasperated.
"If you have the time to engage in a war of words with me, why don"t you go back home and pack your luggage? You guys heard it just now. The mansion in the west side of the city is now under my name. After the funeral, I will be selling the house away. Of course, if you guys are willing to buy it with money, I won"t object to it," Sheng Jiaoyang said.
"You dare?!" Grandfather Sheng was infuriated.
Looking at these people who were once her relatives, a sneer appeared on Sheng Jiaoyang"s face. Now, she would rather sell the house below market price than to let them stay in it. Sheng Xun had initially bought that house for their family of three to live in, but now, the house had been taken over by these shameless people.
"Of course I dare. That mansion is now mine. It"s up to me to decide what to do with it."
After that, Sheng Jiaoyang suddenly thought of something and continued, "A gentle reminder, that house is already mine. Everything inside that originally belonged to Sheng Xun is all mine. If anything is missing, or damaged—"
"Hah, wait for the compensation claim!"Previous ChapterNext Chapter