Chapter 1
Karly sat in the office of her modeling agency. She was staring at a picture of her parents. They were killed in a car accident a week earlier. She was waiting for her brothers to come with the family lawyer. Her sister-in-law, Hayley, was sitting with her. As was Abby, who was her other sister-in-law. They were married to her brothers, Austin and Eric. Karly had been married to Hayleyโs brother, Luke, but they have been separated for two months. She had filed for a divorce. Luke keeps sending the papers back unsigned and ripped to shreds. She left him after finding him in bed with the flight attendant from his plane. He claimed he had been drugged but there was nothing found in his system.
โEric just texted me,โ Hayley said.
โHow soon will they be here?โ Karly asked.
โTen minutes, but Karly, Luke is with them,โ Hayley said.
โOh great, why,โ Karly said.
โEric said that Jack told him and Austin that he was required to be apart of the reading of the will,โ Hayley said.
โIโm trying to divorce your brother, my parents knew that and they didnโt fix their will as soon as I did,โ Karly said.
โApparently they didnโt have the chance,โ Hayley said.
โI know their death was unexpected but they had a month to change it,โ Karly said.
โMaybe they hoped you two would work things out,โ Hayley said.
โI canโt work things out when I find your brother in bed with another woman who still works for him on his plane,โ Karly said. โI will speak to him about that or Iโll just tell Dad,โ Hayley said.
โI thought your dad retired?โ Abby asked.
โHe still has authority over everyone, he didnโt fully retire,โ Hayley said. The door opened and Austin, Eric, and Luke came in with Jack, the family lawyer. Karly refused to look at Luke.
โKarly,โ Austin said.
โHey bro,โ Karly said.
โKarly,โ Eric said.
โHey bro,โ Karly said.
โHello my wife,โ Luke said. Karly ignored him.
โLuke,โ Hayley said.
โShe is still my wife, Hayley, I refuse to give her a divorce when we can work this out,โ Luke said.
โShe caught you in bed with Nicole!โ Hayley said.
โI was drugged!โ Luke said.
โNothing was found in your system!โ Hayley said.
โBecause it was gone before I went to get checked out but I know that in my right mind, I never would have touched her,โ Luke said.
โLetโs have a seat and get this started,โ Jack said. Luke sat down next to Karly. Austin sat next to Abby. Eric sat with Hayley.
โDo you have to sit there?โ Karly asked.
โAll other seats are taken,โ Luke aid.
โYou could just leave,โ Karly said.
โKarly, Luke is required to be here,โ Jack said.
โWhatever,โ Karly said. Jack got out the papers and began reading the will.
โAustin and Abby, you get the house,โ Jack said.
โI guessed it,โ Abby said.
โYeah baby you did,โ Austin said.
โEric you get the company,โ Jack said.
โI figured that,โ Eric said.
โKarly, you get full control of the agency,โ Jack said.
โI knew that,โ Karly said.
โAll three of you get the sum of $300 billion dollars to split between the three of you,โ Jack said.
โSo we get $100 billion dollars each,โ Eric said.
โThat seems fair,โ Austin said.
โThere is a clause, your parents made this change last month, you will only get the money if Karly reconciles with Luke,โ Jack said.
โWhat!โ Karly said.
โI guess they did make a change before they passed away but not what was expected,โ Hayley said.
โA note from your mom saying, โฒKarly, itโs time to work things out with your husband, I know he is an upstanding gentleman and would never intentionally hurt you, itโs time to fix things and work things out, I love you always, Momโโ Jack said.
โI canโt believe this,โ Karly said.
โKarly,โ Eric said.
โItโs got to happen,โ Austin said.
โYou have until Sunday to move your things back into the house you two shared as husband and wife and that means the bedroom as well, you will be watched and if you two are not back to normal as a married couple by December 31st, the money disappears,โ Jack said.
โThatโs in three months,โ Karly said.
โIt wonโt take that long,โ Luke said.
โYou better keep dreaming,โ Karly said.
โDo you really want to lose all that money, for your brothers to not get their part?โ Luke asked.
โWe all are doing just fine with money,โ Karly said.
โYou are so stubborn!โ Luke said.
โI caught you with Nicole, in our fucking bed! Excuse me if itโs hard for me to just forget what I saw! You broke my heart, Luke, you destroyed me!โ Karly said.
โIt was not my intention to be caught in bed with her because it was not my intention to be drugged and end up there,โ Luke said.
โThere is no proof of that,โ Karly said.
โIโll fucking get proof,โ Luke said.
โFrom where, Nicole, she wonโt tell the truth, she would rather die than tell the truth,โ Karly said.
โKarly,โ Luke said.
โSis,โ Eric and Austin said
โJack is that all?โ Karly asked.
โI have your grandparents will as well, it was to be read in the event of your parentsโ death,โ Jack said.
โWhat does it say?โ Austin asked.
โYour grandparents owned a ranch near the Adirondack Mountains, called Sky High Ranch, itโs a dude ranch,โ Jack said.
โOkay?โ Eric asked.
โThey left it to the three of you, they didnโt want your parents to know that they still owned it, your parents wanted them to sell it to land developers but your grandparents refused so they came up with a plan, they signed it over to their foreman and put it in his name but they put a clause in that upon the death of your parents, the ranch would immediately be signed over to their three grandchildren,โ Jack said.
โThat ranch has been in the family for seven generations and our parents wanted to sell it to land developers,โ Austin said.
โI canโt believe they wanted to destroy our family history,โ Eric said.
โIโll go up and check it out,โ Karly said.
โWe will go with you sis,โ Eric said.
โYeah the three of us will,โ Austin said.
โHoney?โ Abby asked.
โBabe?โ Hayley said.
โYou two are coming as well,โ Austin said.
โKarly?โ Luke asked.
โWhat,โ Karly said.
โAm I allowed to come along?โ Luke asked.
โDid I say that you could?โ Karly said.
โKarly, he is still legally your husband and entitled to half of everything you own including the agency,โ Jack said.
โFine whatever just stay out of my way,โ Karly said. She went out the door.










