Page 29 of Jethro

“Wh-what’s happening? They said they disowned me. Why would they be continuing to try and force me to marry either of those horrible men?”

“Aurora, were you aware that you have a trust and inheritance to claim?” asked Jethro. She looked at him with a frown and then at the serious expressions of those around her.

“I received my inheritance at eighteen. Five-hundred thousand dollars,” she said.

“Honey, there’s a lot more,” said Christopher. “Your grandparents left a trust and inheritance to you that could be claimed at twenty-five but must be claimed before the age of thirty.”

She shook her head in disbelief, still staring at everyone. She was given her inheritance. She paid for her own education with it.

“That can’t be. Why would they withhold that from me?” she asked. “Wait. Do my parents get it if I don’t claim it?”

“That’s the interesting part of all of this,” said AJ walking toward the group. “Hi, Aurora. Sorry we’re late but we just figured it out. The inheritance is all yours if claimed within that five-year period. If you don’t claim it, it goes to a charitable trust that your grandparents established.”

“Then why would my parents want it or why do they want me married?” she asked.

“Aurora, the trust and inheritance are in excess of thirty-five million dollars,” said AJ. “If you married, your husband would get access to that money. If you died while married, your parents get half and your spouse gets half, unless you rewrote the conditions of it and expressly wrote the instructions in a will.”

“We recommend you doing that today,” said Ham. “Make sure that they cannot touch it no matter what. Do whatever you want, it’s your money. You can stipulate that if something happens to you the money all goes to charity.” She frowned at Ham, then looked at Jethro.

“You didn’t know about it before? You didn’t want it?” she asked with a glimmer of suspicion.

“I knew nothing of it,” said Jethro only a little offended. “Even if I did, I would refuse being listed as the beneficiary. Leave it to a charity. But if you don’t claim it and designate who gets it, you’ll continue to be in danger.”

“Aurora, we think that fire was set deliberately to draw you out and into the fire,” said Christopher. “We spoke to Margie and a few other staff members. They all feel the same. They think that your life is in danger and your parents are going to try and use you as the pawn to get their money back.”

“But they had millions,” she said in confusion. “Why on earth would they need my money?”

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” said AJ. “You’re right. Five years ago, they had millions in the bank and millions more in assets. As of today, all they have is that house and it’s belongings. Your father’s business is on the verge of bankruptcy.”

“I don’t even know what to think about all of this,” she said shaking her head. She pushed the hair from her face and then looked up at Jethro again. “If what you say is true, and they somehow were able to convince me to marry one of those two idiots, I’m not wrong in thinking they’d kill me, right?”

“We don’t think you’re wrong,” said Ham. She stood, releasing Jethro’s hand. She walked in a circle around the tables and all those seated at them. When she stopped, she stared directly at Jethro.

“Jethro Lyons, will you marry me?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jethro’s eyes grew wide staring down at her. This wasn’t what he’d pictured at all. Yes, he’d thought of proposing to her. But he wanted to wait until she was healed, until she was ready. He had no ring, no loving words.

“I. Are you sure? You don’t have to marry me,” he said. “We can think of something else.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” she said standing.

“No! No, that’s not what I said. I mean, I do want to marry you but I was trying to give you time. Time to heal and find yourself again.”

“And I’m grateful for that,” she said with a shy smile. “But right now, the way to thwart their plan is for me to be married to someone other than one of those two horrible creatures they chose for me. I-I’ll need some time. I mean…” He held up his hand.

“I know what you mean,” he smiled, standing and walking toward her. “You can have all the time you need. It’s my understand that weddings happen fast around here. Really fast. If you agree, and I agree, we can do this within four or five hours.”

“Three,” yelled Claudette from the other side of the room. All eyes turned to her with raised brows. “What? Sound carries in here.”

“Then three it is,” laughed Jethro. “But if you don’t mind, I’d like to be a little traditional.”

Jethro lowered himself to one knee, took her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. Clearing his throat, he looked up at her.

“Aurora, I’ve been in love with you for longer than you think. I love all of you, even the damaged parts. I can say that because I’m hoping you’ll love the damaged parts in me as well. Aurora Langley, will you marry me?”

Aurora laughed, shaking her head with a joy she didn’t know she would feel.