Chapter 377 They Are Not Yoegers
Kathleen nodded.
Charles instructed, “It’s getting late. Go on and head to sleep. Don’t forget that you’re still injured.”
“I’m all right,” replied Kathleen with a shake of her head. She added, “My injuries have long healed, Charles. Why don’t you let me stay up to keep watch? You should rest.”
“There’s no need. You can get some rest. I’m still around.”
Given that he was her brother, there was no way that he could allow her to stay up and watch over him all night.
“All right then,” conceded Kathleen as she yawned widely. She added, “I’ll drop by again tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He nodded his head in acknowledgment.
With that, Kathleen rose to her feet and declared, “I’ll be heading off to bed then.”
Following that, she proceeded up the stairs without sparing so much as a second glance at Samuel. For his part, Samuel merely sat there motionless and did not react to her departure.
“What do you want to talk to me about?” asked Charles slowly.
However, Samuel merely shook his head silently. He had only stayed back as he wasn’t feeling particularly sleepy.
Faced with such silence, Charles finally rose to his feet and walked over to sit next to Samuel. After a brief pause, Charles asked, “I don’t think you need me to explain what my granny was getting at with her words earlier, do you? Deep down, you should know as well.”
As per before, Samuel did not say a single word in response.
Charles was egged on and slowly added, “Since you understand, then from today onward, shouldn’t you—”
“What if she isn’t disappointed in me?” countered Samuel suddenly.
Charles was caught off guard momentarily. He gazed at Samuel with a long and meaningful look before he replied, “Are you seriously suggesting that you haven’t given up by now?”
“I’ll never give up for the rest of my life,” replied Samuel in a low voice. “I’ll keep at it until I meet my end. It’s just that I don’t want to force her anymore.”
“Well, I can’t force you. The choice is yours. After all, I’m sure Kate won’t fall in love with you,” replied Charles casually. “She’s not like how she was before. Haven’t you realized that she doesn’t care too much about you these days?”
“I don’t need you to remind me of that. You can stay up by yourself,” replied Samuel tersely as he suddenly stood up in defiance.
Charles paused for a moment in surprise before he lightly commented, “I couldn’t tell at first, but it seems like you wanted to accompany me just now.”
Samuel’s expression was icy cold as he replied, “You’re thinking too much. I just wanted some time to myself so I could organize my thoughts. It’s just that you’re too irksome.”
With that, he turned and proceeded to take his leave.
As he did so, his gaze suddenly flickered upward, and he saw a figure swiftly disappear from sight on the second floor.
He pressed his thin lips together lightly as he wondered if Kathleen had been eavesdropping on them the entire time.
On the second floor, Kathleen quickly returned to her room and shut the door behind her. She pressed her back firmly against the door as she strained her ears to pick up any sound of movement from the other side of the door.
Soon enough, she picked up on the increasingly vivid sound of approaching footsteps.
Samuel came to a stop right before her door and spoke in his usual low voice. “You can just ask me directly if you would like to know what I’m thinking. You don’t have to be so furtive or sneaky about it.”
She maintained her silence and pretended as if she hadn’t heard anything.
Samuel paused for a moment in thought before he finally said, “Good night.”
With that, he turned and headed into the neighboring room.
The second he disappeared, Kathleen immediately heaved a heavy sigh of relief, and her shoulders sagged as all tension left her body.
She knew that there were moments when a direct conversation would not reveal the truth, and this was one of them.
Two days later, Frances’ funeral was successfully conducted in an extremely low-profile manner.
Once the funeral proceedings had come to an end, Charles turned to Zachary and Yareli and said, “We’ll head over to the Yoeger residence with the lawyer later on so that we can commence with the reading of Granny’s will.”
Zachary asked coldly, “Do you really intend to disband and break up Yoeger Group?”
Charles smiled wryly as he replied, “You’ll find out when we head over to the Yoeger residence.”
With that, he strode away coolly from the pair.
Kathleen prepared to take her leave as well.
Elsewhere, Yareli strode over to stop right in front of Samuel, where she quietly began, “Samuel, about the wedding…”
“I don’t want to marry you,” he replied flatly.
She was taken aback and demanded, “What did you say? You clearly promised me just yesterday.”
“That was before. Don’t you know that things change?” questioned Samuel icily.
At this, a glimmer of hate suddenly flashed across Yareli’s eyes.
However, Samuel simply strode off alone.
Yareli glanced to the side and looked at Kathleen with pure hatred in her eyes. The latter sarcastically asked, “What are you glaring at me for?”
Yareli scoffed before she pursed her lips and replied, “You must have said something to Samuel.”
Kathleen merely rolled her eyes and looked at Yareli’s legs before she turned to leave.
Kathleen’s sudden movement caught Yareli utterly by surprise, and a tinge of panic appeared on her face.
Did she discover something? Ah… I’ll think about this later. I have to rush back to the Yoeger residence first to find out exactly what was written in that will!
Over at the Yoeger residence, Zachary sat nervously on the couch as he pondered exactly how much of the assets would be allocated to him.
At that moment, he felt rather helpless, for he had always failed in his business ventures and simply paled in comparison to Vanessa when it came to raw capability. Zachary knew full well what he truly amounted to, which was why he was this desperate to find out precisely how much he could stand to gain from the division of assets.
Meanwhile, Yareli was the picture of calmness despite the worry that clouded her heart.
On the other hand, both Kathleen and Charles were perfectly composed. They simply didn’t care about what they could potentially gain following Frances’s passing.
Wynnie was the lawyer placed in charge of reading Frances’s will.
This was something that Kathleen didn’t find particularly strange at all.
Wynnie gazed out at everyone seated in the living room and lightly cleared her throat. Following that, she began, “I’m here to read out the last will and testament of Old Mrs. Yoeger, also known as Frances Schott. As per her request, the following six individuals are required to be present: Charles Johnson, Kathleen Johnson, Eilam Macari, Desiree Macari, Zachary Yoeger, and Yareli Yoeger.”
Eilam Macari and Desiree Macari were the actual names of Eil and Desi respectively.
Kathleen was a little surprised as she blurted out, “Desi and Eil as well?”
“You’re their parent, so it’s all right for you to listen in on their behalf since they aren’t around,” stated Wynnie.
Kathleen nodded and replied, “All right.”
Wynnie cleared her throat and continued, “According to the prenuptial agreement signed by Frances Schott and Hector Yoeger back then, she was allowed to freely allocate all the assets and miscellaneous items she owned prior to the marriage. She had decided to leave that full sum of money to Kathleen Johnson. As for her portion of the assets she co-owned with Hector Yoeger, Frances Schott had decided to entrust it fully to Charles Johnson and Kathleen Johnson. The remaining portion will be left to a family trust fund, and each of the six individuals named earlier would be entitled to about two million in allowance every month. If Zachary Yoeger or Yareli Yoeger were to engage in any activity that places the remaining four individuals in harm’s way during these proceedings, the two would automatically be revoked of all privileges to receive the allowance.”
“What?” exclaimed Zachary as he leaped to his feet in displeasure. He continued to rail, “They’ve already taken so much for themselves! How dare they fight with us for the portion that’s going to the trust fund? They’re not even Yoegers! What right do they have to have the allowance?”
“Let me inform you, Mr. Zachary Yoeger. From a legal standpoint, their mother, Rebecca Johnson, is the daughter of Frances Schott and Hector Yoeger. No matter if there are any direct blood relations to speak of, this is still recognized and legally binding. As Rebecca Johnson’s children, Charles Johnson and Kathleen Johnson have every right to be heirs to the inheritance. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to lodge an appeal. If it comes to that, I hope that you’re able to foot the legal bills that come your way,” stated Wynnie coldly.
As it wasn’t cheap to fight a lawsuit for a squabble over inheritance issues, Zachary shut his mouth the second he heard that he would need to spend money.
Given that he wasn’t even allocated that much to begin with, he knew that he would be left with nothing if he continued to pursue the matter and get embroiled in a lawsuit that entailed hefty fees.
He had no choice but to silently swallow his resentment and accept his loss.
Yareli’s expression had turned icy cold the moment she heard Wynnie’s words. She didn’t expect that she would merely be entitled to two million a month.
It was an extremely frustrating moment for her, especially since she was the daughter of the Yoeger family.
Furthermore, the entire reading of the will had no mention of Vanessa and Nicolette at all.
It seemed like the pair had been utterly overlooked and forgotten by Frances.
Wynnie closed the document she held in her hands and declared, “If there are no further questions, please proceed to sign atop this document. Once all the signatures are present, the document will take effect and be legally binding. Following which, all of the money will be credited directly to your respective accounts.”
The more Zachary thought about it, the more he couldn’t keep his anger and frustration under control any longer. Finally, he burst out, “Charles! Kathleen! Have both of you no shame? How can you just stand there and shamelessly take away all this money that belongs to the Yoeger family?”
