Arching a brow, I watch him cross the room and sink into the seat. “Which were?”
“Your father and his business partner, Silas Owens, had an agreement that upon his death, Silas would purchase your father’s half of the label at two-thirds of its value and that money as well as your father’s personal wealth would all be signed over to you.”
I blink. “Oh.”
When my father was eighteen, he and his best friend, Silas, started their own music label, O’Shaw Records, in my grandparents’ garage. From the way they used to tell it, it was slow going at first and they spent a couple years wondering if they’d made a mistake before they found Calliope, my mother. She sounded like an angel, lit up a room with her smile, and people fell in love with her as soon as they heard her voice. Combine that with a couple of really talented songwriters and she became their cash cow as well as the love of my dad’s life. They were inseparable and by the time I was born, she was so big that she only went by one name like Cher or Beyonce but to me, she was always the woman that made up silly songs to sing me to sleep or wake me up in the morning, the woman who baked chocolate chip cookies with me, and encouraged me to dance like no one was watching. She was wild, free, but full of so much love for her family and when I was nine, she was ripped away from us when an obsessed fan killed her.
Her death devastated my father and me as well as everyone at O’Shaw records, who we had always considered family, but Dad never stopped building the label and taking in new artists. He always said that she wouldn’t want him to fall apart and he was building a legacy for me so it’s weird now to think that it’s just gone.
“Is everything okay, Miss Shaw?” Mr. Robash asks and I blink, snapping out of my thoughts as I turn to look at him again.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I was just a little lost in thought.”
He nods. “I understand that all of this is a lot to take in. I actually have a letter for you from your father that might help you process everything.”
My eyes widen as he holds an envelope out in front of him and my hands shake as I reach up to grab it. I can’t believe this is the last thing I’m ever going to read from my father but then again, at least I’ll be able to remember it.
With my heart pounding in my chest, I pop open the seal on the envelope and pull the crisp paper out before unfolding it and sucking in a breath.
“How about I go grab some coffee and give you a minute to read that?” he asks and I nod, grateful for his suggestion. I never would have kicked him out on my own but now that he brought it up, I feel like I need to read this in private. Flashing me a sympathetic smile, he pats my hand and stands before walking out of the room. I stare at the empty doorway for a second before glancing down at the letter on my lap and picking it up.
To my baby girl,
If you’re reading this, then I suppose it means I’m no longer there with you. I can’t tell you how much it hurts to even write this letter or think of the pain you’re going through right now but I don’t want you to be too sad, sweet girl. You are strong enough to get through this and I have faith that I’m finally with your mama again and we’re watching over you from Heaven.
A sob bubbles out of me and I drop the letter into my lap as I slap my hand over my mouth, unable to go on. Hot tears spill down my cheeks and my chest aches, wishing he were here to wrap his arms around me right now and tell me that everything will be okay. It always used to make me feel so safe and I don’t know how I’m supposed to go on without it. How do I move on without the only man I’ve ever been able to count on? Through my tears, I pick the letter back up and keep reading.
You, my darling girl, are more than I could have ever dreamed of and I was so incredibly proud to call you mine each and every day I spent on this earth. You brought more joy to my life than I could ever find the words to explain and my hope for you is that one day you find the kind of love and happiness I found with you and your mom.
Now, on to business…If Mr. Robash has given you this letter, I can only assume that he’s told you the details of my will. I’ve spent most of your life telling you that I’m building the label as a legacy for you but it’s become quite clear to me in the past couple years that you are following your passion and I couldn’t imagine keeping you from that. Silas and I have come to an agreement that in the event of my death, he will buy my shares in the label from you for two-thirds of their value. I offered them to him at half their value and he offered to buy them at their full value. Silas has thought of you as his daughter, too, since the day you were born and he didn’t feel right taking your half of the company at half the price and I didn’t feel right making him buy half of the company we built together at full price so we had to compromise. If you have any questions or concerns, bring them to Mr. Robash. He’s a good man and someone that I’ve asked to look out for you after I’m gone.
Before I go, I have to leave you with a word of warning. I’m leaving you a great deal of money and I know there are people out there who will try to extort that. They will see you as an easy target and it will be hard, at times, to know who you can trust. That said, I know you can handle yourself, sweetheart. Just trust your instincts and remember who you are.
All my love,
Dad
Sucking in a stuttered breath, I let the letter fall to my lap again as I wipe the tears from my face. The loss of my father is so deep, so profound, that I can feel it molding me into a new person as I lie in my hospital bed, truly alone. Squeezing my eyes shut, I picture him in my mind and search my memory for the last time I saw him but it’s still blank, a darkness fogging over the last five years of my life that seems deeper than a moonless night. With a sigh, I relax back into the bed and stare up at the ceiling, letting the tears drip down my face and into the pillow.
“Miss Shaw?” a voice calls from the doorway and I lift my head, forcing a weak smile to my face as Mr. Robash walks into the room. “Are you ready to continue?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He walks in with his coffee cup in hand and sits next to my bed again before pulling some paperwork out of his briefcase. Clearing his throat, he flashes me a sympathetic expression.
“In his will, your father left everything else to you, including his house currently valued at three point two million, the three vehicles in his name, and the remainder of his net worth.”
“Okay…” I breathe. Even if I still had my memory, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how much my father was worth. It was never something that I was concerned with especially after I turned eighteen and I was given access to my two million dollar trust fund. “How much is that?”
“After everything was paid off, the amount left to you is…” He glances down at the forms in his hand. “Three hundred and fifty-six million dollars.”
My eyes widen and I drop my head back to the bed as I stare up at the ceiling. I knew my father and Silas had done well for themselves but the label was never something I was interested in and it didn’t really matter to me how much money he made but, Jesus… The words from his letter come rushing back to me and I suck in a nervous breath. He was right. This is the kind of money that will bring people out of the woodwork and right now it feels so overwhelming that I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around it.