CHAPTER 37: GREGOR’S WILL PART 3

BRAELYN’S POV

The entire room went still, eyes were on Lucien as what they all feared was about to happen. Raphael’s fist clenched. He was probably already cussing Gregor.

Lucien might run the company into debt if he took over affecting everyone. I was curious whether Lucien, being laid-back, would want to take on such a heavy obligation.

Mr Walters adjusted his glasses and read aloud. He cleared his throat a bit before continuing to read the will

"To my youngest son, Lucien Volkov, I leave the remainder of my estate, including the listed and unlisted properties, and any additional external shares not previously distributed with the same amount of internal shares on the board. "

The silence that followed was absolute.

Lucien’s lips curved faintly, but his eyes stayed unreadable. Natalia looked stunned, unable to believe her ears, Raphael’s jaw tightened, and Olivia just blinked in disbelief.

The weird part was Ronan’s calm, it was as if he expected this. I found this weird. How was he okay with this? Maybe he calculated that the accumulation of his, Raphael’s, Natasha’s, and Natalia’s shares exceeded Lucien’s, but as an individual, Lucien was highly favoured.

The air was so tense it could’ve cracked if anyone breathed too loudly. No one did. The lawyer’s voice carried through the silence. His calm spoke of experience. I could already see the future battles in court to contest the will.

I sat still, my palms pressed against my knees, trying to make sense of what I was hearing. It all felt unreal, Gregor leaving the largest part of his properties to Lucien. Not Ronan, not even Olivia but the illegitimate son Lucien

The same man everyone once whispered about as the family’s mistake.

Raphael’s hand gripped the table until his knuckles turned white. He didn’t speak, but I could feel the tremor in him, the silent disbelief, the humiliation he refused to show.

Then the recording of Gregor’s voice played, his words heavy with regret. "Lucien... I was never the father I should’ve been. This is my way of making amends. Don’t isolate yourself anymore. Family, no matter how broken, is still family. As for the rest please take your time to read my final thoughts in the letters. I loved you all...goodbye."

Lucien didn’t move. He didn’t even blink. But I caught the faint twitch in his jaw, the only sign that the words had reached him. I involuntarily released a breath before I suffocated to death.

The rest of them sat frozen. Gregor had just shifted the entire family balance, and even in his death, Gregor’s shadow lingered over everything. Lucien now had more than anyone else, and still, it didn’t feel like peace. It felt like the beginning of something far worse.

Raphael’s silence wasn’t calm; it was venom disguised as composure. For years, he’d lived under his grandfather’s thumb, working, sacrificing, trying to prove himself. And now... now he was left grasping at air.

He even sacrificed his marriage for this family. Maybe he would not have married me if not for Gregor’s influence. Who knows.

But none of us expected what came next.

"Wait," Olivia said, her voice sharp, her eyes narrowing at the lawyer. "The deciding shares haven’t been mentioned."

That single sentence was enough to stir the room again.

The lawyer cleared his throat, flipping through the final pages. "Ah, yes. The last item on the will."

My chest tightened. Something in the way he said it made me uneasy.

He continued, "Mr Gregor Volkov has donated 10 million from the remaining part to the children’s charity foundation he supported during his lifetime." Even with that, it was like a tiny portion of what was left for Lucien.

That drew no reaction. We were all waiting for the real bombshell.

"As for the deciding shares..."

He paused deliberately, scanning our faces before reading the next lines. "Mr Gregor Volkov stated that he does not wish for the deciding shares to be inherited by the direct family line, specifically his eldest son’s line, that is, Ronan’s son Raphael Volkov."

The words dropped like stones. Raphael’s head snapped up. "What?"

The lawyer pressed on. "Instead, he has decided that Raphael and Lucien Volkov will compete for the deciding shares. However, this competition is not one of ability, business acumen, or success."

I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. Lucien tilted his head slightly, his lips curving into something cold, curiosity, amusement, or both.

The lawyer continued, "Since the right must remain under the Volkov name, the first among them to give him a male heir will inherit the deciding power. This must occur within a specific timeframe. Until then, Mr Ronan Volkov will hold temporary authority."

The entire room went still.

I couldn’t breathe. The words echoed in my head over and over a male heir. With science, it was easy to pick the gender of your child through planning but this felt deliberate

He knew of my troubles and Lucien wasn’t even married. I have a feeling that the child must be legitimate, meaning Lucien has to get married within the time frame. This was Gregor’s way of forcing Lucien to act.

This couldn’t be real.

Raphael’s composure cracked; fury and disbelief flashed across his face. "This is a joke. It has to be."

But it wasn’t.

And it was cruel. Brutally, deliberately cruel.

Because Gregor knew. He always knew. He needed a child, especially a son.

The diagnosis still haunted me, words whispered by doctors that carved deep into my soul. Raphael never blamed me, not directly, but the distance had started to grow long before the ink on that agreement dried. This just justified his decision further

I felt like a joke. A cruel smile grazed my lips

Gregor’s final game ensured Raphael’s weakness would be exposed, and Lucien, his reckless, infuriating, dangerous uncle, would have the advantage he was never meant to have.

Lucien’s eyes flicked to me then, a quiet, dangerous knowing in his gaze. My stomach tightened. He didn’t look smug this time; he looked like someone who finally saw the storm he’d been waiting for.

Raphael’s jaw clenched so tightly I thought he might shatter a tooth. He didn’t speak. He couldn’t.

And I was stuck between both men realising that Gregor Volkov had managed to do what none of the living ever could

He’d destroyed us all with a single sentence.

It was truly an unexpected turn.