Page 130 of Electric Kiss

Then with a loud sniff, a glance down her nose, she turned her back, straightened her shoulders and walked through the conservatory and out of sight. A few seconds later they heard the click of the exterior door.

“What’s going on?” Archer asked, looking at Mr Porterfield.

“I am here to inform you all the requirements of Archibald Turner’s last will and testament. He bequeathed the entire Turner estate and all its holdings to his four grandchildren equally. For clarity, Archer Turner, Jason Turner, Luke Turner and Daisy Turner. The only stipulation is that no one inherits until all four children are married and Archer Turner produces an heir. As today marks the last of the Turner siblings to marry. Today also marks the day you come into your joint inheritance. Please sign these papers and you may go and celebrate Luke and Freya’s marriage,” Mr Porterfield said.

No one moved and no one spoke.

Mr Porterfield sighed, looking every one of his senior years. Luke guessed he wasn’t far off Cynthia’s age.

“This isn’t a negotiation. If you don’t want the inheritance, you need to sell off all the holdings yourselves,” Mr Porterfield said.

“I thought Cynthia Turner was heir until she died?” Archer asked.

“I’m sure she led you to believe that. Cynthia Turner was on salary to take care of things until you came into your inheritance after Archibald Turner died. She was custodian which ends as soon as you sign these papers. Once you sign these papers, Miss Turner will have no dealings with anything that has the Turner name.

Archer strode forward, picked up a pen, looked down the sheet of paper and scrawled his signature. When he turned he bumped into Jason. They both laughed as they jostled so Jason could get to the writing desk. He signed his name and tossed the pen down with a clatter. Daisy was next. She took a tissue from her clutch bag and dabbed at the sheet where Jason’s gesture had produced splatters of ink. She then signed her name and delicately placed the pen down. Luke stepped forward and signed his name.

“So we’re free of her?” Luke asked on a choke.

“Legally yes. Cynthia Turner has no right to anything,” Mr Porterfield replied. “She has no right to live at Turner Hall, or any of the Turner properties. She owns her property in Como. It had no links to the Turner estate.”

“Does she have any money?” Archer asked. “Is she taken care of?”

Jason scoffed while Luke looked dumbfounded at Archer. Then he relaxed as Archer would always be the one to see the fairness in everything.

“Miss Turner received a handsome salary for her overseeing the holdings. Turner company assets and investments are vast. There were managers put in place by Archibald to ensure she didn’t run everything into the ground. Essentially, my legal office ensured that your future was not squandered. As I understand it, when her son passed away he left a successful business which has since been sold. In my opinion she is far from poor. I’m not clear why Archibald put her in charge when she did very little. Perhaps that will rest only with those two individuals.”

“Is the Turner estate worth a lot?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, Mrs Hill. Tens of millions. My offices are at your disposal should you need to keep us looking after the estate until you can all be accustomed to your fortune.”

“We’d very much appreciate that Mr Porterfield,” Archer said. “Until further notice. So long as Cynthia’s access to anything is cut off,” Archer said, “we’d very much appreciate that, Mr Porterfield, until further notice.”

“As soon as I walk out of this office, I will call my office and let them know to do that. Thankfully in this digital age it can be instant.”

Mr Porterfield nodded and smiled.

“Thank you Mr Porterfield,” Jason said, moving forward to shake his hand.

Daisy stepped forward and shook his hand. “Could I make an appointment to speak with the company accountants?”

“Absolutely. They were hoping you would talk with them. We can set it up as soon as you’re ready,” Mr Porterfield said with a kindly smile.

“I’ll be in contact next week. Thank you for taking care of our legacy,” Daisy replied and stepped back.

“Our firm has been looking after the Turners for generations. We hope that will continue.”

Mr Porterfield gathered up the papers, opened his case on the writing desk and placed them meticulously inside. After snapping the locks into place, he gave them all a nod, and then walked from the morning room, escorted out by Bailey.

As soon as the door closed everyone talked at once then a loud whistle sounded. It was Archer.

“Okay. Very quickly we need to get this out of out systems in the next two minutes because we have a marriage to celebrate and everyone is waiting. While I think Stan actually having to do some hard problem solving is hilarious, it’s not fair we leave him too long with our guests,” Archer said.

“What does all this mean?” Luke asked.

“It looks like we’re wealthy heirs to the Turner fortune. After Daisy has spoken with the accountants, we’ll know more,” Archer replied.

“What about Cynthia, do you think we’ll see her again?”

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