Chapter 18: In between the no longer and the not yet: a short novel of hope.
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Ron Tyler was waiting in the conference room at Tyler, Barker and Cane. Coffee and water had been placed on the sideboard. Copies of Brook’s will were laid out at four chairs. The screen had been pulled down at one end of the conference table and he’d put the USB disk into the computer. All he had to do was hit the start button and the video Brook had made just a month ago would be how he started this meeting.
He was glad to have the video because it would quickly dismiss anybody from trying to bust the will. Fortunately Brook had had only one chemo treatment before he made the video. He still looked healthy and came across knowledgeable and coherent. While Ron was thinking about Brook, the intercom interrupted his thoughts. He heard his executive assistant say, “Mr. Tyler, all four of your guests have arrived. Shall I bring them to the conference room?”
Ron ran his hand through his hair as he walked over, hit the speaker button and said, “Yes, Debbie. That would be great.” The door opened and Debbie stepped in followed by Theresa Foster, Sydney Oliver, Neal Reed and James McBride. “Thank you, Debbie and welcome everyone. Please take a seat at one of the four chairs where you will see a copy of the will. That is for you to take with you but not necessary for you to read now as I will be going over it.”
Theresa Foster was obviously wound up and ready to explode. Sydney seemed calm and looked as if she couldn’t quite believe she was in the room. The two men were from Axiom and they looked professional and interested. They knew of course that they were not going to personally benefit from Brook’s will, but they were concerned as to how any decisions Brook had made would impact Axiom and perhaps their jobs.
“I’m not sure if you all introduced yourself outside, but let me start there. On my left is Sydney Oliver, a friend to Mr. Foster. Next to her is Neal Reed, Board Chair of Axiom. Then, James McBride, acting CEO of Axiom and then finally Theresa Foster, who is the ex-wife of Mr. Foster. Mr. Foster requested me to invite all four of you to this reading of his will. Or perhaps I should say, hearing of his will.” Everyone nodded to each other in a quiet welcome.
“You’ll see that I have the video screen down,” said Ron. “Mr. Foster produced a video will and a written will which corroborates what he has said in this video. I’m going to begin with the video as Mr. Foster himself is the best one to read his will to you, so to speak. Debbie, would you lower the lights and then hit the start button?” Debbie did as requested and within just a few seconds, Brook, dressed in the shirt and tie began to talk. It started with the introductory information of name and place and then quickly got into the heart of the matter when he said, “I’ve invited you all to be here for the reading of this will. I’ve made this video because I want to make clear that no one is to challenge this will. I am of sound mind and the decisions I’ve made here reflect my desires. I know I am battling cancer at this time and it very likely will result in my death. I am at peace with that. I have thought long and hard about my last will and testament. I believe it will be the final piece in the legacy I hope I have made throughout my life and through my work with Axiom Enterprises.”
Everyone in the room was watching intently and when Brook mentioned Axiom, Neal and James looked at each other and smiled. They relaxed somewhat as they expected that Brook would protect Axiom and their jobs would be fine for now.
They looked back at the video to hear Brook say, “First, I want to address my ex-wife, Theresa. Theresa, we have had our issues throughout our lives and our divorce left our family decimated. The loss of Maia is something we will both have to carry to our graves.” At that point, Theresa’s eyes were glued to the video and being invited had given her hope that she would receive a big payout after all. But as Brook continued, those hopes were dashed. “Theresa, the divorce settlement left you a very wealthy woman and I believe you should be able to live to the end of your life in comfort. So, I want to state unequivocally to you, I am giving you nothing from my estate and this is a conscious decision. Do not waste a dime of your money trying to bust this will. It is airtight and no court in the land will be able to overturn it.” As Brook finished this last sentence, Theresa stood up and screamed at the video, “You vile man. Right to the end you are hateful. I hope you rot in hell!” She then grabbed the packet in front of her, stood up and said to the others, “I will not stay here to be insulted by this man any more. I will see you in court.” Then she walked out and attempted to slam the door but it was too heavy and slow to get much of the desired impact.
The video had continued on while Theresa had thrown her fit. While all showing a bit of discomfort, they quickly returned their eyes to the video as they heard Brook say, “There will only be one recipient of my estate once it is dissolved through the efforts of my lawyer, Ron Tyler, my accountant, Jill Draper and the assistance of Neal Reed, Axiom Board Chair and James McBride, acting CEO of Axiom. The details are outlined in the packet in front of you but it essentially says to dissolve any and all of my interests in Axiom, any and all stocks and investments into an all-liquid account. The only exception is my Richmond home whose title will pass to the recipient of my estate until such time that she might decide to sell it. For now, she will inherit everything in the home, she can live in it if she should so choose and she can use it as a headquarters for the work she’s about to embark on.”
Slowly but surely it was dawning on everyone in the room, that Sydney Oliver was about to inherit the entire estate of one Brook Foster.
Brook’s voice continued on as he said, “Yes, Sydney, it’s you. It’s all yours to do with what you want. I hope you don’t end up hating me for this but we’ve talked for years about changing the world. I had my way, you had yours. By the end of my life — which has happened if you’re hearing this, I’ve come to believe that you just might be right. It is time to build a new model. I know you have many ideas for doing this and now you’re going to have the funding. I can’t say exactly how much the sale of my Axiom shares and all my other investments will be, but in discussion with my accountants, I think I can safely say it is somewhere in the range of $49 billion dollars. Yes, that’s right, billion with a b. You’ve always wanted to change the world Sydney — now you have your chance. I trust you’ll work hard to leave the world a better place and I’ll watch from the other side knowing I put in charge the best person I could find to do it.”
At that moment, the video showed Brook walking out of the camera range. He’d obviously walked behind the camera and turned it off. Debbie, realizing the video was finished, jumped up and turned up the lights.
Sydney was sitting there in shock. Neal and James were looking at her and then shifted their gaze to Ron. Ron cleared his throat and said, “All the details of his wishes are within the packets you have. Theresa Foster’s threat will be dismissed by the courts if she tries to bust the will. So, we don’t really see any major worries there. We have already begun the work of liquidating Mr. Foster’s estate per his instructions in the will.” “Gentlemen,” he said, as he looked at Neal and James, “I think you can take your packets and return to your offices. My team as well as Jill Draper’s office will be contacting you soon. Per Mr. Foster’s instructions, our goal is to make this transition as calm as possible. Does anyone have any questions?”
Neal said, “No Ron, I think we get it. Ms. Oliver, we’re at your disposal as well, though I think you’ll find it easiest to work through Mr. Tyler and Ms. Draper directly.” Sydney nodded in acceptance as Neal and James proceeded to leave the room.
Sydney could not believe how matter of fact all this was. Finally she looked at Ron and said, “I can’t believe this is happening.” Ron smiled at her and said, “Oh yes, Sydney, it’s happening. How about if you and I go over the will page by page and you’ll see how this is all going to transpire.” Sydney nodded yes and reached for the packet in front of her and then said, “What in the world was he thinking? And why didn’t he mention this to me at all, Ron?”
Ron shrugged his shoulders and said, “He figured it was best this way because then no one could say you had manipulated him on his death bed for this. I know for a fact that he kept this a secret from you for that very reason.” Ron then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. “This is from Brook. It’s a letter to you that I think will help explain it all. Would you like some private time to read this first?” Sydney shook her head yes. Ron stood to leave and said, “Just hit this intercom button when you’re done. Debbie will come get me and we can proceed with the will.”
