Anastasia wandered aimlessly around the gardens of The Rayburn Mansion. She would occasionally stop to look at a few flowers or at a gazebo.
She knew she shouldn't be moving around so much, she had just dealt with a double funeral yesterday and had lost consciousness while performing the last rites of her parents.
Nonetheless, she couldn't stand to be inside the mansion where the second branch of the family had taken residence in the last few days.
She tried her best to ignore their stares whenever she crossed paths with them in the last few days, but those eyes made her skin crawl in a decidedly unpleasant manner.
Her younger paternal uncle Tanner Rayburn had brought his entire family of five to supposedly take care of his niece in her tough times, but all she saw was them whispering about her and then going silent whenever she drew near.
They always assumed that she didn't hear their words once she was out of their listening range. She let them have their delusions and didn't bother telling them that even if they tried to act discreet, their fugitive glances at her gave away the subject of their talks.
She spent most of her days in either making sarcastic comments internally or abject sadness at the turn her life had taken.
The nights were worse.
She spent most nights fighting her nightmares where she dreamt thousands of ways her parents might have died.
Meanwhile, the media ran the story about The Rayburn's demise and the speculation about who would helm the Rayburn business in the long run, irrespective of the fact that it hadn't been more than a month since that fateful night and that it might be disrespectful to Anastasia Rayburn to see her family assets talked about in such a cavalier manner.
Heaving mournful sigh, she continued her walk.
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It was half a year later that a bizarre situation arose in the business world.
The Rayburn's Last Will and Testament had been read by their lawyer and it was disclosed that they had stipulated that no one person or family group could own more than forty-two per cent shares of the company or The Rayburn industries would undergo a hostile takeover situation without any delay.
This meant that the public had about eight per cent of the shares in the market while the group of various investors had about another twenty per cent of the shares amongst themselves.
Anastasia Rayburn had forty per cent shares from her mother and father altogether and the rest of the various members of The Rayburn family - her uncle and his family and her other two paternal aunts had around thirty-two per cent shares.
Though she couldn't enter the company or give her shares to anybody until she reached the age of twenty-five, her parents had played a masterstroke in keeping unscrupulous people from taking control of their assets.
It could be said that The Last Will and Testament of The Rayburns was a beautiful, twisted piece of clauses, subclauses and exceptions all rolled into one.
It ensured that nobody could manoeuvre things in a way which was detrimental to Anastasia Rayburn in any way.
Anastasia had for the first time since her parent's death, heaved a sigh of relief after hearing the entirety of the will.
However, she was completely unaware that to people with malignant intentions, it wouldn't matter what was written in black and white on paper and that there were more ways to ensure someone's corporation.
Many of the other heirs of first-tier families who were close to Anastasia had tried to warn her about how she couldn't lower her guard or how there were still ways to take advantage of her weak position, but she had dismissed their words as unimportant.
Little did she know that her negligence and the insatiable greed of others would turn her world upside down once again.
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Anastasia sat at one end of the table while the General Meeting of all the investors of The Rayburn Industries was underway.
A General Meeting was different from a Board Meeting because a General Meeting was the meeting of all shareholders of a company and was held once or twice a year. Whereas, a Board Meeting was the meeting of all the directors that heeded various departments of the company.
She heard with half an ear as Tanner Rayburn gave a rousing speech at the start of the meeting - about how he would dearly miss his brother but still life had to go on and how they should all try to take Rayburn Industries to greater heights in remembrance of the dearly departed.
She gave a sardonic smile at all the sentimental drivel Tanner was spouting but didn't make the effort to stop him.
She heard Mr Clarke - one of the investors say from the side of his mouth, "I envy Tanner. Atleast he benefited from the death of his brother and sister in law."
Anastasia lost all the colour in her face when she heard those words.
"Clarke," Cadmien admonished with a sharp voice as he glared at everyone present around him and all of them turned quite, though there were still faint smiles at the corners of their faces.
Judging by the discrete looks being thrown around, it seemed all of them had become quite close since Tanner had taken over the position of Acting Head.
She could imagine all the bootlicking these people would have resorted to since the company was akin to a headless chicken until either she came of age or someone suppressed all of them by sheer will of force or money.
However, it wasn't just Tanner who was making a play for the whole pie.
No.
Anastasia knew of two others who were also eyeing the position and that was only among the upper management.
The number of outsiders who were salivating at the prospect of eating the fatty piece of meat that was The Rayburn Industries was innumerable.
She wondered if they saw her as a distant threat or no threat at all. To everyone else, it was a matter of raking in billions but to her, it was the hard work of her parents that these people were trying to lay their dirty paws upon.
She had to spend every waking moment thinking about how to not fall into some kind of trap devised by these wolves while her nights were filled with hellish nightmares that she had to relive night after night.
Most nights she would lay awake once she woke up drenched in cold sweat from her nightmares.
How she was going to deal with these greedy people once she entered the company, she didn't know.
Moreover, in recent days Cadmien had started acting as if he was already the owner and had become even more insufferable than ever.
Meanwhile, his younger twins - Brandon Rayburn and Natalie Rayburn had stepped their toe out of line a few times in front of her. Though she hadn't replied to their deliberate provocation and hurtful words, she didn't know how long she would be able to hold her tongue.
At last, the meeting was over and just as she was getting ready to leave the stifling atmosphere of the company, Tanner's personal assistant asked her to stay behind and accompany him to the Acting Head's office.
Anastasia was bewildered at this request that came out of the blue, but she still followed the PA to a lounge that was situated on the topmost level of the building.