The elevator doors parted and Oliver led Talbot Voss into the 40th floor. His clientele looked around in awe, taking in the sights of the decor in all of its glory.
There was a miniature reception section with two staffs dressed in white manning the place. They courteously bowed as the men walked past them. The hall was made of polished wooden floors, the walls were painted cool blue to match the red oak below. And this was just the entrance!
Talbot followed his Lawyer into various halls, the latter was discreetly offering a short tour around the place. There was a glass wine room, a full functioning kitchen that was thrice the size of Talbot Voss' shared Unit! A game room for indoor activities, a Jacuzzi, many other rooms for various utilities, a bedroom, its expanse alone could be used to hold a conference. And finally, their destination; the study room.
Calling it a study room is an understatement. The room was logically an office, yes, the types with a whole glass screen as a wall behind the working desk. Shelves, sofas, coffee islands for a short break, snack mountains...you name it! It was luxuriously furnished to usher in a comfortable work space; hours would surely feel like minutes in such a setting!
And, yet, all this belonged to one person. Yes, the whole floor was solely alocated to ONE individual! Infact, while in the elevator, Talbot had seen Oliver take out and swipe a card beside the plethora of buttons. Thus, it was utterly impossible to have access to this particular floor(s). And no, this was not the largest suite in the building.
Oliver showed Talbot to a circular marble table, strategically angled so that the people seated around it would have the luxury of gazing at the skies, clouds, and vast lands spotting beautiful buildings while having the small library just beside them. As his client settled himself, Oliver walked up to the coffee counter. A mountain of documents was already occupying the larger part of the marble table...they would need stimulant for this, lots of it!
"How do you like your coffee Mr. Voss, Black?" Oliver began to work through the variety of products to make some for themselves.
"No, I like mine milked," Talbot absentmindedly arranged the scattered papers.
The Lawyer chuckled at the chosen words his client picked to relay his preference. He later carried over a pot of coffee and a smaller jug of milk. Settling down, he served the drinks and the two sipped in silence, rejuvenating before they began.
"Alrighty!" Oliver set aside his coffee and took a folder from the now organized mountain of papers. "Now, as I had said earlier over the call, this is an inheritance and I am the designated Lawyer tasked with passing this on and answering some of your questions," he paused to gauge his client's reaction, seeing that he remained calm, he finalized,"Ok, let us begin!"
He took Talbot Voss through a maze of clauses, and asked a few personal questions as formalities such as his name, family background, etcetra. Two mugs of coffee later, Talbot got the gist of the situation.
"So, what you're saying is: The dying patreon of an extremely wealthy family suddenly remembered his favorite dead grandaughter had a bastard son and deemed it worthy to include me-a small leaf in the family tree- a piece of the pie?" Talbot reached out to untie his hair which immediately burst to life and later curled back into a mushroom on his head.
The action was intriguing and Oliver took a few seconds to release himself from the hypnotic trance the suddenness had placed him in. He cleared his throat and confirmed to Talbot.
"Well, we could go with that," he nodded as he vividly recalled his employer. That man was far from being on his death bed!
"Haaa~Alright, now that we are done scraping the tip of the iceburg, give me an estimate of how much I've been 'allowed'," Talbot stretched in his seat.
"Right," Oliver picked a different stack of papers and began grinding the numbers on his pad,"hmm, this should give you around~ let's say 2 Billion dollars in liquid cash!" He could still not believe it, no matter how many times the Lawyer had seen the recurring zeros in his calculator while summing it all up.
And the funny part is, this is just equivalent to change to his employer, heck, it was not even the biggest flex in the inheritance! He directed his gaze to his client, closely watching his every move in correspondence to the bomb he had just dropped.
Talbot's eyes contracted in shock, but then he recovered the next second. Were it not for his system and the perks he had received, he would have made a fool of himself at the mention of such a diabolic sum. Instead, with a pensive expression, he poured himself coffee; Black.
The Lawyer was actually impressed, not everyone would retain calmness of such a degree after hearing this sort of a statement. He applauded the young man in his mind. 'A man of conviction, not at all swayed by money,' he thought. Little did he know of how far from the mark he had hit.
Talbot Voss had never dreamt of actually being able to posses such wealth. The largest sum of money he had held was 3 grand! And it was not his own, but that of a fund-raising he had volunteered to help count in. His outer calm was just that, inside, he was screaming like a twelve-year-old plump girl who had been winked at by the school's walking piece of mutton that everyone fantasized about- the wink was not hers, but meant for an out-of-her-league girl directly behind her.
"You are taking this rather well, Mr. Voss," Oliver commented.
"Hmmm. Let us proceed," Talbot nodded.
The Lawyer began to list off absurd properties he supposedly was the new owner of.
"You are hereby the sole owner of: Stragenah COOP, Light life Tech.; Lobra Hotel and all its branches;HalfMoon mall; Sirhon Casino; TrueIce Casino; Maloope Casino, and 3 more that you shall read about later. Helicopters: 1 Mi-26TS; 2 Ka-226T; 2 Mi-28NE; and 1 Ka-52," he cleared his throat, took a sip of his lukewarm coffee and continued,"20 acres of the Gibson Desert; 13 acres of the Atacama Desert; 47 acres of the Karakum Desert; 53 acres of the Sonoran Desert-including the Oasis; 64 acres of the Patagonian Desert. Only 2 of these have oil pockets discovered. Moving on, 500 acres of land in Romania, 100 in Germany, 350 in Russia, 220 in China, 160 in Canada; 1,000 acres of forest land in Australia; 5 caves in the Arctic. The coordinates shall be provided."
And that was not the whole of it. He listed more land in continents the young man had not yet read of, even bodies of water! Who does that!? He now owned a Canal, Lakes, Dams, and even Rivers literally. A garage or two of super cars, he even had a couple of vehicles in this very city within showrooms. Animals and farms all across the globe. He had yatchs, cruise ships, a container and crude oil ship. Villas, Bungalows, Duplex, Apartments, Flats and a piece of the Real Estate cake.
Oliver dragged on, they had refilled their coffee, served dinner, changed locations and finally, when the horizon was tinged with a warm orange; and small flocks gliding towards the descending yolk of heat, the Lawyer was winding up.
"Ok, now those, as listed, shall all be yours Mr. Talbot Voss. The assets shall amount to a total of 30 Billion Dollars, you have a lot of signing to do sir," Oliver yawned and stretched on the plush couch; they had actually switched locations thrice all through the office. His once slick hair was dishiveled and his shirt untacked.
Talbot yawned and rubbed at his eyes. Here he was, from rags to riches overnight. Although he was just as tired as the Lawyer, he had a smile tagging at the corner of his lips. This was a whole new world he was being introduced to, the journey ahead made him excited.
He thanked the Old benfactor in his heart that had miraculously thought of and had the sting of guilt lead him to include his great grandchild in on the family cake! A new feeling filled the younger man's heart, it began to beat in a new rhythm, it were as if this was his first breath as a new born child. Shackles of poverty were nothing more but a bad dream, a free tutorial of life to earn him experience and have a taste of the bad before being allowed the addictive honey.
He marvelled at the moment and stared at the setting sun with calculating eyes, he now had an inheritance with an absurd amount only the delusional would dare dream about; and to top it off, a Utility System to aid him from here henceforth. 'The world better be prepared, a giant has been born,' Talbot's mind began to churn with ideas and plans.
Oliver handed him a pen and the young Billionaire began digging through the papers, taking a second to scan the contents- the system perused the legitimacy of the documents for him- and he signed. The Lawyer suddenly snapped his fingers as if remembering something important.
"Ah! Almost forgot, you also now have a wife...lucky you, inheriting a spouse too!" He laughed while sipping at his wine.
Talbot Voss stopped in his tracks as the words fully sank into his cranium.