"Daaaad," came a voice from the back seat of a van somewhere outside of Moon lake. "I'm soooooo bored!"
"We'll be there in a couple of hours," said the man driving the van. The van was driving through the mountains of Washington state. Inside was the father driving the van with his wife in the passenger seat next to him. Behind them was a fourteen-year-old boy with headphones on and playing a Nintendo 3DS. Next to him was a fifteen-year-old girl looking at her cellphone, and behind her was a nineteen-year-old man trying to take a nap.
"Ugh," the girl said in disgust, "I can barely get any reception in this place. How can I do my Youtube stuff when we're up here?" The girl, Rachel, looked up from her phone and complained to her parents. "Why are we moving again? Life was so good in Michigan, even after Mel left."
"Because we needed a change of scenery," her mom said, "and we wanted to support Frank with his college studies. He's lucky to get into any college, much less on a scholarship."
"So, why do we have to go with him?" Rachel asked.
"Because," her father replied, "we're supporting him by helping him save money on room and board. That, and I found this great opportunity. Turns out Moon Lake is next to a national park, and there's no business nearby that cater to the...sports enthusiast. Sure, there's a Target nearby, but I think we can do better as a specialist. Get our brand out there and whatnot. This could be a great deal for this family."
Rachel sighed as she sat back down in her seat. She looked out the window and saw nothing but trees and mountains pass by. She looked at her phone and turned on her camera. "If anyone's watching this," she started, "I'm being whisked away to a life of boredom. Please send help."
Her parents heard this and both of them rolled their eyes as they continued their drive to Moon Lake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Megan DeCrux was still in shock. She couldn't believe her mother was now dead. What was going to happen to her home, her store, and, yes, even that Love Potion No. 9. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to see a man dressed in a sharp suit and a briefcase.
"Megan DeCrux?" the man asked.
"Yes?" Megan replied, not sure what to make of the man. Was he a federal agent or something?
"Robert Bennet," he said introducing himself, "I'm an attorney representing your mother. I understand that she passed away recently, and I'm here to talk to you about her estate. May I come in?" Megan motioned for him to come in and he walked through the door. The two of them sat down in the living room.
"May I get you anything?" Megan asked.
"That won't be necessary," Robert said as he opened up his briefcase. "Now, I understand that you've been informed of Alice's passing."
Megan pursed her lips as she tried to keep in her tears. "Y-yes...a police officer was here not too long ago..."
"Well," Robert said as he pulled out a few papers and continued, "I am now the executor of Alice's estate. My job is to make sure Alice's assets are distributed according to her will. Since you're the only child of age still in Moon Lake, you pretty much inherit everything that she had."
"I know she had the house and the shop. Are you saying that those are mine now?" Megan asked.
"That," Robert answered, "and more."
"More?"
"Over the course of her life," Robert explained, "Alice accrued quite a bit in terms of assets, both physical and financial. Obviously, the house and the store are yours to do with. If you choose to sell them or keep them, it's entirely up to you." He pulled out a sheet of paper, "And then there are the financial assets. She saved quite a bit of money both from her rather questionable activities as well as the sales of her candies." He handed the sheet of paper to Megan, who then looked at the sheet and blanched.
"This...this can't be right," Megan said in surprise, "It says that mom had...tens of millions of dollars!"
"Yes," Robert said, "she was quite successful in almost all of her activities. And that's after the estate taxes, attorney fees, and other outstanding obligations that her estate has to pay." Megan leaned back in a chair as she stared at the information before her. "And that's not all," Robert continued as he pulled out another sheet of paper. This paper was a patent paper complete with chemical formulae.
"What's this?" Megan asked.
"This is the patent for the chemical that Alice called, 'Love Potion No.9'. It's yours now."
Megan studied the paper for a bit. Much of the paper was jargon, and Megan could only understand a part of that. She then looked up at Robert and asked, "What do I do with this?"
"Whatever you want," Robert replied, "It's yours now, as well as everything else I gave you from your mother's estate." He reached into his suit coat and pulled out a card, "And here's my card. If you have any questions, please don't be afraid to call." He closed his briefcase, got up, and made his way to the door. Before he reached it, he turned back to Megan and said, "And a word of advice. You've got enough there to last you the rest of your long life, but be careful not to blow it." With that said, he walked out the door, leaving Megan wondering what to do with all the news and inheritance she just got.