Rules Ch.282

Chapter 282: Posthumous Work (1)

As the second semester of their junior year began, Everly made a shocking discovery—Misha and Orff were dating!

Orff was two years ahead of Everly and Misha. When the two girls entered their junior year, Orff had just graduated with his bachelor’s degree.

However, he had excellent grades and was deeply interested in the development of artificial intelligence. So after graduating, he applied to remain at the university for postgraduate studies. As a result, the three of them were still attending the same school.

The campus was huge, and graduate students and undergraduates didn’t interact much in their daily lives. Aside from the group chat the three of them shared, they rarely met in person. The chat mostly consisted of sharing gossip, with Misha doing nearly all the talking while the other two simply watched the drama unfold and applauded from the sidelines.

In any case, Everly combed through the entire chat history and couldn’t find the slightest hint that anything had been going on.

“So… when exactly did this start?” she asked in disbelief after learning the news.

“Mmm-hmm~ Not that long ago,” Misha replied with a casual shrug. “We’re just trying things out for now. I wouldn’t really call it officially dating yet.”

Just trying things out was shocking enough!

After all, at university, a cheerful, outgoing, and beautiful girl like Misha—who had friends everywhere—was incredibly popular. As for Orff… well, it wasn’t very nice to say this about a friend, but objectively speaking, a gloomy, introverted bookworm with his personality wasn’t exactly the type to exude much romantic appeal among people their age.

Misha explained it like this:

“I used to think he was pretty boring. But during winter break, remember how he helped you get back at those people who pulled that prank? Around that time, I’d injured my leg and couldn’t really go anywhere, so I spent all day chatting with people on my phone. That’s when I realized Orff is actually much more interesting than I’d imagined. He knows all sorts of random things, and if you tease him just a little, he gets embarrassed. It’s actually kind of adorable.”

As she spoke, Misha sat cross-legged on her bed with one leg propped up, doing her rehabilitation stretches while sharing her thoughts with Everly.

After more than two months of recuperation, the bones in her leg had finally healed. Walking around was no longer a problem, though she still couldn’t do any strenuous exercise and needed to take her recovery slowly.

Yet somehow, someone who had only just recovered from such a serious injury had actually gone out on a date yesterday. Everly was utterly dumbfounded.

“And then? You thought he was pretty interesting, so you accepted his invitation?” she asked.

“Haha, wrong!” Misha raised both hands and made a big X in front of her chest. “He’s more timid than a mouse. He overthinks everything and kept worrying that if I rejected him, we wouldn’t even be able to stay friends. There’s no way he’d have the courage to ask me out. I was the one who invited him first.”

As she spoke, she seemed to recall something amusing. Narrowing her eyes, she wore the sly grin of a cat whose mischievous scheme had succeeded. Lowering her voice, she leaned toward Everly as if sharing a juicy secret.

“Hey, did you know? He told me afterward that he’d actually already made up his mind to ask me out on April Fool’s Day this year. He even wrote a thick proposal for it.”

“April Fool’s Day? Don’t tell me it was one of those hopelessly cliché ‘If my confession fails, I’ll just say it was a joke’ plans?”

“Exactly!”

“Wow… that’s so lame.”

“I know! That bookworm is unbelievably lame!” Misha mercilessly teased him before covering her mouth and letting out a series of giggles, clucking like a little hen. “But that’s not even the funniest part. Yesterday, after dinner, we were taking a walk when a car drove past. I instinctively grabbed his arm and pulled him back—just held his hand for a second, okay? We were wearing such thick clothes that our skin didn’t even touch. And yet Orff turned bright red all over. When he stole glances at me afterward, his eyes were all watery. He looked just like a puppy. It was so adorable.”

“…”

That was exactly the sort of thing Orff would do. From Misha’s brief description alone, Everly could vividly picture the entire scene.

Still, Misha actually liked shy, introverted guys?

That surprised Everly. After all, in mainstream American culture, outgoing, charismatic men with strong social skills generally tended to be considered much more attractive.

Misha, however, didn’t think Orff’s quiet nature was a drawback.

“My own social skills are more than enough,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if he’s a little reserved. Whenever I feel like chatting, I’ve got a dozen friends I can talk to. Besides, other than being introverted, he’s actually a really great person. He’s thoughtful, has a strong sense of justice, is sincere, and would never have any ulterior motives…”

As she spoke, Misha counted off his good qualities on her fingers one by one. When she reached the end of the list, she naturally arrived at her conclusion.

“So I figured I’d give dating him a try. If we really aren’t compatible, we can always break up.”

“Mmm, you’ve got a point. Setting everything else aside, Orff’s character is definitely something you can trust,” Everly agreed with a nod, unilaterally bringing the somewhat sickeningly sweet conversation to an end.

It was just dating, after all.

If they were happy together, they’d stay together. If they weren’t, they’d break up. Simple as that.

As long as Misha was happy, Everly would support her.

She really wasn’t lonely.

Not even a little.

…

All right, maybe just a tiny bit.

Because after the two of them started seeing each other, they turned out to be unexpectedly compatible.

Before, every Saturday and Sunday evening, Misha would come home from work and Everly could immediately enjoy a delicious pizza that was still warm from the oven. But now there was an extra person—Orff. By the time the two of them came back from their dates, the pizza had long since gone cold.

Damn it… so annoying!

Everly was absentmindedly chewing on a slice of stone-cold pizza and trying to adjust her mood when the phone in her pocket suddenly began to vibrate.

Bzzz… Bzzz…

She pulled out a tissue, hastily wiped her hands clean, and took out her phone. The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Am I speaking with Everly Minas?” A calm, middle-aged man’s voice came from the other end.

“Yes. May I ask who’s calling?”

“Miss Everly Minas, hello. My name is Charlie Carl, and I am Mr. Shelly Minas’s attorney. I’m sorry to inform you that your father, Shelly, died by s**cide yesterday in his studio.”

Everly’s eyes flew wide open.

“What did you just say?!”

Shelly… had taken his own life?

A man like him—successful in his career, with a wife and children—had actually died by s**cide?

This can’t be one of those scam calls… can it?

The man claiming to be a lawyer gave Everly little time to process the news before continuing in a steady, professional tone.

“I understand that this must be extremely difficult for you to accept. Please accept my deepest condolences. The reason I’m calling is that Mr. Shelly left behind a last will and testament before his death. According to his will, his estate is to be inherited jointly by you and Mr. Thomas Minas…”

Thomas Minas was Shelly’s younger son—Everly’s half-brother.

When Everly was in middle school, Shelly—who had spent years hopping from one relationship to another—had finally settled down and remarried Sophia, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman. Not long after the wedding, Sophia became pregnant. After ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, whom they named Thomas.

When the child had just been born, Shelly had even called Everly to ask if she wanted to meet her little brother. She had refused.

She had never cared much about blood ties, nor did she have any particular affection for little kids. Still, the excuse she’d come up with at the time had been convincing enough that she’d managed to squeeze thirty thousand dollars in spending money out of her deadbeat father, who had been overflowing with paternal affection back then.

Doing the math, Everly’s half-brother should now be a little over four years old.

But…

“Wait a minute. This is way too sudden. How am I supposed to believe you’re not just making all this up?”

After all, Shelly was a famous painter. Anyone willing to do a little digging could easily uncover his personal information. How was Everly supposed to know that the person on the other end hadn’t simply researched her background and invented a story to scam her?

The lawyer’s tone remained completely unruffled.

“As for that, the news should break very soon. You can verify it yourself by searching online shortly.”

!!!

There was no need to wait until “shortly.”

Everly immediately reached out to Misha.

Without a word, she commandeered Misha’s phone, opened the browser, typed in the search terms one-handed, and hit Search.

Five seconds later, the search results appeared.

Right at the top was a freshly published breaking news headline:

“Yesterday afternoon, renowned painter Shelly was found dead in his studio. Following an initial investigation of the scene, police have provisionally ruled out homicide.”

“…”

Staring at the glaring headline on the screen, Everly found herself overwhelmed by a tangle of emotions.

This time, the lawyer, Charlie, gave her a moment to process the news before continuing.

“Mr. Shelly stated in his will that after his death, his agent would organize a posthumous exhibition of his works at Clester Gallery in New Alder City. The exhibition will feature previously unpublished paintings, including the final piece Mr. Shelly completed before taking his own life.”

“Only after both you and Mr. Thomas have viewed the entire exhibition will you become eligible to inherit your shares of the estate. Should either of you refuse to attend, it will be considered a voluntary forfeiture of your inheritance rights.”

“Why does inheriting an estate have to be this complicated?”

The lawyer answered matter-of-factly.

“According to Mr. Shelly’s own explanation, he hoped that through these paintings, you and Mr. Thomas would gain a deeper understanding of his character and inner world, so that even after his death, you would remember him forever.”

“…”

Knowing Shelly’s narcissistic personality, Everly doubted that “understanding his character” was his real objective.

More likely, what he truly wanted was for Thomas and her to forever remember that every cent they spent had come from him—to remain eternally grateful for his generosity.

True to her naturally cautious nature, a dozen questions immediately sprang to mind after a brief moment’s thought.

“When exactly is this exhibition? Where is it being held? Besides Thomas and me, will anyone else be attending? And what exactly counts as viewing the entire exhibition? Is there some specific requirement—like having to stand in front of each painting for a certain amount of time, or something like that?”

“The exhibition will be held three days from now in New Alder City, Ascamona State. Besides yourself and Mr. Thomas, Mr. Shelly also invited over a hundred guests, including well-known figures from the art world—critics, collectors, painters, gallery owners, members of the media, and art bloggers.”

“As for what constitutes viewing all the works, Mr. Shelly did not provide any further clarification in his will. Therefore, we will interpret it according to its plain meaning: both you and Mr. Thomas must have viewed every painting displayed at the exhibition in order to qualify for your inheritance.”

“I see. I understand the situation now. I’ll think it over on my end and get back to you later.”

With that, Everly was ready to hang up.

Of course, by “think it over,” she wasn’t debating whether or not to accept the inheritance.

She was evaluating the risks of making the trip.

Free money was free money—there was no reason to turn it down.

As her father, Shelly had barely paid Everly any attention over the years and had utterly failed in his responsibilities as a parent. Practically all of her living expenses had been covered by Old John. Even the occasional financial support from Shelly had only come after Everly repeatedly badgered him for it, and he had always handed over the money reluctantly, more out of concern for his own reputation than genuine fatherly affection. She had long harbored resentment over that.

A deadbeat father like that?

Wasn’t it only natural that, after his death, she should receive a share of his estate?

From what Everly knew, her scumbag father’s career had flourished over the years. She estimated that the old man had to be worth at least several million dollars. Even if she and Thomas split the inheritance and her own share ended up being smaller, she would still likely receive well over a million dollars. For that kind of money, making a special trip to Ascamona State was hardly an unreasonable price to pay.

Still, it was a long journey.

To be on the safe side, Everly decided she needed to investigate the situation thoroughly before giving the lawyer a definite answer.

The lawyer on the other end of the line suddenly added, almost as an afterthought,

“Miss Everly, Mr. Shelly’s total assets—including his real estate, securities, trust funds, bank deposits, artwork, and other holdings—are conservatively valued at over thirty million dollars.”

“How much?!”

Everly’s voice cracked in shock.

“If you successfully inherit Mr. Shelly’s estate,” the lawyer patiently repeated, “a conservative estimate is that you will receive at least ten million dollars’ worth of assets.”

“!!!”

There was nothing left to think about.

Forget investigating first—agree now, ask questions later!

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**TN

Guess who’s back~ Back again~ ꒰ঌ(˶ˆᗜˆ˵)໒꒱

Nooooo, I was looking forward to Everly meeting Shelly again, now he’s suddenly dead. Darn it. (╥_╥)