Dropping the Bomb


    Thankfully, I didn’t have high expectations from them anyways and so I wasn’t really disappointed.


    Avoiding their gazes, I sat down on the sofa while I waited for Lawrence to arrive.


    “So? What really happened?” my mother asked.


    “I don’t know either, mum. Ourwyer is on the way. You remember Lawrence, right? He’ll be here in


    less than half an hour. So please, save whatever questions that you may have for him…” I said


    emotionlessly.


    I felt cold and lost inside. If I could choose, I would choose to simply disintegrate and disappear from


    here. Their questions made me feel sick. Theirck of sympathy or feelings made me feel disgusted. It


    was obvious that all they were worried about was how much money I would walk away with from


    George’s death.


    …


    Lawrence was true to his word and arrived before the half hour mark. After politely reintroducing


    himself to my parents, he got down to business immediately. For his line of work, I knew that time was


    money. George paid Lawrence a lot and they’ve worked together for a long time. If someone knew the


    truth about George and his business, then it was Lawrence.


    “Let me start out by exining the current situation to all of you so that we are aligned. Then we can


    decide on how to proceed further,” Lawrence said, getting right to the point.


    “Ok…” I mumbled softly.


    “Mr. Westford has been having financial difficulties for the past year or so. As a result of poor financial


    performance in the hedge funds that he manages along with investments in real estate, he started


    misinforming his investors andmitted some fraudulent activities. The investors have sued for


    has ruled recently that Mr. Westford has to pay back quite arge sum of money…” Lawrence


    exined grimly.


    “How much? George has a lot of money so…” my mother jumped in immediately.


    “Well, he did have a lot of money but in the past year due his spending…” Lawrence replied.


    “You mean hispulsive gambling…not his spending…” I quickly corrected.


    “Yes, that too. Let me skip to the end result. At his death, Mr. Westford’s wealth is in the negative zone.


    In other words, even after ounting for his assets and all sources of wealth, Mr. Westford is around


    700 million dors in debt,” Lawrence concluded.


    700 million dors in debt…


    “What?! Are you being serious?” I cried out in shock. Did I hear that right?


    George is in that much debt even after taking into ount all of his assets. Impossible. George has so


    many assets. Land, buildings, jets, gold, diamonds, and everything else.


    “Yes, Madame. I regret to inform you that because of his gambling, he’s been selling off his assets for a


    while now to fund his adventures. There isn’t much left at the time of his death and when we take into


    ount his debt, wend at around 700 million dors without a doubt,” Lawrence reconfirmed the


    worse.


    “Impossible…this cannot be happening to us!” my mother yelled loudly before she burst into tears.


    I was too shocked to react to my mother’s outburst. My entire face felt numb, and the numbness was


    slowly spreading to the rest of my body. Am I about to faint?


    “So that bastard killed himself to escape his debt?” my father asked in shock.


    “I cannotment on that, sir,” Lawrence replied professionally.


    “What happens to the debt now that George is dead?” my father asked as his eyes narrowed


    suspiciously at thewyer.


    Good question. If George is dead, then…


    “I regret to inform you this but since Mr. Westford has passed away, his debt burden will be directly


    transfer to his living wife. Madame, that is you…” Lawrence said as he looked pointedly at me.


    “Me? I have to repay the debt in his ce? That’s crazy…” I said in disbelief.


    “Wait. If his assets cannot cover it, then it’s too bad for the banks and investors. They just won’t get


    their money back; it should have nothing to do with my daughter…” my father countered.


    “That would normally be the case, Sir. However, in this case, it isn’t purely Mr. Westford’s debt,”


    Lawrence replied readily.


    “What do you mean?” I asked, not quite following.


    “Madame, you co-signed the documents to take on the debt along with yourte husband. The debt is


    a shared one and now that he is gone, you are the one solely responsible for paying it back,” Lawrence


    exined professionally and bluntly.


    “But I didn’t…” I started denying but then I had to stop mid-sentence.


    “I think you may recall signing these documents. I don’t think your signature was forged here…”


    Lawrence said regretfully as he ced some documents onto the coffee table in between us.


    My heart felt like it was going to stop beating as I recalled the many times when George came back


    Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.


    homete at night. He asked me to sign some documents for him before I went to bed. He told me that


    they were necessary for him to invest in something with good return. He said that because we were


    married, I had to sign it too. I was so sleepy, and I signed it without question and without reading any of


    the documents. He was my husband and I just trusted himpletely. George was also smart and


    respectable in the investment field and so I never suspected anything at all.


    “So now I’m 700 million in debt?” I asked, incredulously.


    “I’m afraid so, Madame. I can try to negotiate with the investors and the banks in court, but I doubt the


    figure is going to change much,” thewyer exined before pursing his lips tightly together.


    “This is insane! This is not true. It can’t be! You’re tricking us!” my mother shouted loudly as she


    jumped out of her seat.


    “Calm down please…” my father said sternly.


    “My daughter was supposed to get all of her husband’s money. He’s filthy rich so how can this


    happen?!” my mother wailed like a mad woman as tears rolled down her red face.


    --To be continued…