The second son, Scott Justin, frowned. “What inheritance? Father isn’t even dead yet. Isn’t it a bit early to be talking about this?”
Scott Justin had always been a troublemaker.
His greatest joy in life was fathering illegitimate children with various women.
If it weren’t for the Scott family’s wealth, he wouldn’t even be able to afford so many children.
Despite his reckless personal life, he was otherwise fairly harmless—he had never tried to seize power or cause major trouble for the family.
Since he didn’t pose a threat, Livinus had always treated him with relative tolerance, even occasionally giving him money to fund his extravagant lifestyle.
Thus, Scott Justin was one of the few people in the family who stood firmly on Livinus’s side.
Although he was a troublemaker, Scott Justin didn’t want the old man to die.
He knew that if the inheritance were to be divided up now, he wouldn’t get much—probably just enough to last him a year or two before it was all gone.
Of course, it was far better to keep things the way they were, relying on the Scott family’s wealth and connections to ensure a steady stream of money every year.
“Exactly!” Scott Weston also frowned, staring at Richard in disbelief. “Our father isn’t even dead yet—where did this talk of inheritance come from? Big Brother, no matter what, you shouldn’t be cursing our father like this. He devoted his entire life to this family, and now you’re talking about his death as if it’s already happened?”
Richard put on a pained expression and sighed. “Do you think I want Father to die? It’s just that…I’ve heard from reliable sources that he’s already dead, but certain people have covered up the news, buying themselves time to forge a fake will.”
“What?”
His words sent shockwaves through the room.
Everyone turned to him in shock.
“Father is dead? Since when?”
“Yeah! Isn’t he still in the hospital? The doctors said that if we didn’t take him off life support, he could continue surviving with the ventilator, though waking up was unlikely.”
“I haven’t heard anything about this—what’s going on, Big Brother?”
The family erupted into murmurs of disbelief.
Richard let out a heavy sigh. “I find it hard to believe, too. Father cared about us so much, and he built this family fortune for us to inherit. And yet…we weren’t even given the chance to say goodbye. Just like that, he was taken away from us. My heart aches just thinking about it.”
As he spoke, his eyes welled up with tears, and his sorrowful expression convinced many of the family members.
“Some people are truly ruthless. They hid Father’s death from us, all for the sake of controlling the inheritance. Do you think he planned to take everything for himself before announcing the news? But no matter what, Father’s death isn’t just his business—it concerns all of us. It affects the entire Scott family, even the business world at large!”
His pointed accusations made everyone turn their gaze toward Livinus.
But Livinus remained completely still.
Under the scrutiny of the entire room, he calmly lifted a teacup and took a slow sip.
“Livinus, what’s going on?” Scott Justin asked.
“Yeah, Old Four,” Scott Weston added.
They weren’t fond of the fact that Livinus had a larger share of the family fortune, but at least they believed that with him in charge, Scott Corporation was in the right hands.
Still, that didn’t mean he could hide their father’s death.
“Is it true? Is Father really gone?”
Even though the old man had been sick for a while, hearing about his actual death was still difficult to accept.
“Old Four!”
“Livinus!”
Everyone called out to him.
Before Livinus could respond, the old lady suddenly stepped out.
Hearing their words, her body swayed, and she nearly collapsed from shock.
“My husband is dead? He’s dead?”
The old lady turned to Livinus, her eyes full of disbelief.
For days, Livinus had refused to let her visit her husband, which had already seemed strange.
And now, out of nowhere, this news of his death?
“Help the old lady inside!” Livinus ordered.
Only after ensuring she was taken care of did he finally lift his gaze and look at Richard.
His expression was unreadable.
“How do you know the old man is dead?”
Richard hesitated for a moment, then sneered. “Nothing stays secret forever. Did you really think you were the only one with connections in the nursing home? Someone who was there told me—said Father had already passed. Why else would you keep it quiet? What exactly are you trying to pull?”
The claim sounded highly plausible, and the tension in the room grew.
If Livinus had truly hidden their father’s death just to manipulate the inheritance, that was far beyond acceptable.
“Oh?” Livinus’s voice was indifferent. “So what exactly have you gathered us here for today?”
Richard faltered slightly, then quickly regained his composure. He signaled his men, and one of them stepped forward.
“Father’s stroke was unexpected,” Richard began, “and according to the company’s legal team, he didn’t leave behind an official will. This makes dividing the inheritance very difficult. After all, we are four brothers, and Father’s estate includes numerous properties, company shares, stakes in various small businesses, and substantial bank deposits. The question of distribution is a complicated matter.”
He let his words sink in before continuing.
“But what you don’t know is that Father, realizing his time was short, wrote a final will and entrusted it to me. This was his last testament.”
The revelation stunned everyone.
