The setting of this scene is, I’m afraid, not a happy one. It takes place in a large manor on a large estate. It’s a very impersonal building with an odd layout containing odd decorations of old dead ancestors and the sort. The whole building is lit rather dimly as if the lighting hadn’t been updated since the 1920s. But our focus should more precisely be on one particular room: The office of the late Mr. Jefferson Dalen, and the people who now gather inside of it.

Now allow me to go off on a tangent as I explain the circumstances as to why these people gather inside this office. Mr. Dalen has been dead for about 76 hours and his greedy family members, who are unfortunately still alive, have come to hear the reading of his will. Well, not so much hear the will as to see what they have won from it.
Mr. Dalen, before his untimely demise, was the owner of a large corporation named Dalen Inc. that manufactured and sold office supplies as well as common household necessities. He had been murdered at the age of 68 in a strange murder case in which no one knows the true killer at this point in time. It was a nasty incident that I won’t go much into, as the details are rather gruesome and quite horrifying.

And as a reward for your patience as I described the circumstances to the above mentioned scenario, I will continue with the description of Mr. Dalen’s family, told by his Lawyer, Mr. Jack Letting. Letting was a bulldog of a man: short and fierce. He’s the one to read the will along with his associate Mr. Harry Child.

Letting says to Child, “These people are crazy. I had to have dinner with them before. It was like staying in a mad house.”

“Oh really?” Child responds. “Do explain.”

Letting nods. “For instance, sitting up front, sobbing into her step-son’s arms, is Amber Dalen, the widow of Jefferson. She’s acclaimed for her beauty, and only people who wished to be ruined talk about her wickedness behind her back.”

“Who would talk bad about such an attractive woman?” Child asked. “I couldn’t ever.”

“Let me continue,” Letting snarls agitated. “She married Jefferson, who was just shy of twice her age upon his death. The reason for marriage was money. The marriage had lasted but 5 years until, if I may quote Amber: ‘The world cruelly took Jefferson away to his final resting place.’ Most of the marriage for Amber was spent seeing other men and spending her husbands money. Fairly sick if you ask me.”

“Well I see why you could say bad things about such a woman,” Child agreed, “but I still wouldn’t mind an evening with her.”

“Oh, shut up, you stupid idiot.” Letting was gritting his teeth. “I don’t care about your social hours.”

Child gulped, looking down scared. When he found the courage to meet Letting’s gaze again, he pointed to the man holding

Amber and asked, “So thats her step-son?”

Letting seemed to be calmed by the question. “Right. Mr. Dalen’s first son, Daniel Dalen, was the kind of son every man wants. He was an all-state linebacker in high school and played throughout college. Built like an ox. Sadly, about halfway through his college career, Dan was banned from the league for taking steroids. His father gave him a job in management at one of the manufacturing plants in town. It had become one of the most successful plants in Dalen Inc. under Dan’s iron fist, however it also caused the employees to be scared out of their minds, bringing up problems with Human Resources.”

Child nodded thoughtfully. “And the other man? The sick looking one.”

Letting chuckled. “Oh you’ll like this one. That would be the second son of Mr. Dalen, Archibald. Although his sickly features, short stature, and falling off glasses make him look silly, do not underestimate him. Like his brother, he had also worked at Dalen Inc., but being closer to his father and actually earning a college degree in business helped him to work his way up to CEO of the entire company. Dalen Inc. prospered under him, but lost its human touch and its ethics, causing Jefferson Dalen to sell the entire company to Archie out of disgust. He may not look as evil as his older brother, but he may be worse.”

Child grimaced. “And people think we’re cut throat.”

Letting laughed. “To be sure, we are, Harry. You should know that after your many trials.”

Child was now disgruntled, “No, no, I just meant we aren’t as-”

He cut himself off mid sentence upon stopping his gaze upon a woman who just arrived. “Say, who’s that?”

Letting fixed his glasses on his nose. “Why that’s Dalen’s first girl of three, Jewel Dalen. She is of little significance to be frank. She’s -what’s the right word - an airhead.”

“A bit sexist, don’t you think?” Child interrupted.

“Hear me out,” Letting growed. “Jewel is the type of woman who wakes up and spends anywhere between two and four hours prepping for the day. And by prepping I mean altering her appearance. She is pretty without all the makeup, but to her, she can use her looks as a tool. She could use it to get pretty much anything she wanted from anybody, as she does in her marriage and friendships. So naturally she wanted to strengthen this tool, which is why she used makeup.”

“Ok, not entirely sexist,” Child admitted. “What about the plain looking girl?”

“Oh now who’s being sexist? A girl can’t be pretty and successful?” Letting let a smile show. “That’s worse than me.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Child glared. “Just tell me.”

Letting continued, “That is the second daughter of Jefferson Dalen, Aren Dalen. She wears pant suits and is the second child in the family to get a college degree. Aren was appointed the head of the Human Resources department and more often than not was on Dan’s case about his treatment of the workers at his plant.”

Child now took the time to take a look around the room. As his eyes drifted across the room he picked out various objects: books he had read before, a fancy globe, the nice cushioned chair, and a big ominous picture of Mr. Dalen himself. And then his eyes finally rested on the center of everyone’s attention. The family was very quiet. No one talked to one another, their eyes staring at the smudged documents on the old mahogany desk of the late Jefferson Dalen. How interesting, he thought. Then he corrected himself, How rude. And then something new caught his eye, a little girl. She was sitting in a slender chair by herself, swinging her legs. Child noticed she wasn’t crying and now he thought, How peculiar.

“Mr. Letting, who is that child,” He asked, “And what is wrong with her?”

Mr. Letting smiled out of joy. “That, my friend, is Jefferson’s youngest daughter, Anna. She is only three, and the only daughter to be mothered by Amber while with Jefferson. Sadly, she is deaf, but she is the sweetest little thing and I swear I’ve seen her do nothing wrong ever.”

“Yes, but why isn’t she crying then? Her father is dead.”

Mr. Letting pondered that, and eventually responded, “Well, likely because she understands the situation well. She is very well mannered.”

As to not bore you with legal terms, I will summarize what came out of the Mr. Letting’s lips as he read the will. Since Archie already had the business, he was left nothing. Since Dan owned the most successful plant, he was also left nothing. Since Aren was very successful at her job, she too was left nothing. Out of pity for Jewel, Mr. Dalen left her and her husband 10,000 dollars. To his wife Amber he left the estate. And to Anna he left all the rest of his belongings when she turned the age of majority, or 18. All of the family looked around the room. They were beginning to plot just how to win Anna’s love and trust to take her money.

This was his final trick upon them.