Black Moonlight Read Online Free PDF Page B

didn’t realize you still had it. Where was it?”
    “It’s been here the whole time. Packed away,” Ashcroft explained.
    Creighton felt a lump form in his throat. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
    “Yes, thank you,” Marjorie echoed.
    Ashcroft waved his hand dismissively. “And now that the formalities are out of the way, I have a personal announcement I’d like to make. George, could you bring your mother in here, please?”
    As George retrieved Selina from the kitchen, Mr. Ashcroft’s audience exchanged questioning glances, each person looking to the other for some indication of what was to come next.
    Once Selina was seated by the kitchen door, Mr. Ashcroft cleared his throat. “As you all may, or may not, know, last month marked my sixty-fifth year on this earth. Being closer in years to his death than his birth makes a man reassess his life. It was during the process of reassessing my life that I came to an eye-opening, somewhat disappointing conclusion: that none of you are worth my time, my energy, or, most importantly, my money.”
    There was a loud uproar from his audience, but Ashcroft quelled their murmurs, gasps, and protests, with a raise of his hand.
    “You have all been written out of my will.”
    Another uproar followed. This time, Ashcroft let it die out on its own. “You are all out of my will,” he repeated, “except for one worthy individual.”
    His audience, once again, exchanged puzzled glances.
    “Selina, my loyal employee for nearly thirty years now,” Ashcroft started amid murmurs and whispers. “Yesterday, you asked me for the money to send your beloved son to university. When I refused, you threatened to blackmail me.”
    “I was out of my head,” Selina explained. “I was angry … I—”
    “Whatever your reasons, I will beat you to the punch,” Ashcroft trumped. “George is my son.”
    The news produced a series of horrified gasps from his audience—with the exclusion of Marjorie who stared open-mouthed at her dining companions. “Are you joking? No one here guessed that Mr. Ashcroft was George’s father? They have the same eyes! It gave me pause once or twice—and I only just arrived this morning.” Realizing her faux pas, she drew her hand to her mouth. “Sorry
… I … go on.”
    George, meanwhile, was fuming. “Is it true, mother?” he asked.
    Selina nodded.
    “Why didn’t you tell me? And you,” George pointed at his father, “you knew I was your son, but you kept me here as an indentured servant. I hate you!!”
    “So do my other sons. Why should you be any different?” Ashcroft remarked before turning his attention to the opposite end of the table.
    “Griselda, my darling wife,” he started.
    “Yes, sweetheart,” she replied in a saccharine tone.
    “You were my secretary long before you were ever my wife. As such, I thought I could trust you.”
    “You can,” she assured.
    “Can I? I’ve taken a look at your spending over the past few months. The generous allowance I give you hasn’t been spent entirely on dresses, hats, or hairdressing. You’ve spent some of it on those things, grant you, but the rest of it has been used to pay the rent on a small flat in northern New Jersey.”
    “But—” she began to argue.
    “I can only imagine what you do there and with whom,” he stated.
    “I wouldn’t,” Griselda cried, sending a cascade of black mascara down her face. “I swear I wouldn’t!”
    Cassandra reached over and placed a comforting hand on Griselda’s shoulder. “Do not despair; your spirit guide will not let you fall.”
    Mr. Ashcroft started laughing uncontrollably. “You may want to consult your ‘spirit guide’ in a moment, Cassandra. Or shall I call you Rose? That’s your real name, isn’t it? Your last position as a spiritual ‘teacher’ was in Rhode Island, and it resulted in your being named as the sole beneficiary of an old lady’s will. When the woman met with an unfortunate ‘accident’ and you