‘These walkways have been laid out very well,’ Athreya said appreciatively. ‘Most places where I have seen such interlocking blocks have a few ups and downs, and you can sometimes stub your toes on them.’
‘Yes. The people who built them took special effort to ensure that the blocks were laid evenly, without edges or bumps. The idea is to afford smooth passage to Dad’s wheelchair. The wheelchair needs an even surface, especially at the speed Dad drives it.’
They had reached the mansion, and were about to enter Manu’s room through the French windows when a raised voice came from their right.
‘I will not let you spoil the family name!’ Bhaskar thundered, anger crackling in his voice.
‘Manu has briefed you on the matters relating to the inheritance of the estate,’ Bhaskar began as Athreya and Varadan sat in his study after breakfast. ‘To put that into perspective, it would be useful for you, Mr Athreya, to understand a bit of history.
‘My father, Thomas Fernandez, was a wealthy man by most standards. By all accounts, he ran a tight business, but he was also a fair-minded man. He is said to have helped freedom fighters and anti-British rebels extensively before Independence. But in those days, anyone who wanted to succeed had no option but to do business with the British, and that’s how he learnt about the Greybrooke estate and eventually ended up buying it.
‘My parents had three children. I am the eldest, followed by my brother, Mathew, who was two years younger. My sister, Sarah, followed Mathew into this world a year-and-a-half later. There is this peculiar thing about the Fernandez clan … all the Fernandez boys have little respect for convention and are often overly venturesome. They are often given to eccentricity, and do crazy things. I myself am no exception. Thankfully, Manu seems to have broken the mould.
‘But let me start with Sarah, my sister. As luck would have it, she married a leech named Gonzalves. That is what set off a chain of events that continue to this day. When my mother–a divine soul by the name of Anjali–died, my father decided to begin transferring his wealth to his children. Mind you, the Greybrooke estate, which he bought dirt cheap, was only a part of his assets. He had more in the form of investments, property and his business.
‘The first thing he did when he began planning his bequests was to take care of his daughter. He settled a minor fortune on Sarah, and gave her a large property in Madras, now Chennai. Together, the money and the property accounted for roughly a third of his wealth. That, he said until his dying day, was the biggest mistake of his life. That’s because Gonzalves, Sarah’s rascal of a husband, liquidated the inheritance and ran through it in a few years.
‘As if that were not enough, Gonzalves then made Sarah pester Dad for more money. He even resorted to emotional blackmail, but Dad didn’t budge. Sarah used to come here to Greybrooke and spend long periods of time with Dad. Partly to get away from her badgering husband, partly in the hope of getting some money. She succeeded to some extent, but Dad would never give her large sums.
‘He made sure, however, that the needs of Sarah’s daughter, Michelle, were fully met. He directly funded her education and sent her money every month for her expenses.
‘Coming to my brother, Mathew, it was a different story. Mathew was an inveterate rebel, who liked to wear his defiance on his sleeve. His pet target was Dad. He and Dad were perpetually at war with each other. On anything and everything, from the smallest thing to the biggest, they would clash. Eventually, there came a time when Dad thought it best that they didn’t live under the same roof.
‘Unlike me, Mathew had always shown interest in Dad’s business, which was doing very well. By this time, Dad was getting old, and was finding it difficult to run the business. Besides, my mother’s health was failing, and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
‘It was therefore a very agreeable solution to all parties concerned when Dad gave his business to Mathew, who gladly accepted it and moved away. The unequivocal understanding was that Mathew would not get a significant share of Dad’s remaining wealth, which would largely come to me. Mathew had, for all practical purposes, been settled.
‘But, by the time Dad died, things had changed. Mathew had been reckless and had run the business into the ground. Dad had finalized his will in which the Greybrooke estate–now of substantial value–would come to me. I also inherited a chunk of his financial investments, while Sarah and Mathew got smaller portions.
‘Dad had been clear in his mind that he had divided his assets into three roughly equal parts, which he had given to his three children. Two of these three, he had largely given away before he wrote the will. This distribution he documented meticulously, lest his will be contested by people who did not know the history of the family.
‘But when Dad died and the will was about to take effect, Mathew disputed it in court. Abetted by Gonzalves, who was still hoping to gain from Dad’s death, Sarah joined Mathew in the challenge. In their plea, they made no mention of the inheritance they had already received–and squandered–from Dad. Given the clear documentation Dad had attached to the will as his reasoning, there was little merit to the challenge.
‘But our courts are what they are. The challenge dragged on, stoking bitterness and resentment along the way. By the time it came to a proper hearing, both Sarah and Mathew were gone. Sarah had been diagnosed with cancer, and
