“Yes, and Ivy House has several vacation houses and castles already. I haven’t been to any of them, but the documents and details are in the filing cabinet. They probably all need work. Otherwise, you can do anything you like with it, miss, within reason. You can’t give it all away to Austin Steele, or anything like that, for example. You may donate to a reputable charity up to a certain percentage per year. And no, you cannot take it with you when you die. It stays with the house, and will be transferred to the next heir. But you can pay off Jimmy’s school tuition and your debts, and maybe buy yourself a nicer car and better clothes and fix up the furnishings.”
“Yes, yes, I get it.”
“Maybe a haircut and something besides sweats and jeans might be nice—”
“I got it. Fix myself up. Loud and clear.” I shook my head, letting it sink in. “I’m a billionaire.”
“As long as you are living, yes, you are a billionaire. One hundred and sixty times over. Not all liquid, though, let’s be realistic.”
I felt faint. “I might be the richest person in the world.”
“Those things always change, but you’ll certainly be one of them.”
“What a crazy life.”
“Yes, miss, I believe we covered that when you were trying to wrap your head around magic. Now, would you like to make any changes?”
I rubbed my eyes. “Give me some time to look through everything, Mr. Tom. I’m a whiz with a budget, not that I expressly need that skill now, but I need some time to sort through all this handwritten…stuff.”
“Yes, miss. I’ll bring up some coffee and snacks. Anything else?”
My head slid to what happened a week ago. To what would happen next month.
“No, thanks,” I said, because money could fix many things, but it couldn’t help me prepare for what I would be facing. I wasn’t sure anything could. I’d need to learn attack and kill spells, and if I didn’t basically use them before Elliot Graves could open his mouth, I’d be beaten before the duel started.
Because it would be a duel—of that I was certain—and I did not intend to lose.
. ~ . ~ . ~ .