Episode 0001 - From Every Ending, A Beginning...

"...Devereaux was a strong woman, dedicated to her family and to her community. Treasure Island would not be the community that it is without her. Her great-grandfather came here years ago and turned this small island into a thriving, close-knit community of families and businesses; her grandfather and father carried on the tradition, and she gladly accepted the burden of continuing her family's legacy. When her husband died prematurely, she raised three children who each have their own Devereaux characteristics, and who will no doubt honor their mother as they ..."

Drake Devereaux shifted uncomfortably in the folding chair as he listed to the priest drone on and on about his mother. He wiped away some strands of sandy blond hair that had fallen across his forehead and rested his hands once again in his lap. He loved his mother, no doubt about that, but she was so wrapped up in the family business and family legacy and embracing the family heritage that somehow or another, any actual familial emotions got lost in the process. He had kept up the charade for long enough, and with her gone, maybe for the first time in his life, he could finally be himself.

 His older brother Maxwell, however, was the perfect son his mother always wanted. His chiseled good looks, his dark wavy hair, his piercing blue eyes - even now, at their mother's funeral, he had the perfect expression of strength and sorrow, his arm wrapped dutifully around his picture-perfect wife, Alyssa, who was wiping the tears from her eyes with a Kleenex. Everyone could see how much the death of Mama Devereaux was affecting them. But Drake knew better. He knew that on the inside, those two could not wait for this service to end so they could get back to the house and read the will. It was pretty much a given that Max, as the older brother, would inherit the business and the majority of the family fortune - which was fine by Drake. The further he could get away from all of it, the happier he would be.

Samantha Devereaux sat on the other side of Alyssa. As the youngest of the three siblings, she was the one who pretty much got away with everything. It was never expected that she would go into the family business. No, it was expected she would marry into another wealthy family, so that the Devereaux empire could expand even further through her. But Sam had other plans. She had always been the trouble maker, skipping school, getting caught underage in bars, getting arrested. She was what some might call the black sheep of the family. But in Sam's mind, she knew exactly what she was doing. In fact, everything she was did was calculated for a purpose.  And soon, they would all find out exactly what that purpose was.

"...ashes to ashes, and dust to dust, from dust we were formed, and to dust we shall return. But our soul, our spirit lives on, and as her body is laid to its final resting place, we take comfort in knowing that her soul has gone on to be with our Lord for all eternity..."

Sam nearly choked on the thought. That priest knew nothing about her mother, otherwise he would be admitting that she was likely burning in hell.  Or, more likely, she was down there giving Lucifer orders, taking over like she did everything else in everyone else's lives.  Good riddance, you old bat, she thought with a smirk.

The service ended, and as the sun began to set along the coast line, people expressed their condolences and left the small family cemetery.  By the time twilight was falling, the Devereaux children climbed into the sleek, black stretch limo to return home.  As the car began to pull out of the cemetery, inside Max spoke up,

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way, we need to start addressing things and get everything settled as quickly as possible."

"Of course," Sam said with a chuckle. "I mean, we wouldn't want to delay you and that tramp of yours from getting your hands on all that money, now would we?"

"Sam," Drake sighed.  "Please, can we just get through one night....?"

"Your brother is right," Max chided her. "We all know your feelings of me and my wife, you've made that abundantly clear, thousands of times. But now that Mama is not hear to protect you any more, it will not be tolerated.  You can either learn to accept our marriage and treat Alyssa with the respect she deserves, or you can get out of the house and out of our lives."

Sam laughed, twirling a long strand of her dark brown hair with her fingers. "Oh, I'm sure you two would just love that, wouldn't you? Well, I wouldn't count on that happening any time soon.  I plan to stick around for a long time, brother dearest.  And don't worry.  As far as your little hussy goes, she will get everything she deserves, believe me!"

"Enough!" Drake was surprised at the forcefulness of his own voice, but it was enough to quiet the car.  The remainder of the trip along Gulf Boulevard was a silent one, with Max comforting his wife, Sam typing away on her phone, and Drake staring out the window, watching one hotel and condominium plaza after another pass by. As the car began to reach the south end of the island, it pulled into a drive that led through a large wrought iron gate and down a long brick drive. The limo came to a rest before a three story, completely white  home that most would call a mansion. If nothing else, the Devereaux home was not modest.

The family members made their way as quickly as they could into the library at the back of the house, its large bay window overlooking the Gulf.  Night had settled in, and Parker Quinley, the family attorney, sat behind the desk, papers strewn out in front of him.  Max and Alyssa took the large, straight back chairs in front of the desk, while Drake settled into a more comfortable chair in the back corner.  Sam marched right up and sat on the corner of her desk, her short black skirt showing her smooth, sexy legs.  Max motioned for her to get off the desk, but she simply smiled and leaned back.

"If we can begin?" Max prompted, but Quinley held up his hand.

"Not yet," the middle aged man said, his salt and paper hair shaved close to his scalp. "We are waiting on someone else."

The Devereaux children looked at one another, wondering who else could possible be needed for the reading of their mother's will.  "I don't see why anyone else needs - - "

He was interrupted when the door opened, and a man in his late 40s dressed in black khakis and a grey polo shirt with the Devereaux crest embroidered on the left side of his chest came into the room. He appeared very uncomfortable and was not sure what to do.

"Come in, Mr. Allen," Quinley said, waving him in and motioning him to a chair next to Drake.

"Wait a minute," Max said, standing up.  "What is the hired help doing here?  This is a private family matter!"

Quinley sighed. "Sit down, Maxwell. Mr. Allen is here because I asked him to come. In order to read your mother's Will, I must have all of her beneficiaries present."

"Wait, what?" Gregory Allen was shocked. He knew his employer had died, but he was not invited to the funeral, so to think that he could possibly be in her Will was unbelievable.

"You've got to be kidding me," Alyssa spoke for the first time since they had left the gravesite. "I suppose she wanted to be benevolent and leave the little people something."

Drake shook his head and shook Gregory's hand, guiding him to the seat next to him. The sooner they could get this over, the sooner he could get out of here.

"Okay," Quinley began. "Now that everyone is here, we can begin.  I will skip over all of the legal necessities such as the sound mind and payment of proper debts portions, as I know none of you want to be here all night. So, let's get right to the bequests."

Sam licked her lips, and Drake noticed that Max sat up just a bit straighter in his chair, Alyssa holding tightly to his hand.  Gregory, on the other hand, was simply nervous, wringing his hands over and over.

"To my loyal employee, Gregory Allen, for all of his years of dedicated service and his faithfulness to my family, as well as his invaluable assistance after my own Brantley passed away well before his time, I hereby instruct my attorney to pay, in full, any outstanding balance on the mortgage that he may currently have on his home - - "

Gregory gasped, his eyes opening wide in shock.

" - - on the sole condition that he remain working with my family's company for so long as he lives. If at any time he tenders his resignation or otherwise is removed from our company for just cause, then any and all monies paid for the mortgage of his home shall then become due and payable back to my estate, in full, immediately thereupon."

Drake was unsure if Gregory heard the condition, as he was simply looking down at his lap, shaking his head in disbelief.  Drake glanced over at his brother and his wife and could already see their minds at work, trying to figure out a way to either fire Gregory or get him to quit, so they could get whatever menial amount of money that mortgage balance amounted to back into their coffers.

"To my free-spirited daughter, Samantha, I leave in trust the sum of three million dollars, to be held in trust until her thirty-fifth birthday, at which time, should the trustee, at his sole discretion, determine she is fit to be able to manage her own finances, the funds will be released for her use; in the meanwhile, said funds shall be used for her maintenance and education, should she choose to pursue a higher education for purposes of bettering her opportunities at a proper merger; otherwise, said funds shall remain in the trust and shall not be accessible by my daughter without the express consent of my trustee."

"What?!" Sam nearly jumped off the desk. "She can't do that to me! That's not fair! That bitch!" With that, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Quinley merely took a breath and then went on.

"All remaining assets, including the family business, all family real estate holdings, bank accounts, off short accounts, and the family home, shall be the property of my sons, to be divided as follows - - "

Drake rolled his eyes. Whatever it was, he'd simply sign it over to Max, take whatever money was left, and get the heck out of dodge. Max, on the other hand, along with Alyssa, were chomping at the bit to see just how large of a percentage they would be receiving.

"To my son, Drake, I leave the total amount of fifty percent..."

Drake raised up in surprise. Had he heard that right? Judging from the evil eye his brother and sister-in-law were giving him, he must have. Fifty percent? But why? His mother was fully aware he had no interest in the real estate business, nor in anything to do with the family legacy. So why would she do that.

"To my son, Maxwell, and his wife, Alyssa, I lave the total amount of twenty-five percent..."

"That's not right!?!" Max stood up, nearly knocking Alyssa out of her chair when he did. "You must have transposed the names. That can't be possible. She would never leave him a larger share of the estate than me! I've been running this family ever since Papa died, and it's my right!  He - - " Max screamed, pointing at Drake with hatred in his eyes, " - - has done nothing for this family and doesn't even want to be a part of it. He's not even a real man, for Christ's sake!"

Drake had heard enough. "Screw you, Maxie," he spewed, using the childhood nickname that Max hated so much. "You're right. I don't want any part of the family business.  Never have, never will.  But trust me when I say, I am more man than you will ever be! And maybe that's something Mama actually saw without ever saying. Maybe she realized I wasn't some yes-man that would do everything I was told, but that I actually knew how to stand up for himself."

"Stand up for yourself?!" Max's face was turning red, he was so furious. "You've never stood up for yourself a day in your life. You could never even tell you own family that you're - - "

"STOP IT!"

Max and Drake closed their mouths and looked at Alyssa, whose mascara was running from the tears streaming down her face. "Are you both really that stupid?" Max and Drake looked at one another and back at her. "I can't believe you are so caught up in whose dick is bigger that you missed the most important thing about the whole bequest."

"What are you talking about?" Max said, his voice somewhat calmer.

"Oh, my God!" Drake exclaimed, realization dawning.  "Max, she's right.  The Will said that the estate would go to her sons..."

"Yes, I know," Max said, clearly frustrated. "I heard.  I was right here when Quinley said it."

"Max, think about it," Drake said, grasping his brother's arms.  "I got fifth percent, you got twenty-five percent - - "

Max started to fume again. "So, what you want to rub it in?  You want to lord it over me now? For someone who claims he doesn't want - - "

"Max, shut up and listen," Alyssa cried, slapping his arm. "He has fifty. You have twenty-five. That's only seventy-five percent.  So, where is the remaining twenty-five percent?"

The color of Max's face drained. Realization settled in, and he sat back down, staring at Quinley. Alyssa leaned against him, crying into his shoulder, while Drake stood behind him.  Gregory remained silent in the background, hoping no one would remember he was there.  He definitely did not want to be a part of this.

Quinley cleared his throat.  "As I was saying.  Drake gets fifty percent, Maxwell gets twenty-five percent."  He looked up at the family, then went back to reading the Will.

"And the remaining twenty-five percent, I leave to my other son - - "