The Conference, Part IV

After the funeral of Greyce's father, her mother naturally contested the will. Greyce was happy regarding the will. It left her one million dollars. However, her mother wanted half of the money. It was her contention that SHE, not Greyce, deserved it after suffering through a mostly loveless marriage to someone she subconsciously felt was her inferior in every way!

Greyce's mother hired a lawyer and brought the matter before a judge. The mother indicated that Greyce did not deserve one penny of the will as she was earning quite a lucrative salary as a hospital administrator in addition to other investments. The mother loudly asserted that she deserved EVERY penny of the will. The judge deliberated on this subject.

However, things were not going in the mother's favor. Greyce brought in some paternal family members who testified against the mother. One of the witnesses, Greyce's paternal first cousin once removed. asserted that the mother NEVER cared one iota about neither the father nor the daughter. The judge heard all of the testimony and decided in Greyce's favor. She was awarded all of the will while the mother received NOTHING.

This was not the end. Greyce's mother WANTED the money and INTEND to get it! She again filed another petition in court and gathered some maternal relatives who were not particularly fond of Greyce. This time another judge decided that the will would be split 60/40. 60% of the will would go to the mother while Greyce would get the remaining 40%. Of course, the mother was elated but Greyce felt shortchanged! She decided to lay low for a while regarding this issue as it would be settled at a later date!

About five and a half years passed since the death of Greyce's father. She have noticed that her mother was becoming more mentally incapacitated, probably an early onset of alzheimers. Her mother, once a sharp woman, was becoming more befuddled by life. Her mother become so bad that she was unable to take care of herself. She and a nurse employed to care for her mother elected to place the latter in a nursing home.

However, before the mother was placed in a nursing home, Greyce made herself a guardian in charge of the finances. Greyce and a lawyer friend, who worked pro bono, had her mother's name removed from the assets statement delineated in the will and put her name on the statement sheet. Greyce now had all the monies.

The mother was in a nursing home for three years before she died. During those three years, Greyce never visited her mother. Not once! The only thing that she thought about during those three years was her mother's death. Greyce figured that her mother was totally senile and believed that the latter would be better off dead. Then Greyce got her wish. At the funeral, her maternal relatives cried. They knew that the mother was such a wonderful, giving, and encouraging person. Greyce thought to herself that her mother was NEVER those things to her and .........good riddance regarding the witch's death!

Poor Greyce-she thought that her mother's death would be the end. Actually, it was not. She started to have premonitory dreams regarding her mother. Her mother in a dream warned her that her fate would be perilous. Her mother stated to Greyce in this dream that she was AWARE how the former sped her death, adding that the former would soon get her comeuppance! Greyce had these dreams constantly, often waking up in a cold sweat! She obviously have a hidden, dark secret on her conscious. Only SHE and I knew what she did to cause her mother's death.............

The fourth person was George Tkachuk. He was the golden boy and favorite child in a family of six children born to Ukrainian immigrants from Volhynia, Poland. George was darkly handsome, athletic, and smart to the point to utter brilliance. He knew that he would overcome his working class roots as a child with the avid encouragement of parents and teachers.

George won scholarships to an exclusive high school and Ivy League university because of a combination of his athletic and academic prowess. His stellar grades in college automatically guaranteed him admittance to the graduate school of his choice. He ultimately earned a MBA in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. His future was guaranteed.

In George's first year out of graduate school, he was earning a six figure income. He was a rising star in the world of finance. He was definitely on the fast track to becoming a millionaire before he was 30 years of age. Well, he finally achieved this goal and much more.

George's life was quite enviable. A penthouse apartment on Chicago's Gold Coast and everything he could wish for. Being the good boy that he was, he helped his family-brought his parents a home in Florida which included a maid. Besides that, he vowed to help put his nieces and nephews through college although all of his five siblings achieved middle class status and/or better. However, he was the wealthiest of all the six siblings which made him decide to give back to his family and the Chicago Ukrainian community. He made good on his word.

However, there was quite a dark side to George Tkachuk. He became involved in many nefarious business deals which made him a multimillionaire twenty times over. He also developed into a quite a ruthless and amoral businessman whose main priority was the bottom line. He intended to get HIS no matter whom he harmed along the way.............. However, lately, he has been having sleepless nights...........he did not know that NIGHTMARES could be so frightening REAL........

Mark Thorpe was the fifth victim.....er.....I mean person invited to the conference. He was a total nondescript........LOSER! His whole life was Friday the 13th. I believe that he was the UNLUCKIEST person ever born. Oh yes, he was born into a lower upper class family with connections to the entertainment business in Beverly Hills, California. He had EVERY ADVANTAGE in life! His parents and one older sister were loving and caring towards him. He attended the very best schools............

You wondered what happened to Mark? Yes and so do I. Well, Mark had so many privileges that he lost his backbone and willpower. In essence, he is a lazy boy who expected the whole world to owe him something. Well, it necessarily does not go that way! Despite the superior education afforded to him, his academic record was mediocre to middling to say the least. He was a big-FAILURE!

After graduating from a community college with a 2.0 grade index, Mark's father, a prominent entertainment executive, obtained a job for him. Mark performed at his usual mediocrity on the job. However, his father tolerated it and let him coast along. Then another person took the father's place when the latter decided to start his own entertainment agency. This person did not take kindly to Mark's subpar work performance and he was- fired! Of course, with his family connections, it would not be difficult for him to get another job........