Chapter 201: Memorial Banquet

The funeral concluded, and at the former residence of Lady He Ben in the small town of Troshna, a memorial banquet for the late lady was being held by friends and family.

Having just finished his work, Henry was in the attic, packing his own belongings, preparing to box everything up and send it back to his rental in Los Angeles.

The employer is gone, so naturally this job is gone too. As for the salary for the last month or so, it should be claimable from the lady's personal lawyer.

Matters concerning money, tax returns, and Lady He Ben's property investment projects were all handled by one of the lady's old friends, a lawyer who had cooperated with her for a very long time.

Furthermore, Henry had to settle the petty cash Lady He Ben had left with him, and also return the supplementary credit card. All related items must be signed for with a formal receipt.

What can one say? Someone has died, but the living must continue to live; the rules of the world cannot be ignored, especially regarding money, which easily sparks disputes.

"Henry, are you up there?" someone shouted towards the attic staircase.

"Yes. Is anything missing downstairs?" Most of the items for the memorial banquet were prepared by Henry. He mainly made cold dishes, not many things that had to be eaten while hot. If they were finished, they would need to be replenished or replaced with other items.

However, the person standing at the attic staircase entrance was not there to ask Henry to come down and help. It was a German old man with a Mediterranean bald spot, Anni Adler, Lady He Ben's lawyer.

He said, "Because the lady's family all have their own lives and are scattered far apart. Gathering them again in the future may not be convenient. Therefore, the will is scheduled to be read tonight, and I am here to notify you that you must also attend."

As Henry walked down, he said in surprise, "The will is being read; what is my role there?"

"You are required to be there, of course, because it concerns you. Do not wander off tonight, or I will have to notify you again."

"Uh, alright. I will be there." After agreeing, Henry asked again, "Mr. Adler, how should my final salary, as well as the petty cash and credit card the boss entrusted to me, be handled?"

"Oh, regarding this part, the lady instructed me before she passed to settle this with you, and there are specific funds allocated to handle these expenses. The accountant happens to be here too; come with me to find him and settle this matter."

Henry asked, "Is there a quiet place in the house? Or should you come up to the attic?"

The two looked around the house, and Lawyer Adler said, "I think I will bring the person up to the attic."

"Good. Then I will go prepare the receipts and the items to be handed over."

"Fine."

A short while later, Lawyer Adler brought another German old man up to the attic.

This place was originally used as a warehouse, but since Henry moved in, it had been cleaned and organized, creating a small living room and a bedroom. It was much larger than the room originally assigned to him downstairs.

However, the person preparing to leave had packed up his own things again, so it looked a bit messy. Fortunately, it did not appear dirty, and the lighting was quite bright.

Seeing this, Anni Adler asked, "Henry, are you moving out so soon?"

"My job was to be the boss's assistant. The boss is gone, and I cannot communicate with spirits to act as her spokesperson in the human world or anything like that. If I don't leave, what else can I do?" Henry laughed.

"Did Robert or Xiao En come to talk to you?"

Shaking his head, Henry said, "They both have their own trusted staff. I was just lucky enough to fill the vacancy left after the previous driver, Anton, retired, which allowed me the honor of working by the boss's side. Now, if I were to insist on staying, it would feel meaningless."

It was because the person he served was Audrey He Ben that Henry could persist in the assistant position. If it were anyone else, he would have no interest. This was not a matter of ability, but of whether he enjoyed doing it.

After inviting the two respectable men to sit and serving them tea, Henry spread the ledger, receipts, and the various currencies and credit cards prepared for return across the table.

The accountant settled the accounts based on the ledger and receipts, and counted the amounts. After confirming everything was correct, he issued a visa certification.

Together with Anni Adler, the lawyer, they placed the returned cash and credit cards into a kraft paper envelope for sealing, to be taken out and counted again during the future property settlement.

Lawyer Adler also reviewed the formal receipt Henry had just drafted, confirmed the wording was correct, and then both parties signed and accepted it.

Especially since this legal document was signed in Switzerland, and Anni Adler was also a practicing lawyer in Switzerland, the text of the document was written in French, one of Switzerland's official languages, rather than English.

Looking at the formal receipt Henry had drafted, Lawyer Adler sighed, "If the lady hadn't told me personally that you have no school degree, I would have thought you were a top student from some law school."

"Even the interns in my firm cannot necessarily write such a simple document off the cuff. They only know how to find existing documents to copy, or copy one and make slight modifications."

Henry laughed and made an excuse, saying, "I looked up information beforehand, but I only found templates, not blank copies available for photocopying, so I wrote it down from memory."

"That is excellent too." Lawyer Adler smiled. "Remember to stay tonight; do not run off too early. My old arms and legs are not what they used to be; if you make me search the whole world for you, I will definitely complain to Lady He Ben when I see her."

The old man told a dark joke; what could Henry do? He could only smile and reply, "That definitely won't happen that soon. Give me a few more years to catch my breath."

"You rascal." Lawyer Adler smiled and patted Henry's shoulder. "Remember, you must attend."

"Okay."

Having been summoned to attend, Henry certainly would not deliberately oppose it and insist on leaving early. Moreover, he needed to help clean up after the memorial banquet. After seeing most of the guests off, Henry also came to the place where the lady's will was to be read: the dining table in the restaurant.

The lady's two children sat at the very front, and their father sat behind them.

Although the ex-husband had no legal power to distribute the property, and the children were already adults and did not need a guardian, no one was uninterested given the vast inheritance of Lady Audrey He Ben.

This was a place where unrelated persons were not allowed to remain; otherwise, whether you believed it or not, the restaurant would be packed tonight.

Robert Wolders, the life partner recognized by the lady, had no legal marital relationship with her. This was a decision made to protect the inheritance rights of the lady's two children.

Robert did not oppose the lady's approach. But as the de facto husband in the end, the lady could not have left nothing for him. On this point, neither Xiao En nor Luca could raise any objection.

Hubert de Givenchy, this close friend, was also on the list, which was not surprising. However, Henry's presence still made everyone present feel slightly surprised.

Although no obvious malice was displayed, everyone could not help but wonder what this little assistant could get from the lady's inheritance.

(End of this chapter)