Chapter 73

Although Audrey Hepburn hoped to support UN public welfare activities as much as possible in the time she had left, helping more children who needed help.

But if she didn't want to rest, could she force others to work as hard as she did?

For the Western world, the Christmas holiday and New Year at the end of the year could be said to be a big event of the year. Not many people were willing to run to the African continent to celebrate with those black brothers, and the same went for other poor countries. How good it was to spend it with family.

But even without visit activities, there were quite a few things in the United States.

Approaching the Christmas holiday, this period was also a time when many people were willing to donate generously.

Besides faith, more of it was the policy that public welfare donations could be included in tax exemptions. Those rich people who had gone through accounting and still had tax exemptions had to adjust their accounts before the New Year so they wouldn't have to pay large amounts of unjust tax money in vain.

So this period before the New Year was also a harvest season for fundraising. Ms. Hepburn, who had started as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in '88, of course wouldn't let these rich people go.

Anyway, if these people didn't donate, the money would be collected by the government. It was better to donate it for charity, gain a reputation, and save taxes.

Besides public welfare charity banquets, this time point was also about the starting point for Oscar award public relations.

Ms. Audrey Hepburn, as a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, naturally had some human relations to deal with. It was just that she was based in New York and wouldn't be invited to fly to Los Angeles, the base of Hollywood.

However, just on the eve of Christmas, December 17, a piece of news shocked all walks of life in the United States. The head of Stark Industries, Howard Stark, and his wife Maria Stark had a car accident.

It is reported that on the evening of the 16th, the couple was driving home when they had a brake accident on a remote road. It wasn't until the early morning of the 17th that they were discovered and reported to the police, and after judicial examination, their deaths were confirmed.

The biggest shock of this incident was, of course, the circle of rich people dominated by the business world. Even at fundraising banquets, the topic of everyone's chat would involuntarily move toward Stark Industries.

Anyone could see that Stark Industries was now facing a very tricky situation. That was the sudden death of the helmsman, and whether the successor was prepared?

What was meant by being prepared here wasn't discussing whether Tony Stark had the qualifications or ability; but it was related to a more realistic part, which was estate planning.

As everyone knows, the US estate tax is as high as 45%. If there was no legal risk-aversion transfer during one's lifetime; once a person died, the successor would have to pay nearly half the price to inherit the estate.

And it was best to pay taxes only in cash. The practice of using physical objects to pay taxes was often underestimated and underestimated again, and the inherited amount included the valuation of movable and immovable property. This meant that even if all the cash from the inherited industry was pulled out, it might not be enough to pay the estate tax.

Then the successor could only find ways to sell part of the industry in their hands to pay the taxes.

However, the pricing of buying and selling depended on who was more anxious and who had more confidence. If Tony Stark was anxious to raise money before the deadline for paying estate taxes, others would have room to lower the price.

Otherwise, they could use the industry to mortgage and borrow money from the bank. But for this kind of huge loan, even if there was collateral, it would inevitably be a joint loan from multiple banks, and if it wasn't enough, other financial institutions would be introduced. This was also an opportunity for others to intervene in Stark Industries.

It could be said that everyone wasn't mourning the death of a business giant or a genius scientist, but just wanted to get a share of the feast that had fallen by accident.

Actually, Audrey Hepburn wasn't very concerned about the Stark family's affairs; the two sides didn't have a deep friendship. But she couldn't stop every guest she talked to from chatting about it for a few sentences, so even if she didn't want to care, she knew it.

However, Audrey Hepburn didn't have a friendship, which didn't mean that her circle of friends was so quiet.

One night of rest, Audrey Hepburn received a call from a friend at the hotel. From the depressed voice of the other party on the phone, she couldn't help but ask with concern, "Katharine, are you okay?"

On the other end of the phone was another Ms. Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn. Her friendship with Howard had lasted for decades, and although there were unpleasant things in between, and they didn't end up together in the end, they were friends who could confide in each other.

Katharine sighed on the phone and said, "A disadvantage of being old is that today you hear who left, and tomorrow you hear who is gone. Although I will still be sad, I'm already used to it to the point of not being able to cry."

"Please accept my condolences, Katharine. Is there anything I can help with?"

"Of course. Tomorrow is Howard's funeral, and I will be in New York. Can I borrow your little driver for a day? He was introduced to me by little Tony, and I think on such a day, it would be good for him to go and take a look, regardless of whether he can speak in the end."

Audrey replied, "Of course, I think I'll go and pay my respects too. After all, I've received quite a lot of help from Mr. Stark. Katharine, when will you arrive in New York?" No one in Hollywood dared to say they had absolutely nothing to do with Stark.

"In fact, I'm preparing to go to Bradley Airport. It might be very late when I fly to New York."

"Okay, I'll let Henry arrange it," Audrey said.

"Oh, it seems our little driver is very clever. You are quite at ease leaving everything to him," Katharine said, as if to drive away the sad emotions, forcing herself to be cheerful.

Audrey cooperated and said, "Yes, that child has really helped a lot."

Although she wanted to continue the topic, Katharine still had to catch a flight. So she said on the phone, "Let's talk when we meet. Otherwise, my flight schedule will only get later and later."

"Hmm, let's talk when we meet."

Hanging up the phone, Audrey Hepburn found the wristwatch placed on the dressing table and pressed lightly on a section of the metal strap.

After a while, there was a knock on the room door. Henry said outside, "Boss, are you looking for me?"

"The door isn't locked, come in."

The room the lady lived in was a room type with inner and outer rooms, and the outer room was a small living room. Although Henry wasn't wearing formal attire, he was dressed neatly. He asked, "Boss, is there anything?"

"Katharine will fly to New York later, can I trouble you to pick her up? And arrange a place to stay. We will go to Mr. and Mrs. Stark's funeral together tomorrow."

Henry said unexpectedly, "Did Katharine receive an invitation?"

"Is it necessary?" Audrey asked back.

"I thought that kind of occasion would also need an invitation to limit the number of people." If it were a funeral in his hometown, what would he do? Henry could talk from the seventh day to the forty-ninth day. But he didn't know how the West played.

For this kind of common sense question, Audrey had nothing to say after hearing it.

After thinking about it, she explained, "The invitation is just to notify close friends of the time and place of the funeral. But even those who didn't receive an invitation, if they are willing to pay their respects, they can all go."

"Don't you need to limit the number of people?"

Shaking her head, the lady said, "If there are many people, their relatives or close friends will naturally maintain order. And no one would want to make trouble on such a sad occasion, and it's not suitable."

The concept that the deceased is the most important is the same in both the East and the West. However, it was normal for Henry not to know things he hadn't come into contact with.

But what made him sigh even more was that Howard Stark was dead. According to the path of Iron Man's achievements, he was sacrificed to heaven.

Those familiar, unfamiliar people and things seemed to start to gradually blend together.