Elderly Man Dies Holding His Will – His 3 Children Are Shocked by the Inheritance Surprise

A millionaire dies and leaves a will, but when his three children go to divide the inheritance, the family lawyer reveals something that surprises everyone.

It was a rainy, cold night when Martin, a very wealthy man, sadly took his last breath. His death came as a great surprise to the small group of wealthy people in the city, and everyone was curious to know what would become of his great fortune. The whole city kept a watchful eye on Martin’s heirs, eager to find out what would happen next.

However, before he died, Martin, who was no fool, made a point of preparing a very detailed will, informing his children of his last wishes and what would become of his fortune after his fateful death. His three children were summoned to a meeting in their father’s majestic manor. They knew that this meeting was not only about their father’s inheritance but also about the animosity that existed between them and the relationship that each had with their father.

The heirs arrived one by one, each carrying their own feelings about their father’s death. The great manor would be the stage for the revelation of old secrets and lies, and what was supposed to be a quiet meeting would soon turn into a dangerous game of lies and betrayal. And so, in that old manor full of old tales of love and grudge, the future of old Martin’s fortune would be revealed.

Martin knew his children well and thought about the best way to decide how he would divide his fortune. Martin had three children: John, Viola, and Helena, and they were very different when it came to personality and character. Helena was the kindest, while her half-siblings only thought about making more money. She advocated living more simply and finding meaning beyond material possessions.

John and Viola profoundly disagreed with Helena’s convictions. They never missed an opportunity to badmouth her behind her back, thinking it was absurd that she preferred to dedicate herself to social causes rather than focus on making her own fortune. Her beliefs and willingness to help the less fortunate were like a deep stab in her siblings’ egos, who only thought about social status. For them, Helena only tarnished the family name.

For John and Viola, who lived a life of luxury but remained bitter, Helena was like a constant reminder that money can’t buy true happiness and compassion. Garrett, the family lawyer, was the last one to arrive, and with a voice tinged with sadness and mourning, he said, “I’m glad you were all able to make it, but it is with a heavy heart that I now have to read you the will left by your father, my great friend Martin.”

He continued, in a voice barraged with emotion, “Let’s all go to the meeting room and get started.”

When they all entered the room, the lawyer closed the doors after them, increasing the tension in the air even more. Helena, who had always been very kind, pulled up a chair for her sister, to whom she had always been very attached, even though they were only half-sisters.

“Here, Viola, have a seat,” Helena spoke with a smile on her face. But Viola replied, “No need. I’m going to sit next to my brother,” she said with a harsh tone.

After everyone was seated, Garrett began to read Martin’s will. “Now I’m going to read your father’s will. I remind you that no one knows what’s been written here apart from your own father.” Garrett began to speak, his voice still heavy with sadness, and he continued, “I, Martin, aware that my mind is fading away with each passing day, write my will in complete sanity. So that I don’t choose which of my children will inherit my estate, I have planned two challenges to choose my heir. Whoever does best will inherit all my possessions.”

The heirs were shocked. John, the most irritated, shouted, “What a challenge? I’m the eldest son! This inheritance should be mine!”

Helena, trying to calm down her clearly very angry half-brother, said, “Calm down, John. I know it may seem silly to you, but this is our father’s will, and we have to respect his decision.”

But Viola immediately interrupted Helena, saying, “Respect his decision? Are you kidding me? We are his real children, and you’re just the result of an affair! You are just the maid’s daughter! I don’t even know what our father saw in that woman, and what’s more, you shouldn’t even be sitting at this table!”

When he realized that things were getting out of hand, Garrett, with all his wisdom from his years in the business and knowing Martin’s children very well, said, “All right, everybody, calm down. As Helena said, this is your father’s last will, and we will respect it. He has detailed here in his will what the challenges will be. So why don’t we rest today and pick up again tomorrow? Well, this is your house, go to your rooms, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Displeased, the heirs got up and went to their respective rooms.

As night fell, Helena, in her bed crying at the way she had been treated earlier, couldn’t help but wonder, Why do they treat me like this? I’ve never done anything wrong. Every time I try to get close to them, they reject me.

And so, when the night came to an end, the three of them fell asleep—Helena, sad at the loss of her beloved father and the way she had been treated, and John and Viola, angry at having to compete for something that was rightfully theirs.

The next day, Garrett woke up the heirs and told them all to get ready and meet in the living room in half an hour, as the gaming room was already prepared to begin the challenges. After breakfast, everyone gathered in the living room, and the lawyer began to explain how the challenges would be carried out.

“I hope you’ve had a good rest, as you’ll need all the energy you can muster for today’s challenges,” he said. “As I said yesterday, there will only be two challenges.”

John then laughed and said, “If it’s only two challenges, then it means that this nonsense will be over quickly, and I’ll be able to get my inheritance already.”

Viola barely let him finish his sentence and then added, “Your inheritance, brother? You must be crazy if you think you’re going to get the whole inheritance to yourself.”

Before the argument escalated, the lawyer continued, “As I was saying, there will be only two challenges. In the first challenge, everyone will go to a dark room, and on the floor, there will be three boxes. In one box, there’s a snake, in another, a scorpion, and in the other, there’s nothing.”

John and Viola were indignant, thinking, What? They want us to die? What’s the point of this challenge? How do we win?

Garrett continued to explain, “In the three boxes, there will be a copy of the key to the door that leads to a safe room, where I will be there, ready to take care of your injuries if you choose the wrong box. And I will also explain the second and final challenge.”

Unable to question his father’s last wish, one of the manor’s staff directed the heirs to their respective dark rooms. The rooms were completely dark, and it was impossible to see anything in there. They had to feel the ground until they bumped into the boxes and opened them carefully.

“How the hell am I supposed to know which box is the right one?” John said, with fear evident in his voice.

Meanwhile, Viola was also struggling to decide. “Why on Earth did Dad make us do this stupid challenge? If I get stung by the snake or the scorpion, I could die,” she said.

Coincidentally, John and Viola finished the challenge at the same time. Viola was unfortunately stung by the snake, and John was stung by the scorpion. The two of them took the copy of the key and ran to the safe room, and when they got there, they were greeted by Helena and Garrett, who helped them treat the wounds and gave them the antidotes.

Annoyed, Viola asked, “How did you get here first and not get stung, huh, Helena? How did you know which box was the right one?”

But before Helena could answer, Garrett called everyone’s attention. “Now that everyone has finished the first challenge, let’s proceed,” the lawyer said in a firm voice. “In this challenge, as you may have guessed, it’s about how well you can deal with situations of imminent danger and also how quickly you can make important decisions, such as which box to open. I’ll now show you your scores.”

The lawyer then showed the scoreboard, with Helena ahead of Viola and John, as she finished the first challenge in less than 2 minutes, while her siblings took exactly 30 minutes.

John then said in his usual rude way, “What? How come she beat us?”

Viola, irritated, said, “She must have cheated.”

The lawyer ignored the accusations and just continued explaining the next challenge. “Let’s move on. The second challenge will take place outside the mansion. We’ll build a mirror maze, and you’ll go through it in order of age. Whoever can finish the maze in the shortest time wins the challenge.”

Then, another staff member directed the heirs to the challenge site. Viola waited for Helena to walk further away and then pulled John aside and said, “We can’t let her win! Did you see how fast she finished the first challenge?”

John agreed, “You’re right. We have to do something, or she’ll get the whole inheritance. What if we stall her?”

Viola, confused, asked, “But how?”

John began to think, and after a few minutes, came up with a plan to get Helena out of the game. “Garrett said that we’ll go through the maze in order of age, so

I’ll go first, then you, then Helena.”

Viola nodded and asked, “Okay, but how are we going to slow her down?”

John began to explain his plan. “I’ll go first and mark the path, so you can get out faster. When you reach the middle, you change the direction of one of the mirrors. She’ll get confused and get stuck in the labyrinth.”

Viola began to laugh diabolically and agreed with John’s plan. The two finally joined Helena in front of the labyrinth, waiting for the new orders. Garrett, on the other side of the maze, held a microphone to communicate with the heirs.

“The three of you will enter the maze in order of age, remembering that whoever finishes the challenge in the shortest time will be the only heir.”

John and Viola made a pact that, no matter who won the fortune, they would split it equally between them, leaving Helena with nothing. The lawyer continued, “Let’s begin. John, you’re first. You may enter the labyrinth, and good luck.”

John started his challenge. In the first 5 minutes, he managed to get lost several times, but when he found the right path between the mirrors, he began to mark the mirrors with his finger, drawing a small arrow to show Viola the right way. He then completed the challenge in around 22 minutes. The lawyer said, “Congratulations, John, you’ve completed the challenge. Viola, it’s your turn. You may start.”

Viola entered the maze and immediately began to see the arrow marks left by her brother. Like a good cheater and a bad person, she began to erase the arrows, and halfway through, she managed to turn over one of the glasses, blocking the correct path, making the challenge impossible for Helena to complete. As the path had already been marked out by her brother, Viola managed to finish the challenge in record time. In less than 15 minutes, she reached the end of the labyrinth and was greeted by John, who began to celebrate.

“Yes, yes! We’ll win! You were very fast, little sister.”

Then Garrett told Helena to proceed. “Helena, it’s your turn now. Good luck, and we’ll see you at the end.”

John looked at Viola and asked, “Did you do it?”

Viola replied with an air of superiority, “What do you think? Remember when we were kids, and we always got everything we wanted?”

John started laughing, saying, “Oh, poor Helena, she’ll have nothing.”

After half an hour without completing the challenge, Helena began to shout for help, “Help! Help! I can’t find the right way! There’s no way out!”

After an hour trapped in the labyrinth, Helena shouted, “I’m lost! I give up! I don’t want Dad’s money. Can someone please get me out of here?”

The lawyer then asked for a helicopter to come and rescue Helena, while the two spoiled siblings began to celebrate. After Helena was rescued, the heirs met in the meeting room once again to finally find out who the winner was.

Once gathered, the lawyer said, “Well, we’ve reached the end of the two challenges, and now I’m going to announce the winner of Martin’s fortune. And as Helena has decided to give up the challenge, she’s out of the competition.”

John and Viola began to laugh, while Helena just stood there with her head down.

“Well, in the first challenge, John and Viola tied, finishing exactly 30 minutes into the race, so the second challenge was crucial for deciding the winner. And…” With a dramatic pause, the lawyer revealed, “Viola, you completed the second challenge in record time, so you’ve won your father’s inheritance.”

John gave his little sister a standing ovation. Viola then began, in a voice full of happiness and emotion, “Oh, thank you very much, Garrett! But as the humble person that I am, I’ve decided to divide the money equally,” and looking into Helena’s eyes, she continued, “equally with my brother, as we are the real children of my father. And Helena, dear, can just leave our manor, please.”

Helena, who had a ray of hope that she would be included in her father’s inheritance, just accepted her fate, got up from the table sadly, and started walking toward the exit. Viola, almost jumping from happiness, asked, “Come on, Garrett, where’s the will so I can sign it, and everything can be transferred into my name?”

The lawyer began to organize the paperwork and handed Viola a pen to sign. Before Helena left the room and Viola could sign the documents, a mysterious man entered and shouted, “Stop! Viola cannot sign this document. She and her brother cheated. I have proof!”

Garrett, startled, asked, “What do you mean? Who are you?”

The mysterious man then revealed himself. “I’m Robert, an old friend of Martin. I work as a private detective, and Martin asked me to oversee the distribution of his inheritance.”

Robert then went on to say, “Martin told me his idea for deciding who would win his inheritance, and he knew the character of his children very well, so he asked me to watch all the challenges from afar so that I could prevent these two from cheating,” he said, pointing to John and Viola.

John then started shouting, “Are you crazy? We didn’t do anything! We played fair and square!”

Viola added with a fake smile, “That’s right, and we like her, even though she’s our half-sister.”

Robert then said in a firm voice, “Oh yeah? Then explain this!” Robert then played a recording from one of the manor’s cameras on the TV of John and Viola talking about their plan to trap Helena in the labyrinth. Viola, shocked and annoyed, shouted, “This is fake! It’s not real! That never happened!”

The detective then played another recording of the exact moment when Viola, inside the labyrinth, moved the mirror, blocking the correct path to the exit. Robert then said, “Is this fake too? Quit lying!”

Helena, clearly shaken and with a voice full of sadness, just said, “I knew something was off. I walked through the whole labyrinth, and I couldn’t find any way out.” She wiped away her tears and continued, “I can’t believe you’ve done this to me. I know we’re not close, but we have the same blood. I’m still part of the family.”

Garrett, with all his wisdom and serenity, commented, “He knew very well what he was doing. Your father didn’t want someone dishonest and greedy to inherit his fortune. That’s why he made the challenges.”

With renewed strength, the lawyer finally revealed the end of the will. “I, Martin, have made these challenges so that only the most honest of you gets what’s mine. The first challenge is about overcoming your fears in the face of danger and, most importantly, whether you can make good choices.”

John, confused, asked, “What does he mean? We just had to choose blindly between the boxes. It wasn’t fair.”

So the lawyer explained, “In the first challenge, you had to choose between three boxes with danger in order to get a key that would open the exit door. But neither of you could see past the boxes.”

“What do you mean?” Viola asked, as confused as her brother.

So Helena explained, “Well, the exit door was never locked. I couldn’t understand how Dad, who was such a caring man, would put us through something so dangerous. So instead of opening the boxes, I decided to go to the door and saw that it wasn’t locked.”

Garrett concluded with a wise observation, “Martin wanted to teach you that even when you only see a few options, there are always more. And in the business world, this skill is essential.”

He went on to highlight the significance of the second challenge. “The second challenge was a lesson in not blindly trusting what we see in front of us. Sometimes the path that seems right is just an illusion reflected by a mirror.”

Robert, the detective, intervened with a voice full of indignation, “But you two betrayed your own family and only thought about yourselves.”

So Garrett read the last of the will, “As my last wish, I want my fortune to be inherited by someone with a pure and honest heart. If any of my children cheat, I want them to be disqualified, taking with them the most valuable lesson in life: honesty and integrity are more important than winning or losing.”

The lawyer announced that, due to the siblings’ lack of honesty, Helena would be the sole heir to Martin’s fortune. From then on, Helena carried on with her social projects, using the inheritance for causes she believed in. Years later, John and Viola came to her for financial help, facing difficulties. But instead of giving them money, Helena offered them the opportunity for redemption, inviting them to work in one of her companies to earn their money honestly, thus learning to value the fruit of their own efforts.