The Gilded Game

ONE

Don't fall in love.

That was what the agent told me, as she handed me the case file.

I couldn't blame her, the client was, like me, 16 years old. Peterson Lee, the sole heir to the Lees, an affluent family in the city that was tangled up in inheritance disputes. His status as heir wasn't confirmed yet, but the Lees had a tradition of only having male heirs, and he was the only male in his generation.

And I was the one who had to solve these disputes.

The file was thick, heavier than any file I'd ever held. And I've held a lot of case files throughout my three years as a detective. It was filled with information about the family, and there was even a timeline of events. Which detailed the series of deaths that happened within the last five years.

Poor kid.

First it was his grandmother, who passed away from heart and lung complications five years ago.

Then it was his uncle, who passed from heart disease.

After that, it was his grandfather, also from heart disease.

Almost right after that, was his father, from heart disease. Earlier this year.

It was rather suspicious, four people from two generations passing away from virtually the same thing in five years.

Next to the end of the timeline, was a yellow sticky note.

"Peterson is in a particularly fragile mental state due to the multiple losses, especially that of his father's, taking a toll on him."

The weight of the file was nothing compared to how serious the situation was.

Next to the timeline, was a family tree. Turns out, his grandparents had seven children, two of whom died in the past five years, which meant that five people were vying for the inheritance, two uncles and three aunts. And one rightful heir.

Five wealthy, powerful individuals, plus their husbands or wives, could ruin lives as they pleased.

How Peterson even managed to spend the majority of his teenage years in this sort of situation was beyond me.

How they thought of putting the responsibilities of a future heir on a mere teenager, a teenager who was in mental pain, was inexplicable.

But he might also be one of those who could ruin lives, perhaps mine if I wasn't careful.

The car pulled up to a large house in The Peak, and a butler led me into the house, into a sitting room that looked twice the size of my entire apartment. Agent Wong followed behind me.

I felt so out of place in my outfit, a beige vest over a white shirt paired with a black pleated skirt.

A boy was sitting on the leather couch. There was a partially gilded chess set on the table in front of him, all the pieces were in their starting position.

"You must be Miss Tze," he said, not looking up from the ground.

"Just call me Aria. We're the same age, so honorifics would be weird. And your name?"

"Peterson. Peterson Lee, my friends call me Peter." He looked at me, and god he was cute-especially his eyes, deep in thought with a hint of sadness. The photo in the file didn't do him justice.

I absolutely could not fall for him, it was against the rules. And Agent Wong was across the room, if I caught feelings, she'd guess.

"Uh... as you may know, I'm Aria, and I'm the detective who's on your case." I must've sounded nervous.

"You don't need to be nervous." He smiled slightly.

"Okay then. Let's cut to the chase. I know a bit of what happened in the past five years, you don't have to talk about that. I just want to know if there's a will from anybody." I asked, trying not to mention what caused him that much pain.

"Not one that we know of. We haven't found anything." He responded after taking a few seconds to think.

They were possibly one of the twenty richest families in the city, and none of the five people who had died bothered to leave a will. The heir was just 11 at the time of the first death, so there must be somebody who was appointed as a steward to the fortune. His mom, perhaps. Or an uncle.

"Did anyone say anything about who's in charge of the money and property for now?"

"Not really, so it's my mother who's in charge until I'm old enough."

No will, no last words, nothing.

Something was wrong.

No owner of a fortune this large would in their right mind, die without a will.

"There must be a will from your elders somewhere on Earth." I blurted out.

"Why?"

"Your family has four billion US dollars. This much money, if in the wrong hands, can cause a disaster. Now, I've read some reports, and your grandfather's eulogy, and the articles online. I think he's a wise man. One who definitely would not leave four billion in a random son's hands."

"So there's a will, somewhere out there."

"Correct. Who did your grandfather distrust the most, and why?"

"Uncle Geoffrey, the youngest of all his sons. He married a woman without his approval, and the woman turned out to be a gold digger. She's practically Marie Antoinette here, a woman who caused an uproar and a downfall." He explained.

"Excuse me, a downfall? Your family is still 20th on the list. I swear if you turn out to be a spoiled brat, I'm not dealing with this. Might as well tell your principal about this."

"I'm cyberschooled. You can't tell the principal because there's no principal."

"Now, I think I have all the essential information, and an essay to write, so I'll excuse myself. I have your number in the file and I'll text you in the car. If anything happens, no matter how small, if it's related to this, text me. Also, friends?"

"Friends." He replied with a nod.

As we were in the car back to my place, Agent Wong started talking.

"Peter seems nice, right? You think he's cute?"

How would she know... oh she's a retired detective.

"Yeah he's good-looking and all, but I don't know if I like him. Just an hour isn't enough to know whether you like a person that way. Besides, if I actually end up being his girlfriend or whatever, I'll be marrying into chaos."

"You young people, always falling in and out of love and doubting feelings. You're not supposed to, but I won't tell Headquarters if you do." She shook her head

"You think I like him?"

"Just a hunch, Aria, just a hunch. When you talk to people like him, mind your manners. Your career may be ruined over impolite things."

"I know, and I'll be aware of that."