THE HANDS OF FATE

Randall Harrington had listened intently to Charlotte's genius plan and in the end, he thought it was nothing more than a wild and unthinkable attempt that would only end in failure.

"What?" He was speaking for the first time after allowing Charlotte successfully tell him all about her plans. "You can't be serious right now."

"I am."

"B—But I thought you were from money," he sputtered. "Why are you so bent on having some of Edmund's money if you have some family money yourself."

Charlotte thought about the question. There was no easy way of answering it that didn't involve telling the truth on the spot.

"That's the problem. I don't have a lot of money remaining for myself. That's because my father cut me out of his will because of the wicked wife he married. And I'm looking at getting as much money as I can to serve as my retirement plan seeing that I wouldn't be able to work a second in my life even if I wanted to. Surely, you of all people understand where I'm coming from."

Randall