After the initial shock of the will reading began to settle, Howard Chen cleared his throat and pulled out another document from the folder in front of him.

"Catherine left an additional letter explaining her reasoning in detail," Howard said, looking around the table at the still-stunned family members. "She wanted everyone to understand not just what she decided, but why she made these specific choices; this letter was written five days before her death, and she asked that I read it aloud ...